Davey

Getting closer to perfect balance (talking fractions of a millimetre) but still getting that drift/spin even after calibrating / switching off and on / recalibrating. Might it be that I need to look at the '3 weight settings' that I just heard about? My set-up is now very light (A7s2 / 28mm f2) and I am wondering if there is a change needing to be made - particularly as these are designed principally for the 5d MkIII.

Seen many New Order videos that do not feature the band and do not follow the rules of rhythm. True Faith (Philippe Decouflé) did follow the 'rules' as did The Perfect Kiss (Jonathan Demme) but other videos such as Round and Round, Run 2, 1963, 60 Miles an Hour, Turn (Michael Shamberg) and more recently - Singularity - did not. PS: I loved the OP's video

Nice one - hopefully, your issue will be resolved. My fe 28mm F2 arrives in a few hours, so I shall try again with a much less front heavy set-up that I had with the fe 16-35 F4 I am also hearing that the slow drifting to the left can correct itself when the unit is switched on and off a few times - but only if balanced to near perfection. Also got a better height plate solution by taking the sliding quick release plate off an old sled type steadicam that I had to ditch because of defective bearings.

There seems to be a wealth of disingenuity amongst the YouTube review community these days. If somebody dares to knock a product they know that there will be an army of fanboys coming for them with pitchforks and dislikes. Popularity is becoming more important than honesty because (nearly) everybody is after subscribers and revenue from product links. The tidal wave of Sony cameras and lenses this last couple of years has seen dozens of people all saying the same thing in the time it takes to do an unboxing. Three months down the line, somebody will do a thorough review and testing but receive a fraction of the attention because Sony have moved on to another product and so have the viewers. In other words, the least effort put in gets the most reward in terms of attention and money. People like Philip Bloom can take their time - sometimes many months when it comes to a review - because they do not need those 50,000 views in two days. Some of his work displayed on YouTube is top quality, but gets little attention compared to the revenue junkies. He won't care, of course, because he can make more as a professional film maker per year than a thousand scruffy oiks in their bedrooms could in a lifetime.

Nothing broken yet, but I can see the tiny screw that secures the base plate's dovetail failing after minimal use - just doesn't feel right. Decided to ditch the 16-35, take another break for a few weeks, try the 55mm on the height plate and perhaps a bit of added weight on the hot shoe. Once I see it working properly and not spinning to the left, I will purchase the less front heavy 28mm F2. Thanks for the picture.

Oh blimey. Now I have the slow spinning to the left problem that others have spoken of. I did originally read of this problem on B&H reviews of the DS1, which nearly put me off getting it. Currently wishing that I had stuck with my gut instinct that these gimbals just don't have a good enough level of quality control to be parting with £550.

Spent the last hour looking for a solution - even though mine hasn't broken yet. Might just use another plate at 90 degrees and clamp it in two places. If I drill the arm or weld the original plate in place, I cannot see me being able to sell it in the future. Could you post a picture of your balanced camera when done?

Vibrance is the same in Affinity - ruins everything. No idea what it is supposed to do, come to think of it.

The locking system is an absolute shambles of an idea. No idea what possessed them to skimp on the one area of the entire project that could see (in my case) £3,600 of gear crashing to the ground from a height of five feet. I could barely understand what was going on, either, as couldn't the subtitle program - but you can see for yourself how frail the thing is when trying to lock the base plate down. It just doesn't feel right as if it is wearing every time you come to tighten it. The implication is that the screw is not long enough if I have understood the video correctly. I am going to have another go at balancing tonight, but will be mindful of doing so nowhere near a hard surface. As my a7sii and 16-35 FE need to be raised slightly, I am now looking at the idea of permanently welding the base plate into position and then having a small rig dovetail mounting plate fixed on top of it.

That's great news, thanks - got an upcoming charity zombie walk to film and have already noticed during a quick tour that there is a piece of music that is just the ticket.

Sorry to hear that. Sounds like the screw has gone, as in this video:

My wife - who has never seen a real estate video before - said that the internal shots were fine, but the drone shots at the beginning were too lengthy and she was about to switch off. At the end of the day, one only needs a short overview of the grounds because they will be spending most of their time living inside the property. That is where the real focus should be. I tend to agree. One quick tantalising five second overhead shot externally, one minute inside the property, one ten second aerial shot coming away from the property (as if to plant the seed that this dream home is about to become a distant dream as somebody else snaps it up). The video was too heavy on 'slider' style on the internals - coupled with the quick transitions it gave an impression of sea sickness. There really should have been a mix of static shots and a more logical 'tour' of the inside. It did seem a bit random as to what we were shown next. As for the colours and grading - wonderful stuff. I would have expected the windows to be blown out, but the light was spot on. Some of the angles indoors were well thought out and brought out the character of the building. I'd stick with it, if this is what you want to do for a living, but diversify into other areas (you obviously have skills that can be applied elsewhere) because the real estate market is totally saturated with drone and slider addicts who don't really know what they are doing any more than the clients who are paying them. The wedding game is very much the same here in the UK - people charging a grand for generic copy and paste films with no real passion or character.

Found this: I shoot 4K internal and monitor in HD with no problem but settings have to be right in HDMI output. Camera HDMI outputs are not labeled with enough detail. When shooting: 1080p23.98 HDMI progressive output is 1080p23.98 1080p25 HDMI progressive output is 1080p50 (so many monitors can't see it) 1080p25 HDMI interlaced output is 1080i50 2160p25 HDMI progressive 4K output is 2160p25 (so most monitors can't see it) 2160p25 HDMI progressive HD output is 1080p50 (so many monitors can't see it) 2160p25 HDMI interlaced HD output is 1080i50 Tip. Force it to output interlaced. Unless you are using an external 4K recorder. Cheers Adam A few reported the same problem.

How did you get on? Given up on mine for a few weeks - will try again in the near future. It's better that way if still struggling to get it balanced after 4-6 hours - lest it ends up going through the window. Certain camera body / lens combinations simply won't balance without additional height plates, secondary weights added to the hot shoe, clamps added to the main plate etc. One problem tends to beget another problem. The MS1 was the same, which is probably why Dave Dugdale never mentioned the Beholders again.

If you need autofocus, forget the a7sii - it is next to useless even in good light with native, fast glass - get the a7rii instead. The good thing for me is that I am now forced to shoot manual focus (which every expert on Youtube only ever does, allegedly). The bad thing for me is that I miss nearly every shot in any fast moving and unpredictable scenario unless I am at F16 and a reasonable distance away from the action. But then I am new to this manual focus lark and can only get better with time. The a7s must have been atrocious if the a7sii is a big improvement. My cheapo Panasonic FZ200 hunts far less, and switches focus between subject and random background objects far less.

Nope. All searches lead back to this thread.

Would have wanted much better low light performance and not a lot else. Kept checking for release news amongst the many rumour mills for ten months but suspected around the time of purchasing the a7sii (February) that there would be nothing concrete before Photokina in the Autumn. Even then, it might never happen - or does happen but without improved low light. It seems that one year in Sony time is two years in Panasonic time. Can't help thinking that the pressure is on Panasonic to come up with a worldy of a camera if they are going to grab back some ground from their competitors in the prosumer market.

I'd buy some decent lighting kit if all you are missing is the ability to shoot at 3200. Get a second NX1 and a few lenses out of the change

Yeah, sorry for the false information. Thought it was both the Ursa Mini 4K and the Ursa Mini 4.6K that shipped without the global shutter. It is just the latter.

What kind of documentaries do you shoot? In other words, how often has the jelly effect ruined a shot up to now? There are ways of shooting and cutting that render rolling shutter issues completely mute. Regarding the Ursa Mini, they do not ship with global shutters.

If I was in the USA I wouldn't hesitate to use B&H, but the shipping prices to the UK wipe out even the best of bundled deals. I won't use Amazon for major purchases like cameras and lenses because some of the delivery companies employ gorillas that seem to think that fragile means throw it around like a frisbee. For my a7s2, lenses, tripod, beholder DS1, I used Wex Photographic - all of these products, apart from the DS1, came the following day (though chose free 3 to 4 day delivery). I was not expecting the DS1 for a good three months (that was the honest estimated waiting time) as it was not in stock when I ordered it and getting hold of them can be tricky, but even that came within a week. Must have had the next one off the production line. I tend to use Amazon for just about everything else, mind - their reviewing system allows everything through. Regarding negative reviews on B&H, there are plenty of them. Just check the reviews for the DS1

Hello Eric Can these be used on YouTube without getting third party copyright notifications? I am a YouTube partner and monetise some of my videos, but obviously cannot use most music that is out there. I tend to use Premiumbeat and Kevin McLeod, but the former is expensive and the latter has currently run out of steam regarding the moody types of tracks that I tend to use. I looked on your FAQs and it isn't overtly clear. I am aware that you should be credited in any video/film specifically regarding track titles and artist. Thanks

Loved that so much that I forgot what the subject matter was. Always a good sign of a great piece of work when you forget all about technicalities, specs, named products, settings -and become engrossed in the whole point of film, which is to tell a story.

As above - you cannot trust the a7sii autofocus. Better to go manual and know your focus area - which won't mean you are shooting at f1.8 much of the time unless you have obedient subjects.