I adjusted my focus!

[Jimmylee]

I could not take it anymore with my Phantom having better focus than my H.

I decided I'm going to send it to Yuneec or do it myself.

I planned on upgrading to the after market lens that Carolina Dronz sells
sooner or later so might as well tackle it now.

I disassembled the camera so I could remove the glue they put on it.
It would have been so simple without the glue.

But the glue did chip off pretty easy using an exacto knife.

I am happy to say I was able to get better focus than I had before.
After watching the monitor and taking several JPG's to fine tune it looks much better.

Comparing video's on my Phantom and H it's hard to tell the difference between the two.

 

[Markinter]

That's great, glad you're getting the best you can from the lens!

 

[OnTheRopes]

I may have to try this myself, I am sure my focus is set way too close. How did you secure the lens from working loose? PTFE tape?
Did you hook it up via HDMI to a large monitor and what distance did you choose as your focus point?

 

[CAPTAINDRONE]

I could not take it anymore with my Phantom having better focus than my H.

I decided I'm going to send it to Yuneec or do it myself.

I planned on upgrading to the after market lens that Carolina Dronz sells
sooner or later so might as well tackle it now.

I disassembled the camera so I could remove the glue they put on it.
It would have been so simple without the glue.

But the glue did chip off pretty easy using an exacto knife.

I am happy to say I was able to get better focus than I had before.
After watching the monitor and taking several JPG's to fine tune it looks much better.

Comparing video's on my Phantom and H it's hard to tell the difference between the two.

View attachment 1415

WooHoo! I think many of us will be following your lead. Well done!

 

[CAPTAINDRONE]

CAMERA TIP

If anyone takes their lens off and gets dust on the sensor, you can clean it with "DSLR Blower". All DSLR camera expose the sensor when you remove the lens and hold the shutter up. Dust will eventually get on the lens. To remove dust from the sensor you suck it into the blower (squeeze blower, hold over sensor and release... all surround air/dust gets sucked in).

 

[DroneClone]

Jimmy, how did you adjust the lens? Did you just screw it in more/less? changing the length, or turning it side by side? Haven't taken mine off yet, but have looked at it to check for dirt/smudges on internal lens! Mine should be a piece of cake as they put little to no glue on it!

 

[Peter a]

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Jimmylee]

I may have to try this myself, I am sure my focus is set way too close. How did you secure the lens from working loose? PTFE tape?
Did you hook it up via HDMI to a large monitor and what distance did you choose as your focus point?

The lens fit is tight enough as it is, I don't see it moving, time will tell.

As far as focusing nothing scientific here.

I used the ST16 to get it close and then set it in the backyard on the
picnic table aimed at my garage about 30 feet away at took several
stills and video of the window till I found the sharpest setting.

After some more flights I will be able to tell better but it is
definitely better than the way it came from Yuneec.

I am wondering now if the after market glass lens will further improve
the sharpness.

 

[Jimmylee]

Jimmy, how did you adjust the lens? Did you just screw it in more/less? changing the length, or turning it side by side? Haven't taken mine off yet, but have looked at it to check for dirt/smudges on internal lens! Mine should be a piece of cake as they put little to no glue on it!

DC the lens is threaded so you just screw it in or out like a focus ring.

Mine had a lot of glue so had to get most off before it would turn.
Don't put to much pressure trying to turn it with the glue on it as its all plastic and something will break or warp.

 

[CAPTAINDRONE]

The lens fit is tight enough as it is, I don't see it moving, time will tell.

As far as focusing nothing scientific here.

I used the ST16 to get it close and then set it in the backyard on the
picnic table aimed at my garage about 30 feet away at took several
stills and video of the window till I found the sharpest setting.

After some more flights I will be able to tell better but it is
definitely better than the way it came from Yuneec.

I am wondering now if the after market glass lens will further improve
the sharpness.

Now that you've taken the glue off, you are in a GREAT position to purchase any aftermarket lens and just screw it on without having to disassemble the entire camera.

 

[DroneClone]

DC the lens is threaded so you just screw it in or out like a focus ring.

Mine had a lot of glue so had to get most off before it would turn.
Don't put to much pressure trying to turn it with the glue on it as its all plastic and something will break or warp.

I assumed it was threaded, but when you got it to your desired focus, did you re-glue, teflon tape , as to keep it where you wanted? Also, did you dismantle step by step as per the video how too? Thanks!

 

[DroneClone]

I could not take it anymore with my Phantom having better focus than my H.

I decided I'm going to send it to Yuneec or do it myself.

I planned on upgrading to the after market lens that Carolina Dronz sells
sooner or later so might as well tackle it now.

I disassembled the camera so I could remove the glue they put on it.
It would have been so simple without the glue.

But the glue did chip off pretty easy using an exacto knife.

I am happy to say I was able to get better focus than I had before.
After watching the monitor and taking several JPG's to fine tune it looks much better.

Comparing video's on my Phantom and H it's hard to tell the difference between the two.

View attachment 1415

Apparently, you did not dismantle all the way like video? How did you keep glue chips etc. from getting onto sensor?

 

[OnTheRopes]

The lens fit is tight enough as it is, I don't see it moving, time will tell.

As far as focusing nothing scientific here.

I used the ST16 to get it close and then set it in the backyard on the
picnic table aimed at my garage about 30 feet away at took several
stills and video of the window till I found the sharpest setting.

After some more flights I will be able to tell better but it is
definitely better than the way it came from Yuneec.

I am wondering now if the after market glass lens will further improve
the sharpness.

It will be interesting to see if you got the best focal distance for optimum use. I am guessing that as I suppose for practical photography purposes 30 feet is about as close as you would normally want to get unless doing inspection work then a more distant point of focus would give better results at infinity when one remembers the focus a third of the way in guideline. (Ignoring hyperfocal distance).

Must have been fairly long winded, I was going to order a hdmi cable but I may just try your method first.

 

[Jimmylee]

I assumed it was threaded, but when you got it to your desired focus, did you re-glue, teflon tape , as to keep it where you wanted? Also, did you dismantle step by step as per the video how too? Thanks!

I had to disassemble all the way down like the video to get easy access to the glue.
The video is what gave me the confidence to tackle the job.

Did not re-glue as it fits tight enough plus I might upgrade to the better lens in the future.

 

[Jimmylee]

Now that you've taken the glue off, you are in a GREAT position to purchase any aftermarket lens and just screw it on without having to disassemble the entire camera.

Exactly! The plastic cover over the lens just pops off so easy to get at to focus or replace.

 

[DroneClone]

Jimmie, will you do mine for me! $5.00 okay? you pay return shipping ! LOL !

 

[Burntpixel]

I could not take it anymore with my Phantom having better focus than my H.

I decided I'm going to send it to Yuneec or do it myself.

I planned on upgrading to the after market lens that Carolina Dronz sells
sooner or later so might as well tackle it now.

I disassembled the camera so I could remove the glue they put on it.
It would have been so simple without the glue.

But the glue did chip off pretty easy using an exacto knife.

I am happy to say I was able to get better focus than I had before.
After watching the monitor and taking several JPG's to fine tune it looks much better.

Comparing video's on my Phantom and H it's hard to tell the difference between the two.

View attachment 1415

Glad to see you have joined the club. Several of us did this as we knew Yuneec used an industry standard M12 mount lens just like GoPro and DJI and just about every action camera manufacturer that uses a 1/2.5 CMOS sensor.

My question is to what standard Yuneec focused their lenses when doing so at the factory?

 

[Jimmylee]

Jimmie, will you do mine for me! $5.00 okay? you pay return shipping ! LOL !

Why sure buddy, no guarantees it will work when you get it back. LOL

There are many fine wires and ribbon cables in there, go slowly.
I heard that Carolina Dronz will upgrade the lens if you send in the camera to them.

Or maybe your X-wife will do it for ya.

 

[DroneClone]

Why sure buddy, no guarantees it will work when you get it back. LOL

There are many fine wires and ribbon cables in there, go slowly.
I heard that Carolina Dronz will upgrade the lens if you send in the camera to them.

Or maybe your X-wife will do it for ya.

Her fingers are to fat, she'd just mess it up!, I have done electronic work before and feel okay to do, But I don't feel my camera pic/vid's are that bad to warrant voiding the warranty!

 

[Jimmylee]

After a few flights I was able to tweak my focus even better.
I am pretty darn happy with the focus compared to the stock setting.
Here is a picture from a video frame, 100 feet up at a park and It's
sharp enough that I can tell whether they are waiving or giving me the finger. LOL
In this case they were waiving, , at the skate park it's more fingers.