NX1user Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I'm looking to get a sub-$1,000 gimbal for my NX1 with 16-50 S lens. That combo comes in around 1.3kg. Although the Pilotfly H1+ isn't rated for that weight, they put PID settings for that combo on their Facebook page. So, Pilotfly is in the running.The MiniSturdy Flight is rated for 1.3kg but my hesitation with them is I don't see them mentioned on blogs or forums that much. I have no idea if it's a good product and company.Then there's the Nebula 4200. It's rated at 1.6kg and seems to address a lot of complaints people had about the 4000. But, it isn't actually out yet. Their demonstration video (https://youtu.be/GQDN8QGu-y4) seems kind of weird to me. I don't want to see someone jerking the camera around, I want to see what the footage from the camera looks like.I have project coming up in November where I could really use a gimbal.Any info or advice you can offer is much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinegain Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Rent something for the project whilst waiting to see how the Nebula 4200 pans out?The MiniSturdyFlight you mentioned looks interesting. I like the fact you can flip out your camera's vari-angle screen, should it have one. Demo footage looks quite ok actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NX1user Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 Rent something for the project whilst waiting to see how the Nebula 4200 pans out?The only rentals around here are for the larger gimbals, running about $250 a day. Renting one for one day would mean not owning a gimbal for months. The MiniSturdyFlight you mentioned looks interesting. I like the fact you can flip out your camera's vari-angle screen, should it have one. Demo footage looks quite ok actually.It does look interesting. There's one video specifically with the my camera and lens too. I'm just hesitant because of not reading much about the company (bad or good) anywhere. I own the Ronin-M. It's slightly above your price point... but it's perfect for that setup.I just can't afford the Ronin-M right now or anytime in the near future unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Plagaro Mussard Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 It does look interesting. There's one video specifically with the my camera and lens too. I'm just hesitant because of not reading much about the company (bad or good) anywhere.I have a MiniSturdy Flight since the beginning of September. Jacopo, the owner/crazy inventor lives at 8Km/5miles from me, so it was great just going there, talking with him and having the gimbal set up for my Panasonic LX100. Took it on holidays with and didn't treat it exactly nice, it was on a too little bag but it survived well! The gimbal is very well built, the battery last forever (with the LX100). For my use, it's very nice. It takes out the roughness of hand held. You probably can use the start, the movement and the end of your shooting. I could use it even zoomed out (75mm equivalent) if not walking. The nice thing about an electronic gimbal it's that even if it's not perfectly balanced, the motors compensate. It gives some weight and "look" to the LX100. The not so nice things, when you turn it on, it must be still, you can't turn it on while in a car, for example. And if you use weird angles (mostly too tilted up/down) it sometimes goes crazy, you must stop it with your hand. Those are probably common to all other gimbals.Jacopo is a serious&honest people. He can probably pre-calibrate it for your NX1. Ask him!!!Edited to add: I love that I can see the LCD of the LX100. No need to use an external monitor with the MiniSturdy Flight!!! vaga 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NX1user Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 Thank you for that information Xavier! Xavier Plagaro Mussard 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manueldomes Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Pretty happy with the Pilotfly H1+ . Definitely needs quite a bit of learning and setting up, but the upside is that their customer service seems to be really good. The guy from the German store set with me for about 2 hours for a remote desktop software setup, which in the end turned out to be mostly necessary due to user error. So far, it seems to be a good choice. Some shots with it in the short we just submitted to Colchester Film Festival's 60 Hour Challenge here: https://vimeo.com/groups/60hourfilmchallenge/videos/141379341 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NX1user Posted October 5, 2015 Author Share Posted October 5, 2015 Pretty happy with the Pilotfly H1+ . Definitely needs quite a bit of learning and setting up, but the upside is that their customer service seems to be really good. The guy from the German store set with me for about 2 hours for a remote desktop software setup, which in the end turned out to be mostly necessary due to user error. So far, it seems to be a good choice. Some shots with it in the short we just submitted to Colchester Film Festival's 60 Hour Challenge here: https://vimeo.com/groups/60hourfilmchallenge/videos/141379341 Nice work there! I did the 48hr film project with some friends a couple months ago, so I know how challenging that is. What camera and lens set up were you using? How much did it weigh? manueldomes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manueldomes Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Thanks! Appreciated. Gimbal shots were done with GH4 and Oly 12mm lens. My impression is that those pistol gimbals work best with small wide angles - a bigger combo would balance for sure, but takes longer to set up, drains batteries and muscles faster and you can't really do much in terms of focusing while using the gimbal anyway.Almost all other shots were done with Sigma 30/1.4 with speedbooster xl, by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tellure Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I don't have an NX-1 but here's my day-1 review of the Pilotfly H1+ with the A7R2 (scroll to the bottom of the thread for an updated video):http://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/9232-pilotfly-h1/?do=findComment&comment=107768 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NX1user Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 I don't have an NX-1 but here's my day-1 review of the Pilotfly H1+ with the A7R2 (scroll to the bottom of the thread for an updated video):http://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/9232-pilotfly-h1/?do=findComment&comment=107768Thanks for that. I'm leaning towards the Pilotfly because of their active presence on Facebook supporting their customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bernard Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 If you can't wait I think the Pilotfly H1+ is the way to go right now right now based on customer service, pricing and documentation. I wound up getting a Came Single and I'm experiencing a bit of buyer's remorse because I can't get into the PID's without violating the warranty--although it's a very well made product I can balance a camera on in 30 seconds. As I've gotten more experienced with gimbals I've got to say that all I see now in most gimbal footage is bounce. If the next generation gimbals can work through that, like the Nebula 4200 that will be a big step forward.I suspect the encoders and tool less designs along with solutions to eliminate or minimize the bounce will be the things we see in low-end to mid range gimbals next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manueldomes Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 Did some playing around with the pilotfly today and some impressions - rather than using one heavy zoom it's probably better to have 2 or 3 light primes handy that will cover your range. I can balance the olympus 12mm, kern 25/1.4 and olympus 45mm with minimally shifting the camera, as it's the center of gravity. Also, it can make sense to leave a mini tripod attached at the gimbal's foot, at least for some shots - I am using the cullmann cruiser and can use it for an additional left hand grip to balance weight on two arms, or to use it as a chest brace for added stabilization. Both should work towards minimizing vertical movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpfilmz Posted October 8, 2015 Share Posted October 8, 2015 You may want to hold off and check this new gimbal out from DJI. I'm thinking about selling my Ronin M for this.http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2015/10/08/dji-launches-new-650-4k-handheld-steadicam-to-make-your-movies-as-smooth-as-hollywoods/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NX1user Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 Looks like there's another alternative to add to the list, holds up to 1.7kg and has plenty of demo videos:http://www.cnchelicopter.com/beholder-trd-ds1-3-axis-handheld-gimbal-for-canon-5d2-5d3-etc/Anybody know anything about this gimbal or the company that makes it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pablogrollan Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Don't know about the quality of this one:http://www.ebay.es/itm/191698181213?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.es%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D%26_mPrRngCbx%3D1%26_udlo%3D%26_udhi%3D%26_sop%3D12%26clk_rvr_id%3D909923748515%26rmvSB%3Dtrue%26_nkw%3D191698181213%26_rdc%3D1...But seems similar to the Pilotfly and is really cheap!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NX1user Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 Don't know about the quality of this one:http://www.ebay.es/itm/191698181213?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.es%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D%26_mPrRngCbx%3D1%26_udlo%3D%26_udhi%3D%26_sop%3D12%26clk_rvr_id%3D909923748515%26rmvSB%3Dtrue%26_nkw%3D191698181213%26_rdc%3D1...But seems similar to the Pilotfly and is really cheap!!!That eBay one can only handle 850 grams. I'm looking for 1.3kg minimum for my Samsung NX1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinegain Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Looks like there's another alternative to add to the list, holds up to 1.7kg and has plenty of demo videos:http://www.cnchelicopter.com/beholder-trd-ds1-3-axis-handheld-gimbal-for-canon-5d2-5d3-etc/Anybody know anything about this gimbal or the company that makes it?Dave didn't make it look all that exciting... (but who knows how the final version turned out). Don't know about the quality of this one:http://www.ebay.es/itm/191698181213?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.es%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D%26_mPrRngCbx%3D1%26_udlo%3D%26_udhi%3D%26_sop%3D12%26clk_rvr_id%3D909923748515%26rmvSB%3Dtrue%26_nkw%3D191698181213%26_rdc%3D1...But seems similar to the Pilotfly and is really cheap!!!Not too unfamilliar with those Wieldy guys. https://wieldy.world.tmall.com/ They sell a bunch of gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NX1user Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Dave reviewed the MS-1, I'm curious about the DS-1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animan Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 The gimbal is very well builtHi Xavier,Has the build quality improved? From these pictures it looks really awful, thanks! https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B1t_8yJejOyyfnZRaVR1TmNfcEZ3ZUtaM2NLODNSelBwV1NwbW56aWZCNmtWQWFuTHJlM3M&usp=drive_web Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefactory Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I have the pilotfly h1+ and its pretty good. Like manueldomes says above there is quite a bit to learn when dialling it in. My experience with there customer support has also been A+.I have used it with a GH4 and 12-40 oly lens and that is really pushing its limits. It works but you dont have a huge range of movement without getting the odd glitch. Most of the time i have used the lx100 on it which is awesome as you have the zoom without having to rebalance the camera. I have also started using the x100 iv on it as well which is even better again as its a little lighter and you really can get a wide range of motion. You can get away with the pilotfly and a bigger bodied mirrorless but if you plan to use the gimbal a lot and need to nail the shots i would go for the ronin-m. Although heavier there seems to be less walking bob with the bigger 2 handed gimbals from what i have seen. I did build a rig for mine to use it 2 handed which worked well but kind of defeats the purpose of having a smaller gimbal that you can transport around. I upgraded mine so it has a tooless setup. I can now balance the camera very quickly after much practice. What ever you choose tooless makes things much easier. Oh and i briefly had a Moza Lite. Don't bother with that one unless you like endless support issues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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