Mantis Q horizon tilt (impossible fixing?)

[Stefano Zanandrea]

Hi everybody, i own a mantis q since OCT 20th, and until now, i wasn't able to get any "straight horizon" shot, specially for the video shooting even in 1080 with EIS.
The camera Body was perfctly straight up, aligned to the drone's body and even putting it on a perfectly straight-to-the-ground surface, the camera always shooted a bad horizon tilt.

Is it possible to fix this thing?

How is it possble that a 500€ Drone with a non-mech-stabilized gimbal, came with a bad camera alignment from the factory??
Too bad to buy this drone for shoting, i really regret i did'n go for an Anafi instead.

 

[AeroJ]

Too bad to buy this drone for shooting, i really regret i did'n go for an Anafi instead.

I agree with you. Now the Anafi is down in price there is no contest between it and the Mantis Q. Is it too late to return your Q and do that instead ?

 

[Stefano Zanandrea]

I should sell to get (a few of) my money back... if anybody is intrested now.
Mantis Q with 3 batteries and propeller guards, comes with no issues, how could be the actual evaluation?

 

[DoomMeister]

I should sell to get (a few of) my money back... if anybody is intrested now.
Mantis Q with 3 batteries and propeller guards, comes with no issues, how could be the actual evaluation?

You should contact Yuneec CS for your part of the world and have it repaired/ replaced under warranty. If you are in Europe I believe you start by contacting the retailer for replacement. It may be as simple as an exchange for a new one depending on where you purchased it.

The Mantis Q is the Breeze with a somewhat better job of engineering, with the exception of the single axis gimbal for the camera that only allows the user to control the camera angle. It still only uses electronic image stabilization so you get tilted horizons depending on flight factors. Why customers think a gimballess camera will correct for horizon tilt is beyond me.

I’m not sure how the camera is mounted and cushioned from vibration on the Mantis. If it is like the Breeze with silicone dampeners it may be out of alignment due to shock during shipping or a hard landing etc.

 

[Stefano Zanandrea]

Already told the costumer service and they replied everything correctly is in clearence. Screw them!
The drone itself is owesome, very stable and fun to fly, but this camera stuff is a real pain in the XXX. The drone was already shipped to Germany (I'm from Italy) and it came back worse than before. This is a real shame! From yuneec careless about the stuff they sell. The shop I bought mine had also another 2 new, we tried to turn them on to compare the camera and... Oh what a surprise, one was the same and another one was even worse than mine.
Very nice. Totally disappointed by this brand.
I cannot believe there is no way to get a pc software to direct connect the mantis since today, to fix the camera alignment or others drone settings. Other competitors allow to do this stuff directly from the app, and none the less, the automatic fly modes for video shooting are 3... 3! What the heck is yuneec doing? The hubsan zino have 7 and it was unboxed first in here, just one week ago!
Software support is absolutely 0 star rated to me!

 

[DoomMeister]

I can understand your frustration if the problem was worse after being sent to Yuneec Service in Germany.

I passed on the Mantis since I own the Breeze and know about the single axis gimbal and electronic stabilization for the camera. The only drones that need a fixed camera are FPV racers so the pilot can keep track of their flight attitude. For the same $500 US dollars I purchased a refurbished Typhoon H Pro.

I know there are some calibrations for the Mantis, but as I don't own one I have no idea if that has any effect on the camera sensing where level is. Does the Mantis even have landing gear?

Perhaps some of the other Mantis owners can offer their experiences when it comes to this matter.

 

[bobbyrichter]

I agree with you. Now the Anafi is down in price there is no contest between it and the Mantis Q. Is it too late to return your Q and do that instead ?

John Hennessy!

 

[LinsonW]

Hi everybody, i own a mantis q since OCT 20th, and until now, i wasn't able to get any "straight horizon" shot, specially for the video shooting even in 1080 with EIS.
The camera Body was perfctly straight up, aligned to the drone's body and even putting it on a perfectly straight-to-the-ground surface, the camera always shooted a bad horizon tilt.

Is it possible to fix this thing?

How is it possble that a 500€ Drone with a non-mech-stabilized gimbal, came with a bad camera alignment from the factory??
Too bad to buy this drone for shoting, i really regret i did'n go for an Anafi instead.

Could you please share one picture and draw some indicators for me to understand "not straight horizon shot"? I have a MantisQ in hand, maybe can double check it if can help.

 

[Stefano Zanandrea]

here you are.

 

[DoomMeister]

That looks typical of the Breeze footage. What do you see if the Mantis is sitting on a level surface and can see the horizon (like at a lake, open field, from an upper story window or balcony) not while in flight?

 

[NorWiscPilot]

Or how about simply sitting on a level table looking a wall/window that should also be level.

In flight, at a hilly or mountainous horizon, cannot give us any indication as the whether the camera is aligned horizontally or not.

Sorry.

Jeff

P.s. I also have a Mantis Q. Have not noticed horizon tilt unless the drone itself is tilted due to wind or flight attitude.

 

[NorWiscPilot]

I can understand your frustration if the problem was worse after being sent to Yuneec Service in Germany.

I passed on the Mantis since I own the Breeze and know about the single axis gimbal and electronic stabilization for the camera. The only drones that need a fixed camera are FPV racers so the pilot can keep track of their flight attitude. For the same $500 US dollars I purchased a refurbished Typhoon H Pro.

I know there are some calibrations for the Mantis, but as I don't own one I have no idea if that has any effect on the camera sensing where level is. Does the Mantis even have landing gear?

Perhaps some of the other Mantis owners can offer their experiences when it comes to this matter.

Gear? No. Pegs or feet? Somewhat. Does not need much clearance.

 

[LinsonW]

here you are.

I have not encountered a similar problem, but maybe can try to find a way to address root cause to consider whether it is caused by the flight of the aircraft, or whether there is indeed a factor in camera calibration.
You can put the drone on a table with straight lines in front of it to shoot and then can check if the camera has correction problems.
If you can't just align in flight, you can turn on the grid line in the camera settings to assist.
We must first address the root cause. If there is really a calibration issue, then we can find the way to fine-tune!

 

[DoomMeister]

Like the Breeze there only seems to be a calibration for the compass. Nothing for the camera. That procedure is described starting on page 12 of the User Manual. The only other thing I could find in the Manual that may have some relevance to this is the following:

PLACEMENT BEFORE TAKEOFF

1. Outdoor Flying WARNING: If you operate the Mantis Q outside, please always place it in open areas (approximately 10000 square feet/930 square meters or more) that are free from people, vehicles, trees and other obstructions. Never fly near or above crowds, airports or buildings.

Never attempt to operate Mantis Q nearby tall buildings/obstructions that do not offer a clear view of the sky ( a minimum clearance of 100° ).

Be sure to place the Mantis Q on a level and stable surface before powering ON the Mantis Q and the remote controller.

IMPORTENT NOTE: STEP BACK APPROXIMATELY 6.6 FEET ( 2METERS ) BEHIND THE MANTIS Q.

That may effect the IMU if the Mantis is not near level during power up initialization.

 

[Stefano Zanandrea]

Like the Breeze there only seems to be a calibration for the compass. Nothing for the camera. That procedure is described starting on page 12 of the User Manual. The only other thing I could find in the Manual that may have some relevance to this is the following:

PLACEMENT BEFORE TAKEOFF

1. Outdoor Flying WARNING: If you operate the Mantis Q outside, please always place it in open areas (approximately 10000 square feet/930 square meters or more) that are free from people, vehicles, trees and other obstructions. Never fly near or above crowds, airports or buildings.

Never attempt to operate Mantis Q nearby tall buildings/obstructions that do not offer a clear view of the sky ( a minimum clearance of 100° ).

Be sure to place the Mantis Q on a level and stable surface before powering ON the Mantis Q and the remote controller.

IMPORTENT NOTE: STEP BACK APPROXIMATELY 6.6 FEET ( 2METERS ) BEHIND THE MANTIS Q.

That may effect the IMU if the Mantis is not near level during power up initialization.

Just everything true, there is no way to fine-tune the camera EIS or sensor in this way. just try to follow as more as possible the procedure above.

Pics are quite easy to fix but videos are a real pain
4 k is usless because, if windy (even just a little) most of the shooting is affacted by "jello effect" and i canno be used eve if cropper to 2K res.

Still dunno what to do because this drone flies beatifully, but have a usless camera.
I really ask myself why the made such a bad choice...
even cheaper products have a 2 axis mechanical gimbal to fix this and other kind of problems.

Really thinking about selling it....

 

[Stefano Zanandrea]

That looks typical of the Breeze footage. What do you see if the Mantis is sitting on a level surface and can see the horizon (like at a lake, open field, from an upper story window or balcony) not while in flight?

Horizon stil a few degree bad, like in the picture before. Yuneek costumer service tol everything is normal and in tolerance. so they just don't recognize the problem

 

[DoomMeister]

Sorry to hear of your plight with this aircraft. I am thinking the Mantis is much like the Breeze and has vibration dampeners for mounting the electronics or at least the camera. So if you are seeing this tilt with the Mantis sitting on a surface that is level with the horizon, that is where the problem lies.

As an afterthought, do you power the Mantis on then set it down, or set it down then power it on? It may make a difference with the IMU and therefore transfer to the EIS function for the camera.

 

[LinsonW]

Just everything true, there is no way to fine-tune the camera EIS or sensor in this way. just try to follow as more as possible the procedure above.

Pics are quite easy to fix but videos are a real pain
4 k is usless because, if windy (even just a little) most of the shooting is affacted by "jello effect" and i canno be used eve if cropper to 2K res.

Still dunno what to do because this drone flies beatifully, but have a usless camera.
I really ask myself why the made such a bad choice...
even cheaper products have a 2 axis mechanical gimbal to fix this and other kind of problems.

Really thinking about selling it....

Normally the camera is calibrated and the still picture should be horizontal and it's also easy to adjust, you should see the live video on the screen before take photo
For 4K video, it's really not easy to get a stable result due to not gimbal. You can get a better result if are familiar with adobe PR software, using image stablization function.
Usually 1080p video is enough for me since 4K also requires a powerful PC to edit.

 

[DoomMeister]

Do you only see this horizon tilt while flying? If so, it is normal for a drone without a gimbal for the camera. There are other brands that compensate for this a little better, but the camera has a very wide angle lens and the sensor angle is adjusted. Unfortunately the photos and video suffer from fisheye effect so nothing is really gained by it.

If you want level horizons and stabile video, you need a camera with a gimbal to counteract the motions of the aircraft.

 

[Stefano Zanandrea]

Sorry to hear of your plight with this aircraft. I am thinking the Mantis is much like the Breeze and has vibration dampeners for mounting the electronics or at least the camera. So if you are seeing this tilt with the Mantis sitting on a surface that is level with the horizon, that is where the problem lies.

As an afterthought, do you power the Mantis on then set it down, or set it down then power it on? It may make a difference with the IMU and therefore transfer to the EIS function for the camera.

I read this, and i thought it was time to act!
i made it throught al my lounch pause in the workshop, but i think i finally got a good result... up next for the photo.