Can not detect camera lens?

[djkelly57]

My inspire 2 will not focus the camera. I get a message that the bird can't detect the camera lens. Then I get a pop up that says I must manually focus the camera the first time that I use it. I try to focus but nothing works. I have a clear image right in front of the camera but everything else is blurry. I have had this bird for awhile now and the camera has always worked before. Any help would be appreciated. It is an X5S camera.
Kelly

 

[NickU]

Ok, couple of things to try, simplest first...

1. First check you've got the lens set to autofocus - there's a switch on the side of the lens to flick between manual and autofocus modes. You might have accidentally set it to manual at some point. If you can't see it, then try moving the rubber ring that's often around the lens barrel.
2. Take the lens off, reattach it and make sure you hear the little click that says the lens is fully locked in position. Hopefully by now it's working again...
3. If it's not working yet, then dismount the gimbal from the aircraft, take the lens off the camera body and check the contacts on both the camera and lens - they should be clean and golden in color. The camera body has small spring loaded contact pins, they should all move freely and be at the same height. If they're not at the same height, gently run the back of your fingernail over them and see if the pin will pop back up.

After that, check the gimbal connectors don't have any debris in them, remount the gimbal and hope that everything works....

Good luck!

 

[djkelly57]

@NickU

Thanks for the help. I did all the things you said, but to no avail. It sees my gimbal alright but not the camera lens.

 

[NickU]

Ummm, not sounding too good it seems like the camera isn't communicating with the lens & that could potentially be a problem with the lens, the camera or the gimbal. It's hard to diagnose stuff over the 'net.

When you put the lens on, try rotating it backwards very slightly when it locks/clicks into place, the contacts could be slightly out of line - just needs one to not quite connect

With everything connected up & turned on, Can you change the aperture in DJI Go? If you watch the front of the lens, you should be able to see the aperture diaphragm opening & closing. Also, (presumably it's the DJI 15mm lens) pull the rubber ring back on the lens and check that the aperture ring rotates too - It shouldn't stop the lens focusing, but hey, worth a try!

If it's been working up to now, then have you changed anything recently? Firmware update? Crash? Heavy landing? Had problems putting the lens on or off, or the gimbal on or off the aircraft? Is there any visible damage or marks on the lens, lens mount, or camera?

Thinking around the problem... Have you got another lens you could try... or know someone who has? That way you can find out if there's a problem with the lens or the camera/Gimbal. Even better, if you know someone else with an Inspire 1/Inspire 2/Osmo you could try the lens with their camera?

 

[djkelly57]

Nick

Update today, crash yesterday. I was about 2 ft. high. Did break the prop. I was kinda' hoping I wouldn't have to admit that. At this point I guess i'll just have to send it in. I could send in the camera and hope for the best. The DJI Go 4 App knows when the gimbal isn't installed, so that tells me the gimbal is probably alright. The camera works it just won't focus, and it still records video. That tells me that the camera is alright. Its the lens that it can't see but who knows where in the chain the problem lies. I do want to thank you for your help. I don't know of anyone in my area with a drone and this is the only camera I have for the I2. Good thing I have a P4P+ to keep me going till Big Bird gets fixed.

 

[NickU]

Not sure how close you are.... if B&H is open in NY, you could try taking the lens in to them and see if it works on a micro 4/3rds camera... at least it might give you a clue as to what is damaged. If it doesn't work, you've a good idea it's possibly just the lens...

 

[djkelly57]

I hope you are ready for this. I have a Galaxy Tab A. I replaced the Ipad mini 4 and tried it. The Tab said "no camera lens". However I could see the image clearly. So I put the bird in the air and did a little recording. All the while it's telling me "no camera lens". I played the video thru my computer and it was fine. I have a second controller that I haven't updated yet so I tried it as well. The second controller tells me that there is no gimbal. I'm thinking we have a software issue here.

 

[NickU]

Hmmm, If the lens is more-or-less at infinity focus, then your video feed may appear to be normal... until you fly close to something and you can't refocus.... or you manually adjust focus on the ground and then find it's out of focus in the air.

You could try doing a firmware refresh on the I2 - connect the I2 to your computer with the DJI supplied USB cable , run Assistant 2 and connect it up. Once the I2 nd Assistant 2 are connected, you should see an option to refresh the Firmware - make sure to do do it with camera attached to the I2.

Beyond that, I see from your posts that you've previously had some issues with the I2 and your Galaxy tab which presumably "disappeared" when you switched over to using your iPad.... I'm wondering if it really disappeared or if you've had an intermittent fault with the camera all along....

I think you may need to talk to whoever supplied the X5S and lens and see if they can do a check and maybe a swap out under warranty... or if they have to send it back to DJI.

 

[djkelly57]

Nick

I bought my Bird and camera from B&H. I am on the far side of the state from them. 50 miles southwest of Buffalo.
In the beginning the bird worked well except the Galaxy tab would not display the video without breaking up badly. All the recorded video played just fine on the computer.
Replaced the Tab with an Ipad and all was well. Video displayed on Ipad, was clean, and no breaking up. Inspected my sister's roof and everything was all good.
Two days later I went to do a Real Estate shoot and had all this trouble with my camera. The only difference was the RC update. The Real Estate shoot is where I had my crash, but my focus problem was before the crash.
As it stands everything seems to be working great. I have that prompt telling me Cannot detect camera lens and yet it is working just fine. Go figure. It will focus near and far.
Thanks again for all your help.

 

[djkelly57]

Nick
Today I noticed that the Ring around my camera with all the numbers on it was set at 16. That is to the far right of the dial. There is a red A to the far left of the dial. I thought that A stood for Auto. However when I turned it to the A everything looked washed out. I still have the prompt telling me Cannot Detect Camera Lens. There is a new problem. To the lower left in my image a dark spot now appears. I'm beginning to think I need to send this back to B&H.

 

[NickU]

The spot is probably a bit of dust on the camera sensor - it's probably got in when you've been taking the lens on/off the camera body. It's an ocupational hazard and part of life with modern digital cameras and interchangeable lenses. In the old days, it would just put a scratch all the way along your film , now it's just a 'dust bunny' or smudge/spot. So yes, when you stop down the aperture to something like f/16 it'll be in focus, and would be out of focus/blurred at f/1.8. When you put it to A, yes it should go off whatever is set in the camera settings in DJI Go.

It's a pain, but I think you do need to take it in to B&H and at least have a chat with someone there - if it's something easiily fixable, they'll sort it. If it needs replacing, I'm sure they'll sort it too - not a lot to lose apart from a bit of your time and fuel/parking/mtr fare, and a fair bit more to gain in doing it

 

[djkelly57]

I'm thinking UPS, I'm 500+ miles from B&H

 

[NickU]

Ah... OK You and the good lady don't fancy a weekend break in NYC then?

Ok, maybe UPS might be good

 

[Frank Eaton]

I've been getting the same "cannot detect lens" warning at startup and haven't been able to get rid of it. No solution yet but I DO live in NYC and will take my x5s and lenses into BH this week and will report back.

Frank

 

[djkelly57]

@Frank Eaton
Might be a stroke of luck for me. I'm sorry to hear that you have problems as well but at the same time I thank you for your post. I still haven't figured out what is going on. I will keep an eye out for your next post.
Thanks Kelly

 

[TheRider]

Ive had my I2 with the X4 camera since Feb working with no issues. Had a medium impact into a tree top recently as a result of pretending to be Maverick from Top Gun and that cost me: 1) a set of props, 2) a little alignment adjustment, 3) realization that Im not a top gun pilot. The camera looked to be unscathed however since the introduction of bird and branch I get a regular warning in my Go4 app saying "Cannot detect lens".

In normal light everything appears to work fine but in sunlight my camera no longer adjusts to light sensitivity automatically. If I go into aperture settings on touch screen of Go4 flight control screen and click any setting other than AUTO it springs back to life. I read this thread and wonder if I should try opening up the X4 camera (if thats even an option) to see if everything looks in tact or not.

Im new to the I2 and most camera tech so any feedback based on my circumstances would be appreciated. I hesitate to send in for repairs yet because the footage the camera is producing is still excellent. Just did firmware updates today also and while I haven't retested the I2, the lens warning is still showing. Thanks!

 

[djkelly57]

@TheRider
I started this thread with the same problem on my x5s. I still have the problem but as you say the footage is still good. I have taken my lens off and checked the pins and connectors many times and found nothing wrong. I'm still not sure if the problem is in the lens, camera, or software. I just been holding out that someone will come along with the answer.

 

[Shayd]

I had a very similar problem with Panasonic 14-42mm Where randomly during zooming in/out the App would pop up message saying Lens Disconnected and it has to be reseated in order to work properly again. Does not happen with Olympus 17mm Could be lens.

 

[Alianex]

I have the same "lens detection" issue after a small crash. Anyone got any feedback from their issues? Im hoping its the bird not the camera. Thanks in advance for any info....

 

[djkelly57]

Got my X5S back from DJI. They said that my camera checked out alright, but that they were replacing it anyway. I still have the "cannot detect camera lens" warning. So, if my problem isn't in the camera, it must be somewhere in the Aircraft. Anybody have any thoughts??...........Anybody?