I’ve noticed that when horizon leveling is off, my footage doesn’t stay level. The camera is mounted straight on my helmet, so I’m not sure why this keeps happening. Is it just how action cameras work, or is there something else going on?
Did you check the horizon calibration in the settings?
Hollis said:
Did you check the horizon calibration in the settings?
Yeah, horizon leveling works fine when it’s on. But this issue happens when it’s turned off.
Hollis said:
Did you check the horizon calibration in the settings?
Yeah, horizon leveling works fine when it’s on. But this issue happens when it’s turned off.
Without horizon leveling, the camera just records however it’s positioned. If it’s even a little off, the footage will look tilted.
Probably because the camera isn’t sitting perfectly level?
QuadcopterQueen said:
Probably because the camera isn’t sitting perfectly level?
I figured that would be the obvious answer, but my camera is mounted straight on my helmet. Maybe my head naturally tilts a little to the left.
I’ve also noticed this in a lot of motovlog videos—most of them seem slightly tilted to the left, and the center of the fisheye effect isn’t right in the middle but a little off.
I used to have a GoPro Hero Session 4 with a tiltable mount, and I had to tilt it slightly to the right to make the footage look level.
Does anyone else notice this happening a lot in motovlogs?
Dude… you’re asking why the footage isn’t level when the leveling feature is OFF? That’s because the camera isn’t level, so everything it records is tilted. Leveling is done with software, not hardware.
Maybe you’re just not level-headed.
If you look at the overpass in my footage, the top part isn’t straight. I keep noticing this in motovlogs—half of the videos look tilted. Do most of us naturally tilt our heads? Or is there another reason for this?
I’m using an Osmo Action 4. The top footage is in wide mode, and the bottom footage has horizon balancing (standard FOV). I know the FOV changes things, but this also happens in standard FOV without horizon leveling. I picked a wide FOV screenshot because the tilt is easier to see.
I’m not familiar with this DJI camera, but from a basic optics perspective—if you’re riding straight toward an overpass, the top of it should look level based on the lens you’re using.
For example, with a 55mm lens, the top of the overpass might look completely straight, but with a 15mm lens, there will be some curvature.
Also, your head position can make the distortion worse. If you’re looking straight at the center of the overpass, the effect is minimized. But if you’re riding in the right lane and tilting your head left to center the overpass in your view, the curvature will look stronger.
Some people mentioned your camera has a horizon leveling feature—if it’s off, that might be why it looks off.
Try sticking a small bubble level on top of your camera to see if it’s actually level.
So you turned off the horizon leveling and now the footage isn’t level… and you’re confused why?