My Spark camera points to the left, not straight ahead [SOLVED]

[cozzykim]

I've always wondered, when flying the Spark towards a distant object, why it always needs to be turned left as it gets closer, as if it's crabbing sideways.

Today I noticed that, with the Spark on the ground and pointed towards an object, the camera view is centred slightly to the left of the object, not directly towards it.

This means, that if you fly towards where the camera is pointing on your screen, say towards a chimney or mast in the distance, the Spark will end up to the right of that object. The further away the object, the further the Spark will end up right of it.

Sooner or later, the Spark will require turning left slightly, to keep the object centred on the screen.

Are they all like this?

See my attached pic of the Spark from above when powered On.

 

[Andre Levite]

I've always wondered, when flying the Spark towards a distant object, why it always needs to be turned left as it gets closer, as if it's crabbing sideways.

Today I noticed that, with the Spark on the ground and pointed towards an object, the camera view is centred slightly to the left of the object, not directly towards it.

This means, that if you fly towards where the camera is pointing on your screen, say towards a chimney or mast in the distance, the Spark will end up to the right of that object. The further away the object, the further the Spark will end up right of it.

Sooner or later, the Spark will require turning left slightly, to keep the object centred on the screen.

Are they all like this?

See my attached pic of the Spark from above when powered On.

View attachment 9534

My camera points straight ahead.

You may be able to reset yours with DJI Assistant 2 software. There are some gimbal calibration settings - not sure if left/right is included. Worth a look

 

[cozzykim]

I don't use Windows or Mac, and I see that the later version(s) of DJI Assistant have disabled the debug console.

Combined with the uncertainty whether Assistant 2 allows camera yaw calibration I'm not sure that that avenue is worth the effort in pursuing.

Does anyone else have a camera that points slightly to one side or the other?

I've tried to show centre lines through the Spark body (in Black) and through the camera (in Red).

 

[Simk1n]

It is possible to calibrate the Spark gimbal using some commands in Windows.

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I followed this as my gimbal was a little tilted after a minor crash/flipover and it worked fine.

Mine need a roll of 1.4 but it is still level after calibration and adjusting.

 

[cozzykim]

Thanks, but isn't that just roll and pitch?

Mine is Yaw.

 

[lmel2005]

Your problem seems to be an assembly-hardware problem, and cannot be solved by calibrating the gimbal.

I think your spark needs a doctor.

 

[cozzykim]

Your problem seems to be an assembly-hardware problem, and cannot be solved by calibrating the gimbal.

I think your spark needs a doctor.

I finally took my Spark to pieces and found the problem.

Unbelievably, although it was brand new when I bought it, and the cover screws had a seal on two of them, the problem was that the two screws that hold the camera assembly to its carrier had been tightened so that the slack in the camera body mounting screw holes was taken up right to the leftmost possible position instead of being centred.

A couple of test adjustments later, and the camera now points as straight as I can get it.

Compare the straight camera with the original picture at the top of the thread.

I hope this potentially helps someone with the same problem