DJI support will be busy as they deal with an influx of service requests due to their Mavic Pro glare issues.
Link to test video footage we sent to DJI via our YouTube channel.
DJI began shipping out its latest batch of Mavic Pro drones but users aren’t going to be happy when they notice the Mavic Pro glare that’s occurring due to a defect in the camera.
There is a noticeable glare in the bottom left corner of the video. We tested this glare issue with (and without) the gimbal cover.
Our results found that the glare is consistent in the bottom left corner of the video. This Mavic Pro glare issue seems to occur even when the camera is facing away from the sun. Below are comparison images with and without the gimbal cover.
Mavic Pro Glare Issue, side-by-side comparison with and without gimbal cover.
In addition to the Mavic Pro glare issue, we also noticed a compression artifact in the right side of the video. A compression artifact is a distortion caused by data compression. You can see the Mavic Pro glare and artifact issues in the image below.
Mavic Pro glare and compression artifact.
We’ve heard from other Mavic Pro owners who experienced the same glare issue, even with Mavic Pro drones purchased on Amazon. It is possible that this issue affects all or most of the Mavic Pro drones that were manufactured after December 2016. It seems like current Mavic Pro drones shipped as recently as August 2017 also have this issue.
We sent test footage to DJI and spoke with them about this issue. They told us that the Mavic Pro glare issue we had was the result of a defective camera. A DJI repair center representative suggested sending in defective devices for warranty replacement.
If you have a defective Mavic Pro, you should be prepared for extended wait times on warranty replacements! Based on the number of people who have contacted us, they may be handling a lot of returns. DJI replaced our defective drone several times, and each new drone had the same issue. We finally gave up and returned it for a full refund.
Possible Solutions
- If you have a Mavic Pro with this glare issue and can’t get a replacement, you can try to minimize the glare by removing the gimbal cover. You could use an alternate gimbal cover/glare shield to protect the gimbal without covering the camera. This doesn’t eliminite the glare issue, but it does help to minimize it (as shown in our example photos above).
- We ended up returning our Mavic and purchasing the 3DR Solo from Amazon for less than $250. It doesn’t have a camera built in, so we’re using this GoPro and the video quality is amazing! And the total cost was still less than the Mavic Pro…without all the issues and defects! Score!
Update 8/23/2017: Since posting this article, we’ve been contacted by hundreds of Mavic Pro drone owners experiencing this issue. It seems like even newer drones purchased as recently as this week are still affected by this defect.
I received my Mavic Pro on Friday, took it for a test flight on Sunday, watched the video this morning and noticed the glare. I thought for certain it was due to the gimbal cover but after doing a search and finding this article it appears I have a defective device. Bummer cause I was really excited about the flight results. Looks like I’ll be sending mine back.
Hi Sean! Please keep us updated on your replacement time. The Mavic Pro that we had this issue with was ordered directly through DJI. We have a second one that we’ll be testing next week that was ordered and fulfilled through Amazon. Hoping that the Amazon shipment doesn’t have the same issue. Where did you order yours from?
Thanks and will do. I want to do one more test without the plastic gimbal bubble before initiating the exchange. I ordered mine through the online Apple store. Do you know of any DJI specific channel I can report the issue to?
We called DJI US support directly at 818-235-0789.
We thought it was the gimbal cover too but, as you can see from the photo above, we got the glare without the cover as well. It was a little less noticeable without the gimbal cover, but it was still there. We spent hours on the phone and chatting with DJI support, sending test footage, updating firmware, etc. Finally they acknowledged that it was defective and asked us to send it back.
Good luck with your replacement. If you know anyone else who has (or is interested) in the Mavic Pro, please share this article with them. Thanks, Sean!
Thanks again. I’ve already shared your article on my Facebook feed. One more question. When was this post made/when did you order/receive your Mavic Pro?
I did contact DJI support by chat who in turn tried to have me email [email protected] with test video showing the issue. They then indicated that the software team was aware of the issue and would be issuing a firmware fix in the near future. I referred the support specialist to your article and highlighted the fact that you spoke with someone at DJI who confirmed that there is a defect with the camera and a firmware update probably wouldn’t fix the issue. The support specialist then indicated he could initiate a repair claim. I’ve just received the email initiating the claim where I’ll need to send my Mavic in to be looked at and repaired by a technician. Brand new and already in the shop for repair. Not a good start!
This all happened last week. Our brand new Mavic Pro arrived from DJI last week and we immediately noticed the issue. They originally tried to tell us that it was a firmware issue as well, and had us update the firmware while we were on the phone with them, but that did not fix the issue. We’ve heard reports from numerous people who have received their Mavic Pro over the past week or so and have the same problem.
Hi Sam, I’ve uploaded a few more test videos from this past weekend. Take a look if you can at this one in particular:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyfdoiO15RM
I’m not noticing the glare outside of normal stuff you’d get when shooting toward the sun. However I’m now noticing faint horizontal lines that appear then disappear. You’ll notice it around the 04:32 mark. Is this the compression artifact you mentioned? Let me know what you think.
Yes, those lines are the same thing we noticed (and is shown in the second image in this post). We believe those are compression artifacts. DJI has received our Mavic Pro, but they haven’t assessed it yet.
We just received a replacement Mavic Pro today direct from DJI. Opened it up and did a test flight, the glare issue was immediately prevalent. We’re sending it back and requesting a refund. No sense in getting another defective replacement. The sun isn’t even out, so it’s obviously a defect in their hardware and they haven’t fixed it yet.
I ordered my Mavic Pro direct from DJI. From the time of purchase, it took nearly two weeks to arrive. Most of that time was spent scouring the Internet for any and all information pertaining to said drone, plenty of pacing back and forth, and anxiously hitting refresh on the FedEx tracking page. You get the picture…I wanted to have that drone in my hands!! Anyway, it finally arrived this past Friday and a few hours later, I was at a local park, flying high (metaphorically and most literally).
Almost immediately, I noticed some sort of obstruction or glare on the bottom left of the video feed. Initially I assumed that I’d simply managed to get some sort of debris stuck either on the gimbal cover itself or inside of it. I brought the drone down and checked but couldn’t find anything that might’ve been the culprit. Looking at the camera lens, I didn’t see any sort of obstruction either. I took off again, looking closely at the screen and noticed the same issue. At certain angles, it would disappear, only to reappear again a few seconds later as I maneuvered the drone and changed the camera angles.
I left the park, certain that the issue was still a product of my own ignorance or mishandling of the drone/camera. Perhaps in my rush to fly the Mavic, I had overlooked something? Maybe there was some original packaging that I had neglected to remove? I got home and spent quite awhile reading through the instruction manual. I watched every instructional video I could find regarding pre flight procedures. There was nothing about this issue.
Over the past few days, I’ve spent as much time with the Mavic as I possibly could. I’ve recorded tons of video and all of it is plagued by this annoying “glare” issue. In my efforts to figure out what the heck I’m doing wrong, I finally came across this page. I guess I should be happy to know that it’s not my fault but I’m certainly discouraged to find that it’s a defect that will most likely require me to send the drone back. The nearly two weeks that I had to wait before getting the drone originally were bad enough. I can only imagine how long I’ll be Mavic-less once I send it back to DJI. Either way, I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to post your findings! I appreciate it
Hi Doug! Sorry to hear about your Mavic Pro. We sent ours in about a two weeks ago, and a replacement is on its way and will be delivered Friday. Hopefully the replacement works, and we’ll be sure to post an update. Did you contact DJI yet in regards to the glare? -Sam
I thought glare was just natural due to lighting.. guess I’ll be sending mine in … ?
We thought it was due to sun, but after testing in other conditions without the gimbal cover we found it was a defect. We sent it in and DJI sent ANOTHER defective Mavic, so we decided to return it for a refund and look into alternatives.
The 3DR Solo is on Amazon right now for under $300 (previously over $1000, but 3DR is no longer in business), but you would need to get a GoPro as well. Still cheaper than DJI and has great reviews. http://amzn.to/2m8rJPS
I have a feeling the defect DJi is referring to is the artifact you’re getting. The flare seems pretty normal especially with the hood off. I have contacted DJI so hopefully they can chime in.
According to DJI, the glare is a defect. It occurs with the gimbal cover on and off, and persists even when there is not direct sunlight. The glare is worse with the gimbal cover on, however it’s still noticeable with the gimbal cover off. Good luck dealing with DJI, it’s been nothing short of frustrating for us.
Hi, first of all I want to say that tha mavic hasn’t compression problem. That artifact are shadow on flare caused by propellers. My mavic has the same problem. Unfortunately I sent back to DJI 3 times. Every camera they replaced has the same problem, and also worste. I think it’s a design flew but I’ll wait for my last try, then I will ask for my money back.
While we can’t say for sure whether there is a compression issue, we’re confident that the artifact is not caused by shadows. If that were the case, the artifact would be in different positions based on the position of the prop in relation to the sun. It always persists in the same corner of the screen. As far as DJI, they told us the glare and artifact issue were both defects, and we’ve already sent back our Mavic once and it was replaced with another defective unit (which we’ve sent back for a full refund).
Hi, Maybe you are right, because I’ve seen just a screenshot and not a video . Anyway it seems similar to problem of mine. But just because you say it’s only on corner, I say are caused by propellers shadows. In fact you see that there is a flare in that corner and that interruption of flare is propellers shadows. they appears just in some light condition and angle but always in a corner where there is a flare. I made various test and I’m pretty sure of that. At moment I can’t post my videos because I prefer waiting for DJI service repair, but after 3 cameras with the same problem I think it’s a design flew, also id DJI, everytime, tell me that is a problem they can solve. I’ll post my videos when this trouble will be over, one way or another.
If it were a shadow, the glare would move positions based on the source of light (sun). We’ve also tested the camera without the propellers attached and still had the same issue. Good luck with DJI, hopefully they replace yours with a working model!
So what is the verdict here ? I received my mavic couple of days ago and have the same problem …
We believe that DJI has yet to fix the issue. Over the last several weeks we’ve heard from numerous people who have purchased a Mavic Pro and had the same issue with glare.
I got my Mavic 2 weeks ago. Same glare problem. I did research and found this site. Question….Has anyone who sent the Mavic back for replacement, received a new one that films without the glare?????
We have yet to hear from anyone who has received a non-defective unit as a replacement. We had 3 different units and all of them had this issue. Wish we had more info, but that’s all we know. I also doubt that DJI will be honest with you if you ask them, their customer service is less than stellar.
I just got mine yesterday from Sam’s club and has that exact glare, should I return it? From the sounds of this feed it’s going to be a headache to get a replacement.
Yes, I would recommend returning it while you still can. DJI seems to be sending out replacements that also have the same defect. We went through three Mavics before we returned them and bought this drone for a lot less. http://amzn.to/2qseRp0
We use our GoPro (which has better video quality anyway). If you’re buying a GoPro, make sure you don’t get the newest one since it doesn’t work properly with this drone. Here’s the one we have: http://amzn.to/2r9Gx3a
I have exactly same issue here at Australia. I bought last Friday. Mine has also probkem with zoom, which does not work at all.
Hi Noah, sorry to hear that you’re having the same issue. It seems like all the latest Mavic Pro drones have this problem. Wish we could help, but since we purchased ours from DJI we were able to deal with them directly for a refund. It wasn’t easy, but after a while we finally got our money back. Good luck with everything. Feel free to share this post with others so they can avoid getting into the same mess that we all did!
+1. I have the same problem.
Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately we don’t think that DJI has resolved this issue yet. Based on the number of people we hear from each week, this is an ongoing issue. If we had to guess, we would say that even if they send a replacement you’re likely to experience the same issue with that one.
Thanks for putting the article up, I just got mine and noticed the same issue as well. What it looks like to me is the bezel of the camera is reflecting back in the dome. You can see “glare” really move around, doing sudden stops where the camera is actively stabilizing.
I’m going to put some tape around the edges of the camera and see if that helps.
Hey Charles, thanks for the info! We had the glare even with the dome (gimbal cover) removed, which is why we contacted DJI regarding this issue. Hopefully you’re able to find a resolution that works for you…keep us posted!