so ive had my RS3 Pro for about eight months now and lately ive been noticing the horizon just slowly creeps during longer shots, like not immediately but maybe 30 seconds into a slow pan and you can see it tilting maybe half a degree. it wasnt doing this before or at least i never noticed it. i recalibrated the motors twice, balanced everything fresh, and it still does it. payload is an A7IV with a 24-70 2.8 GM which i know is pushing the limit but it was working fine before.

someone told me the motor encoders can wear and the PID settings drift over time but i dont really know how to diagnose that. anyone else dealt with this on a larger payload setup or is this just a gimbal that needs to go back for service

the 24-70 GM is genuinely right at the edge of what the RS3 Pro is happy with especially if your balance isnt perfect forward-back. even a few millimeters off and the roll motor works way harder than it should. i'd actually try shooting it with a lighter lens first just to rule out that the payload balance is the culprit before assuming encoder wear or anything mechanical. also check if you have the axis locks fully released when it powers on, sounds dumb but ive seen the roll axis not fully unlocking cause creep exactly like you're describing.

if it still does it with a lighter lens then yeah the tuning might have drifted. DJI's auto-tune in the app is honestly pretty good now, run it with the actual payload and see if it tightens up. my RS3 needed a retune after i switched sensor bodies even though the weight was similar.

not the same gimbal but i had drift on my Zhiyun Crane after about a year and it turned out to be a slightly loose motor screw on the roll axis. worth just checking all the physical hardware before assuming its a software or encoder thing. took me forever to figure out because it seemed like a tuning problem