A7S + DJI Ronin ... the (almost) perfect gimbal/lowlight/(soon to be) 4k solution?

llirik

llirik

Well-known member
Okay, so it's only been 3 days (tho full and intense ones) of shooting with this combo... but I am extremely happy with it. Originally I pre-ordered the ronin and meant to fly it with my fs700 and odyssey... but that will take many more months at the gym to do for any amount of time.

So I've only had the A7S on it, and with only one lens (canon 16-35 f/2.8 with speed booster)... and I am extremely happy with this setup. Elsewhere, some have mentioned that the ronin is overkill for the A7s but I disagree. Sure, it's a bit heavy... BUT... it's cheaper than the MoVI, more reliable than the BeSteady, and basically comes with everything I need. Also... it looks the best (all that black and minimal red accents!).

Something I noticed today while shooting, but didn't have time to really get into it... the a7s seemed to be doing some sort of autofocusing on the canon L through speed booster, and I even saw the facial recognition box popping up. Now... does anyone know if the data IS actually being passed down... or is it just seeing the face there, but it's focusing the camera to the centre point? I know on the fs700 with face detect the box is orange, where as here it's grey (tho it does move around and follow).

My first 2 days with the setup, I decided to really push and punish the sensor, to see if I could get all in focus footage (f/7.1) at night, and be usable. At this aperture up to 64,000 ISO... it was a bit much, but with noise reduction and some levels... it's not THAT bad. So then i did another, keeping it to f/4, max 16,000 ISO... and even tho the compression on vimeo loses it... i think the noise looks more like a really nice fine digital grain.

Anyway, here are the vids for those wondering about this combo:

First video, at f/7.1

Second video, at f/4

Some more specific info here: http://www.llirik.com/2014/08/dji-ronin-sony-a7s/


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Another thing I was thinking... since crop mode seems to be working out quite well on the gimbal... is it maybe worth it to pick up some of the cheaper e-mount lenses? Ie, the 16-55... it's not fast, but I wouldn't need it with the low light.. and auto-focusing as well as additional stabilizing should benefit right? Or would something like that be very poor optically?
 
Can you get a dummy bat for the A7s and use the dtap on the ronin to power it? (I don't have either so am pretty ignorant if that's a dumb question).
 
Cool videos, love the rolling stuff, very smooth. Just scored a great deal on a Defy G2 someone was desperate to unload. I'm going to pair it with the SEL 10-18.
 
My ronin is arriving next week to go with my A7S, but I can decide on a lens for it?

Is the rolling shutter issue with full frame ok when using a gimbal so long as you don't do very quick pans, or will most movement show issues?

if using the crop mode to reduce the issues, from what I can see the Sony 11-18 looks like the best combo? I'd rather stay full frame as it will improve low light performance, but pointless spending good money on a full frame lens if the rolling shutter will really be that bad.... Any advice appreciated as Id like to buy the lens for when the Ronin arrives
 
Not sure if it's Vimeo but the footage looks really, really grainy and flat. Can't judge focus or rolling shutter either as it's so dark.
 
Matt Filmic said:
Is the rolling shutter issue with full frame ok when using a gimbal so long as you don't do very quick pans, or will most movement show issues?

if using the crop mode to reduce the issues, from what I can see the Sony 11-18 looks like the best combo? I'd rather stay full frame as it will improve low light performance, but pointless spending good money on a full frame lens if the rolling shutter will really be that bad.... Any advice appreciated as Id like to buy the lens for when the Ronin arrives
Click to expand...
I haven't tested the rolling shutter on full frame yet, I'm quite happy with the speed booster combination.

I think you meant the 10-18 f/4 e-mount. I've been trying to find that lens here with no luck, but that's what I settled on from my research.

When on the gimbal, unless you have someone pulling focus wireless, you'd want to stop down anyway and make everything be in focus. Then when you have a locked off shot, you swap lenses and go full-frame for the look.
 
wallrc said:
Can you get a dummy bat for the A7s and use the dtap on the ronin to power it? (I don't have either so am pretty ignorant if that's a dumb question).
Click to expand...
The battery door remains easily accessible the way I have it, so I wouldn't even bother draining the Ronin's battery.
 
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