Beholder EC1 Gimbal

Paul F said:
It might need a PID adjustment, but it sounds more like it needs a power adjustment. The controller has a setting for what the maximum power level can be sent to each motor. If the setting is low, then the controller won't be able to send enough power to the motor to control changes and so it will wobble. I'd look at this first.

But it could also be the P, I, and D setting. Read the link I sent and you will see what each of the P, I, and D settings control. It has a nice simple explanation and it will guide you as to how to adjust the settings based on what you are seeing.

By the way, tilt is not a clear term in the gimbal world. Use 'pitch' for when the camera lens aims up and down (what you would call tilt on a tripod move). Use 'roll' for when the camera rotates its left and right sides up and down (like a plane doing a wave with its wings). Use 'yaw' for when the camera pans left or right.
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Thanks a ton for clarifying that. Now it makes more sense lol. Ok, I will check out the link you posted and look into the software adjustments. Like I said, everything works just fine it just seems like it's lacking power on those motors.
 
The way it was described I kinda wondered if he meant there was a loose bearing or something, and that the motor shaft itself was wiggling (even when powered off). But that's just me speculating based on "the issue is in the motor tolerance. It just seems too loose".
 
Just opened up my new EC1 and balanced it and so far very impressed. My DS1 is great but this seems to fix/improve on it in so many important ways. Design is improved for sure, no hard stops, just 360deg movement in every direction and a QR plate solution that solves a lot of problems. So far I can't make this thing bug out or skip. If you overpower the motors with your hands it's like your camera has rubber bands on it and it smoothly bounces back. And it seems it can go through inversion flips continuously and indefinitely. Now that the QR plate is industry standard and the payload is improved I can leave my A7SII in its cage to go straight from handheld rig to tripod to gimbal without changing any screws and still have power to spare it seems. Next test is to see how big a lens I can put on it, though I usually use lightweight Sony FE lenses when on a gimbal for the smooth AF. The extra mounting points will be very handy and the lcd battery/mode readout and long press power button and separate mode button are very welcome. Sad it didn't come with an extra set of batteries like my DS1 did though. And not to figure out how to get the $100 rebate...
 
Received my EC1 last Saturday from CNC in LA. I am EXTREMELY happy with its performance. The issues that plagued my DS1's are non existent in this new unit. I am shooting with a A7Rii and with both 18 & 25 Batis lenses (near identical weight). Setup is MUCH, MUCH quicker/easier than the DS1. A VERY happy camper now.
 
Was considering the came-tv optimus but now im considering getting the EC1, as I'll probably use with the single grip 90% of the time...what you guys think? Anyone have used the optimus? Good to see the ec1 getting good first impressions
 
UPDATE: I went to town with the PID software and wow. Now the EC1 footage looks better than my Ronin M. It's silky smooth. The PID was confusing at first but thanks to Paul F for providing me with information I was able to mess with the software for hours but it was all worth it. I'm actually glad my unit came with those issues because if it had came with perfect balance I wouldn't have learned how to solve and adjust it. It truly blows me away how nice and smooth the footage looks now. It's like it glides everywhere.
 
Now that's interesting.

- They did some original engineering, not just copying the Basecam Simple BGC electronics/software design. They have their own software.
- Very nice price at $600 on Amazon. That's probably because they are not paying fees to Basecam.
- Remote control app https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrmvKGLPBpY
- Look at the size of that lens! (above link)
- Promo video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QKVEBoFsQQ
- Notice with encoders, balance is not critical (above link @ 1:25)
- Two sets of removable batteries included. Generic batteries can be purchase anywhere.
- Remote included in special offer from one vendor
- Camera functions built into handle
- Continuous 360 rotation on all axis.
- 1200g maximum load
 
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Bern Caughey said:
Yet another single handle gimbal...

http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/08/...xis-one-handed-gimbal-for-mirrorless-cameras/
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I rented a Zhiyun Crane from my local camera rental store. It's not bad at all. It feels good in the hand and the quality of the build is excellent. However, the payload capacity isn't the best. I have seen on youtube how they load a 5d3 plus a 16-35 lens-although you can-you will get alot of micro jitters. If you keep the weight around 1200 grams you should be good to go, although it claims about 1400 grams of capacity. So far i'm really liking the ec1 after the PID tuning. I used it for nearly 6 hours yesterday and the darn thing still shows an almost full battery.
 
Ok turns out I'm having a problem with my EC1, I didn't notice it until I looked at some footage but it seems like the tilt axis is "loose" so it is very susceptible to walking movements, with each step the camera jiggles. Now that see it when I push the camera a bit with my fingers I find that the motors dont feel strong immediately. It seems to push harder against a force as you apply more force but very prone to not compensating small abrupt forces. What is going on? This is a big problem that I'm trying to figure out how to fix in simplebgc but not sure where to start exactly.
 
Looks like that Zhiyun Crane only supports a 1200g payload. So y'all mirrorless folk may have a good option there but it's likely not sufficient for a Canon 5DmkIII and lens. The Zhiyun "Shining", not yet released, looks like their heavier-weight option:

https://www.amazon.com/Zhiyun-Shining-Professional-Stabilizer-Handheld/dp/B01DVX66Q4

I don't know if it will be usable without the large frame -- one thing that makes the Beholder EC1 so appealing is the ability to have a relatively inconspicuous and compact setup to handhold (for as long as my arms can hold out).
 
What's the deal with the app? Why not just use simpleBGC touch control? The app seems to just have a couple slide controls which seems like a very clunky way to control a camera...

Hopefully they come through with bluetooth support on the EC1 to allow remote touchscreen control.
 
The deal with the app is that they wrote their own code for the gimbal. So they don't have a license for SimpleBGC. I agree, the app is not very good.
 
after using DJI's software trying to use SimpleBGC felt unproductive and needed a lot of attention to get a grasp. i never got that grasp and have no interest in doing so in the future. using DJI's software is very intuitive and easy. i can appreciate any gimbal that simplifies their software.

david
 
In preparation for the gimbal's arrival I went to the App Store & downloaded 智云掌上助手 by 桂林智神信息技术有限公司 on my iPhone. Opens as ZhiYun Assistant V1.2. Was one of the quickest download/installs I've witnessed so unlikely the App is much more then a Bluetooth interface for the Crane.
 
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So it seems the EC1 I received definitely needed manual PID tuning out of the box. I think the I values in particular seem to need work. and some other stuff. Alex Lin was nice enough to help me out since I was a bit scared by all the new settings and different functionality especially given this is a brand new product with no other people out there testing things out so I don't have to mess with mine and end up bricking it... Anyway I think I have a fix for the problem but will test further tomorrow. Too bad the factory settings are no good, one thing that alway impressed me about the DS1 was it was ready to fly out of the box with no tuning. It could also be very confusing for a lot of people if they get a gimbal with the factory settings I had since it appears to work great, super smooth but you don't see the loose wiggling of the axes until you shoot some footage and watch it really and get very confused because the camera seemed quite stable. Even if I know how to tune, who really wants to have to mess with it.

I also played with auto tuning functions today and they have some promise but really lack a lot of the finesse that gets a really great PID that works for all situations and environments. Definitely still worth manual tuning. Glad to see auto tuning functions didn't kill my gimbal though :)
 
Anyone in Los Angeles buy a Beholder EC1 and if so are you willing to let me have a look? I'm on the fence and don't want to buy one without seeing one in person first and possibly trying it with my camera.

I've also been looking at photos of the Zhiyun Shining and am trying to imagine using it without that long crossbar with handles -- might be possible to hack it into a pistol-grip configuration. It's the same price as the EC1, but would be heavier (but also support a larger payload). I wonder how their software implementation compares to Alexmos -- the latter is a known quantity, but their 3 MCU solution?
 
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