X3 out of focus

[mrummel]

Is there any way to focus the X3 camera? I recently purchased a drone from a friend and the X3 is out of focus. He only flew it a couple times and never crashed it, so it is in mint condition. He said he did not have a focus issue but I am not sure if he knows for sure.

I could not find a focus function and read that the focus is fixed. I even tried removing the filter and still it is soft. I compared it to the Hero 3+ from my phantom 2 and the gopro is sharper. Any help would be great.
Do I send the camera into DJI to have it worked on?

I attached the image but to see the blur you have to zoom in a bit. It is obvious when you zoom to 66% in Photoshop.

X3 Focus Issue

• mrummel
• Oct 17, 2017
• 1

Odd focus issue. It is a screen grab from Photoshop zoomed to 66%.

Should I send it into DJI to have it looked at?

The settings were
ISO 100
Aperture: F1.4
Shutter: 1/320
AWB

Thanks for any help I can get.

My Hero 3+ got better images on my phantom 2.

 

[mrummel]

Actually the f-stop must have been f2.8. The info I pulled from file info was incorrect.

 

[Casey53]

Infamous "DJI Tilted Sensor." Compare sharper right side vs. left side. Bad camera, and not that uncommon for DJI products.

 

[AeroMirage]

Personally, I was unhappy with the X3 after about 3 days. Sold it and moved on to the X5 and was satisfied. Focus, true F-stop, lens interchangeability, etc. Never did like Point & shoot cameras. Later I got a Z3 and loved it. Nice smooth zoom, auto focus, f stop as well.

 

[mrummel]

Personally, I was unhappy with the X3 after about 3 days. Sold it and moved on to the X5 and was satisfied. Focus, true F-stop, lens interchangeability, etc. Never did like Point & shoot cameras. Later I got a Z3 and loved it. Nice smooth zoom, auto focus, f stop as well.

How does the X5 focus? Do you have to buy the focus controller for it? I opted to buy a Inspire over the Phantom 4 Pro because I wanted the option to upgrade the camera and the stable flying platform. I flew in high wind yesterday and it was very stable.

 

[AeroMirage]

Touch a spot on the screen and it will auto focus to that spot. You can also set it to manual focus and a slider appears on the screen to use. Focus control knob is optional.

 

[emtea]

Personally, I was unhappy with the X3 after about 3 days. Sold it and moved on to the X5 and was satisfied. Focus, true F-stop, lens interchangeability, etc. Never did like Point & shoot cameras. Later I got a Z3 and loved it. Nice smooth zoom, auto focus, f stop as well.

I've had my X3 for over 2 years now and I've never had an issue with it. I've been thinking about getting the X5 for a while but I just can't justify it--I'm primarily a hobbyist, I fly on vacations and that's about it. Do you think the Z3 is a worthy upgrade over the X3? I'm not sure how much I'll need the zoom since I do mostly just travel videos but it is cheaper than an X5 (I have read the Z3 zoom for video is not very good). So in the end, I'm just sitting here with my X3. Would you have any insights or thoughts on my situation and any recommendations? I'd like to keep the rig simple and not have to worry about focusing and all that. I have recently started to get into more still photos with the drone, do you think the X5 is a worthwhile upgrade for a hobbyist (I'm pretty good with a DSLR and the X3 gives me no control over the aperture which is frustrating).

 

[AeroMirage]

The Z3 is much better than the X3. Look at this video. It was shot from a stationary hover as I did not want to get any closer to the crowd.
It was also quite windy but that doesn't show in the video.

 

[emtea]

The Z3 is much better than the X3. Look at this video. It was shot from a stationary hover as I did not want to get any closer to the crowd.
It was also quite windy but that doesn't show in the video.

Wow, very nice. Thanks for sharing that, I did not realize the Z3 was that much better (my X3 is worthless at night time). Is it a different sensor?

 

[AeroMirage]

Wow, very nice. Thanks for sharing that, I did not realize the Z3 was that much better (my X3 is worthless at night time). Is it a different sensor?

Same size sensor but the Z3 is miles ahead of the X3.

 

[John Alan]

The X3 has a screw in off the shelf lens assy inside it...
Do a search here under my user name and you will find some background (go back over a year ago)

I have four X3's and three of them have the lens swapped with different ones... (NDVI,NIR,72* FOV)

But yes... you have to set the focus by screwing the lens body gently all the way in, then back off till it's focused.
Took a fair bit of trial and error to set each one up at infinity focus... take long distance pic... look at blow up... repeat

DJI locks it down with glue... The replacements I used have a rubber o-ring to keep it in place...
Takes a hefty twist with a lens pliers to break a stock one loose... feels like your breaking it...
In theory... your X3 could be fixed... up to you... (break loose, clean up, reset and reglue)

That said... I also have a Z3 and use it for most normal scouting type flying... the zoom is too handy not to have...

 

[cmartin3977]

Im assuming your talking about the Peau Production lens? A replacement lens wouldn't work with my x3 because the lens wouldn't screw in far enough to focus.