Gimbal for Gear 360 (Samsung VR Camera)

[Michael Ma]

I always wondered what the results would be if someone bothered to put a light 360 camera on a camera's hot shoe that was stabilized on a gimbal.  This is the rig I wish I had on my honeymoon, unfortunately we didn't have these options a year ago.  Now that I've got around to it, I would like to share the results.

Gear:

Gear 360

Canon 80D (I recommend a taller camera over a mirrorless.  Also, lighter camera won't always work out in your favor if the rig is top heavy which makes the 360 camera prone.)

Zhiyun Crane (I tried something very similar with my Pilotfly H1+ GH3, and a GoPro Hero 3, and it was too shaky as the motors was not strong enough).  The Zhiyun Crane with the 10-18 STM lens had no problem with the Gear 360 on top.

Note: The edelkrone TILTHEAD is only there as rudimentary stand and more importantly a counterweight to balance a top heavy rig.  Somehow adding a lot more weight to the bottom makes it much easier to hold for longer periods.

 

Results: It stabilizes very nicely.  In fact, when the 360 camera itself is placed on a table that is not perfectly level, the stitching doesn't seem to align that well, but when on a gimbal, it's always holding that perfect longitudinal (roll axis) level, even during movement.  If you can get a taller coldshoe mount  than the one I'm using (without making it too top heavy), that would be much better.  As high as it is, the gimbal is very apparent in the shots if you look slightly down.

Premiere Pro has tools to work with 360 videos now and lets you pull normal looking 2D shots in the NLE.  And even though the the quality is much better than I expected from the YouTube videos online, the video quality still has a long way to go.  The 2D frames offer less quality than a HD (720p) camera would provide.  Still useful for something like a vlog.  Currently, 2 cameras are being recorded and stretched on a 4K file.  I think we need to have at least 8K (maybe more) to match the 2D image quality from a GoPro.

Other notes.  As you might have imagined, having a big ball on top of your camera will limit the movement of your gimbal slightly.  You cannot extend your camera outwards with the camera facing out as the Gear 360 would make contact with the roll axis motor.  Also, keep in mind, unless you are willing to hold this above your head, your face is always in the shot, which may be undesirable.

[DBounce]

The result will be vomit. Moving a 360 camera is actually advised against be oculus.

[Chase560]

Do you have sample footage on youtube or anything?

[Michael Ma]

13 hours ago, Chase560 said:

Do you have sample footage on youtube or anything?

I haven't played with it for a while, but it would work better with one of those giotto or oben mini ball heads to create some distance from the hotshoe to the camera.  In that picture above, if you look down on the test footage, the camera looks ginormous.  stabilization wise, its excellent....although, the operator of the gimbal is very visible in a very uncomfortable way unless you hold it up really high.  The lines on the ceilings really meet seamlessly when the 2 cameras are blended together, although the lighting doesn't always match up.

[RichFrazi]

Hi there! Can you please show your samsung gear 360 captures. Thanks!