Gimbal advice needed

[animan]

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. 

How did you do that?

Also if youre usually only using the LX100 does this help with setup time? Thanks

[Xavier Plagaro Mussard]

Hi 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

Let's put it this way, Sturdycam is not about italian design! If you want a beautiful object, their products are not for you. On the other hand they are very solid and well built. Ugly but sturdy! 

How did you do that?

Also if youre usually only using the LX100 does this help with setup time? Thanks

The LX100 with it's wide-angle and OIS it's really the perfect camera for any gimbal. And of course, you choose your gimbal, choose your camera, balance everything and then you stop fiddling with it!!!

[animan]

great thanks for the info!

do you think its a good strategy to use a camera a good bit under the weight capabilities of the gimbal then? Have you compared performance with LX100 and heavier cameras?

I was also thinking to go with a LX100 for this reason but was wondering if something with a flip screen might be easier for low/high shots (it seems its possible to flip the motor of the pilotfly around to the other side, or theres the Beholder DS1)

[Xavier Plagaro Mussard]

I am not sure you can reverse the Sturdycam, the nice thing is that you can see the LCD. I am for minimalism! 

[ricardo_sousa11]

I too am looking for a steady cam, what do you guys recommend ? Does anyone have a Beholder MS1 ? Thats the cheapest I could find, but am on the fence, considering dave's review...

[animan]

for smaller cameras if you dont mind not being able to flip out the screen to the left MS1 should be good.. probably best option if cost is an issue, many of the issues were solved since that review with the baseplate that lets you mount cameras off centre

[Jpr]

I ordered a DS1 a while ago and hoping it will arrive very soon. I'll give a short review on how I get on with it. It seems to be the real deal but will need some testing.

[Gpanazio]

I have a chinese gimbal branded as "goodluckbuy". It uses DYS motors and alexmos 32 bit controller. Cost me under $500 and works perfectly, BUT I had to unmount the whole  thing and reassemble piece by piece. That's the price and I'm very happy with it. (using a 5d MK III with a Samyang 24mm. Next week i'll change it for a A7RII and a Sony 28mm)

[thefactory]

How did you do that?

Also if youre usually only using the LX100 does this help with setup time? Thanks

You can pick the screws up from China.

 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5x-Knob-Rotating-M4-17mm-Thumb-Screws-fr-15mm-Rod-Clamp-Base-plate-DSLR-Rig-/171881965607?hash=item2804f6a827%3Ag%3AEooAAOSw2VJVfqUN

You will need to cut them down to fit and you will need lots little spring washers on at least one of the screws to to pack it out of the channel so that tit clears past the motor

How did you do that?

Also if youre usually only using the LX100 does this help with setup time? Thanks

Yeah with the LX100 its pretty much no time at all once you have learned how to balance the camera. Even if you don't have it quite balanced its so light that the gimbal still works as expected although the better its balanced the more efficient battery life will be. 

great thanks for the info!

do you think its a good strategy to use a camera a good bit under the weight capabilities of the gimbal then? Have you compared performance with LX100 and heavier cameras?

I was also thinking to go with a LX100 for this reason but was wondering if something with a flip screen might be easier for low/high shots (it seems its possible to flip the motor of the pilotfly around to the other side, or theres the Beholder DS1)

I think the lighter weight on the handheld works really well. The LX screen is a bit of a pain and sometimes i have streamed to the iPhone to use as a screen. Its not ideal but works and he lag on the app is not to bad. 

I have started using it with an RX100 iv. The tilt screen on that has been very handy. 

[M Carter]

Just a question - a lot of gimbal discussions get into how bad bounce can be - anyone mounted a gimbal to a Steadicam vest & arm? Came makes a setup for well under $1k that's gotten some love at RedUser.

[NX1user]

I ordered a DS1 a while ago and hoping it will arrive very soon. I'll give a short review on how I get on with it. It seems to be the real deal but will need some testing.

Excellent! I look forward to that.

Some videos and reviews for the DS-1 are showing up on youtube. I found a guy  in South Korea posting videos with the NX1 and 16-50 S lens like I have and the DS-1 handles it no problem. I think I'll end up going with this gimbal as it holds the most weight in this price range.

I'm not counting the Nebula 4200 because the company that makes it continues to not post any videos of it working and won't answer people's basic questions about it on their Facebook page. Plus, they have supposedly been shipping for 2-3 weeks and the internet is suspiciously empty of any reviews or videos of it.

[thefactory]

Just a question - a lot of gimbal discussions get into how bad bounce can be - anyone mounted a gimbal to a Steadicam vest & arm? Came makes a setup for well under $1k that's gotten some love at RedUser.

some good tips over at cheesycam on how to build a cheap vest set up. 

http://cheesycam.com/build-a-diy-gimbal-support-stabilizer-for-under-100/

[M Carter]

some good tips over at cheesycam on how to build a cheap vest set up. 

http://cheesycam.com/build-a-diy-gimbal-support-stabilizer-for-under-100/

Ahh, the old stick-over-your-head-with-a-bungee-cord...

Sorry, for all I know those are great, they always look a little silly to me! (And I shoot the occasional event where that mess of stuff could be a problem). Seems like a vest could let you go for hours with a gimbal though.

[Jpr]

Excellent! I look forward to that.

Some videos and reviews for the DS-1 are showing up on youtube. I found a guy  in South Korea posting videos with the NX1 and 16-50 S lens like I have and the DS-1 handles it no problem. I think I'll end up going with this gimbal as it holds the most weight in this price range.

I'm not counting the Nebula 4200 because the company that makes it continues to not post any videos of it working and won't answer people's basic questions about it on their Facebook page. Plus, they have supposedly been shipping for 2-3 weeks and the internet is suspiciously empty of any reviews or videos of it.

Yep! It looks great. I will probably swap my GH4 for the NX1 to sit on the gimbal. I just love the NX1 video quality.

[NX1user]

So for my fellow NX1 users enlightenment, I just got the Beholder DS-1. I'm still experimenting, so no test videos yet, but here's a few observations:

• The DS-1 is well made, no exposed wires, nothing feels cheap or flimsy.

• Spend the time watching videos on balancing. The manual isn't much help. By balancing, I mean balancing the camera on the gimbal before powering on the gimbal. Doing this properly effects the gimbal's performance in a major way.

• Balancing the NX1 with 16-50 S lens is tricky. That weighty S lens means the camera has to sit far back close to the roll motor. At a certain level of tilt the NX1 eyecup bumps into that motor housing. Unfortunately, the proper position for this combo places the plate adjustment screw (the only part not toollessly adjustable) right under part of the gimbal main plate. This makes balancing this camera/lens combo more fiddly. Look up Park Enna on youtube for a bunch of DS-1 videos with the NX1 16-50 S combo. I noticed he took his eyecup off his NX1.

• The DS-1 handles the NX1 16-50 S combo fine weight-wise.

• Balancing the NX1 with a 12mm Rokinon lens was super fast and no issues with the camera bumping parts of the gimbal or the plate screw being in inconvenient spot.

• The DS-1 doesn't have a specific invert mode, you just flip the whole thing over and it figures out what you're doing.

• The manual is confusing about the various USB ports. Watch a video before plugging anything in. For example, the manual makes it sound like you charge the batteries by plugging into a USB port on the gimbal. NOPE! There's a USB port on the battery cage, but the manual doesn't show it.

• Attach the DS-1 to a monopod and you have a pretty sweet portable jib!

• So far no gimbal brain freakouts or crashes.

I'll post a video once I have some footage that's not me walking around my house. Any questions, comments, requests for testing, or usage tips welcome!

 

[The Chris]

Please keep posting thoughts on the DS1, I'm *this* close to hitting buy. I'm going to be using it with the A7s and A7rII. I have the 16-50pz as one of my options. Samsung has a similar lens, which will allow you to center the camera a lot better instead of the chunky 16-50s, and you don't really need the wider apertures when on a gimbal most of the time. Samsung also has the pancakes. 

[NX1user]

Please keep posting thoughts on the DS1, I'm *this* close to hitting buy. I'm going to be using it with the A7s and A7rII. I have the 16-50pz as one of my options. Samsung has a similar lens, which will allow you to center the camera a lot better instead of the chunky 16-50s, and you don't really need the wider apertures when on a gimbal most of the time. Samsung also has the pancakes. 

 

There's a ton of people with A7's and the DS-1 posting videos on youtube and vimeo.

And you must have been reading my mind about the Samsung 16-50pz. I'm debating about getting that or the Samsung 16mm prime.

[animan]

Any questions, comments, requests for testing, or usage tips welcome!

Any results or feedback about success in getting footage without 'the bounce' would be great (Im curious how much of the bounce in online videos is related to poor balance or walking technique?)

How does the weight feel?

[NX1user]

Any results or feedback about success in getting footage without 'the bounce' would be great (Im curious how much of the bounce in online videos is related to poor balance or walking technique?)

How does the weight feel?

I think you answered your own question there. The bounce happens when you walk normally. The DS-1 lessens bounce but doesn't get rid of it. I haven't looked, but there's probably youtube videos that demonstrate a good stabilizer walk technique. If you were/are in the military or police, the walk is the same as the walk you use for moving and shooting. Keep a gun steady or keep a camera steady, it's the same walk.

I think I read that the DS-1 is 2.5 - 3 lbs with the batteries in it (the manual isn't clear). That's the most common complaint I've read is that it's heavy. But if you want to balance a heavy camera, you need heavy weights or big motors which will also be relatively heavy. I've got mild arthritis in my shoulders which I keep at bay by using 5 and 10 pound hand weights a lot. The DS-1 with the NX1 and 16-50 S just became part of that regimen! Or they became another reason for me to use the hand weights even more.

I haven't had a long session with the DS-1 because of the non-stop rain here. But once I do have some footage from a good day of use, I'm sure I'll have more to say about the weight issue.

 

[The Chris]

From using the glidecam pretty extensively and a Defy G2 gimbal on a few shoots, You do have to be smooth in your movements. You can't just stomp around and expect smooth results. I call it the ninja walk.