C300: C300 Mark II on a gimbal

S

slavikb

Well-known member
I'm interested in seeing what other gimbal rigs people are using with their C300 and C300 mark II?

In putting together this article on my C300II on a Helix Standard, I was doing some web research and mostly saw older posts/photos, so I'm wondering what people are using now?

BTW here's a pic of my rig - eventually I hope to try out an Easyrig on the Helix 4th axis, but in the meantime this is working pretty good, especially with the grip handle modification.

gear-dads-canon-c300-letus-helix-standard.jpg

Cheers,
Slavik
 
slavikb said:
I'm interested in seeing what other gimbal rigs people are using with their C300 and C300 mark II?

In putting together this article on my C300II on a Helix Standard, I was doing some web research and mostly saw older posts/photos, so I'm wondering what people are using now?

BTW here's a pic of my rig - eventually I hope to try out an Easyrig on the Helix 4th axis, but in the meantime this is working pretty good, especially with the grip handle modification.

View attachment 119458

Cheers,
Slavik
Click to expand...

Nice! You managed to get the C300 MKII working well on it?
 
I like the C300 grip attached to the Helix . I have a Zacuto grip extension and will check out the possibility of rigging that on my Helix.
I also have the Helix standard and really like the gimbal with the C300 on it. I've been using mostly primes on the camera 24, 35 and occasionally a 50mm prime are my favorites . I love the way the Helix handles, the ability to set profiles over wifi from the phone app , and the fact that you can set it down on any flat surface without a cradle. I operate solo much of the time , but I think my next step is going to be a remote control for Dual operator situations.
 
seanarmada said:
Nice! You managed to get the C300 MKII working well on it?
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Yup! The handle solution made the whole rig lighter, since I didn't need to add more counterweights to counter balance the handgrip. Still working on PID settings though.

Mark Smith said:
I like the C300 grip attached to the Helix . I have a Zacuto grip extension and will check out the possibility of rigging that on my Helix.
I also have the Helix standard and really like the gimbal with the C300 on it. I've been using mostly primes on the camera 24, 35 and occasionally a 50mm prime are my favorites . I love the way the Helix handles, the ability to set profiles over wifi from the phone app , and the fact that you can set it down on any flat surface without a cradle. I operate solo much of the time , but I think my next step is going to be a remote control for Dual operator situations.
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Good to hear, Mark! I haven't used primes on it yet, but that's a good idea. I've got a 35mm f/2 IS that is pretty small and light. Care to share your PID/Power settings? I still haven't honed them in for the C300.

Cheers,
Slavik
 
Parts are ordered. Cant wait to try this set up! BTW, Slavik, saw your website, read through everything last night, tons of great information in there! Thanks!
 
Thanks Michael, you're gonna really like the handle solution. It's still a mod, so it's not quite as perfect as something built-in by manufacturers, but it works!

BTW I changed the tilt PID setting slightly from my old one, by just a few notches - you may have seen them on the bottom of the post. You might want to try it on your rig and see if it makes a difference.

And thanks for the kudos on the site! I hope it'll be a good resource, and more presentable than my old blog. I'm always curious what other people are using in their daily rig - not just what's new or on the horizon.

Cheers!
Slavik
 
I can get my pix settings out of my phone and send them to to you but it may not be of value as I do not have the encoded motors on my Helix standard at this point and I have the sense that the settings may be very different between the 2 types of motors. I hope to get my Standard upgraded to the encoder motors in the near future. You'll probably have yours sorted out by then though.
 
Mark Smith said:
I can get my pix settings out of my phone and send them to to you but it may not be of value as I do not have the encoded motors on my Helix standard at this point and I have the sense that the settings may be very different between the 2 types of motors. I hope to get my Standard upgraded to the encoder motors in the near future. You'll probably have yours sorted out by then though.
Click to expand...

Still might be helpful! My old non-encoder PID settings were spot on for the encoded version for the Helix Jr, just needed a quick tune up. And that was after playing with the presets for hours and deciding to look up what I had before. But don't worry about going out of your way to do it - the next time you're in there you could take a screengrab.

Thanks Mark-
 
Back to the original question - I've been using the C300mk2 a lot on a MÖVI M5 with great results. Remove the top support bar and and use small/light lenses. I've shot quite a few car commercials with this setup.
 
+1 for Small light lenses.... I use Canon L Glass 24,35,&50 mm and would like to have something wider in a prime like a rectilinear 16mm. If you get the wifi adapter for the C series camera, you can have an assistant pull focus over wifi - there is latency, however in a scripted shooting environment it can work really well. I've even done this in some more fluid shooting situations and had some good results. TO be clear its not as good as a real time video link and a wireless FF setup up, however it sure is a heck of a lot lighter.
 
Well Slavik, spent a few hours figuring it out and setting up the hand grip with the C100MKII..... a slightly different balancing act than the MKI with the hand grip on the top. Got the PID settings to work pretty well with the MKII. Finally turned on the camera to try it out, only to discover the Zacuto grip extension dosen't work! When I first got the Zacuto it didnt work, then for a split second in time it worked. I thought it was my fault, but tonight after trying everything, jiggling the wire, reconnecting it etc. Nothing! Very disappointing. I bought the Grip extension a few months ago, used it once where it worked briefly off and on, and for the second time tonight where it didnt work at all. Bought it through Adorama..... wonder if they will send me a new one. One DVX poster said there were known problems with this grip extension before in a thread. Bummer!
 
Michael Thames said:
Well Slavik, spent a few hours figuring it out and setting up the hand grip with the C100MKII..... a slightly different balancing act than the MKI with the hand grip on the top. Got the PID settings to work pretty well with the MKII. Finally turned on the camera to try it out, only to discover the Zacuto grip extension dosen't work! When I first got the Zacuto it didnt work, then for a split second in time it worked. I thought it was my fault, but tonight after trying everything, jiggling the wire, reconnecting it etc. Nothing! Very disappointing. I bought the Grip extension a few months ago, used it once where it worked briefly off and on, and for the second time tonight where it didnt work at all. Bought it through Adorama..... wonder if they will send me a new one. One DVX poster said there were known problems with this grip extension before in a thread. Bummer!
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Hi Michael - happy new year! Sorry you're having issues with the grip extender - I'm sure Zacuto will repair it, but you'll be out for a few weeks. I haven't had issues with mine, but I've learned you have to press it into the Canon input harder than you think to get it all the way in there. Anyway I'm sure you've tried all that. Good luck and let us know what Adorama or Zacuto says.
 
I have had some trouble with the functioning of the Zacuto grip with both my C 300, & a past C500. The grip extender works well on my MK 2 so far. I think zacuto got a little too fancy with the camera side connector which is a right angle and has a touch of interference with the rim of the grip mount on the camera. It could be the result of this is that the plug on the grip connector sort of pushes works its way out of the female receptical, and one of the first functions to go is record start/stop. The grip extender might have been better off with a straight in connector instead of the right angled one .
 
Mark Smith said:
I have had some trouble with the functioning of the Zacuto grip with both my C 300, & a past C500. The grip extender works well on my MK 2 so far. I think zacuto got a little too fancy with the camera side connector which is a right angle and has a touch of interference with the rim of the grip mount on the camera. It could be the result of this is that the plug on the grip connector sort of pushes works its way out of the female receptical, and one of the first functions to go is record start/stop. The grip extender might have been better off with a straight in connector instead of the right angled one .
Click to expand...

I tried my MKI grip instead of the MKII, because I remember it worked briefly before..... and it did, for about 3 seconds then nothing. Ive pushed the connections in, and tried everything but it just aint working. Worse case, I can live without it because I can control the MKII via iPad or manually, unlike the MKI.

Nothing works not even record/start stop..... no ISO white balance, or aperture. These things aren't cheap either.
 
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My Zacuto grip relocator doesn't fully work as well. The aperture and joystick work, but the record start/stop and auto-focus/magnification button do not work. Haven't had the chance yet to send it in. Since it sort of works, I can still use it, and knowing that sending it in will take time to get it back, that makes it difficult to find a good time to send it in. Which is a pain. I wish they would have just offered to send me a new one, at least while I waited for mine to be repaired.
 
I had a Zacuto grip relocator cable get fully yanked out due to my own stupidity. I had bought it second hand. Zacuto fixed it free of charge. Just had to send it in. I had even bought the thing second hand. Zacuto doesn't seem to care since they offer life time warranties on their equipment. I had the same experience getting a z-arm repaired. I am often baffled by the prices that Zacuto charges, but I still end up owning a huge amount of their equipment because they make exactly the kit components that I need and they have great service.

My grip relocator originally had the the straight connector and they replaced it with a right angle connector. I would never go back to the straight connector as it was very easy to damage. I just have to really make sure to push that stupid connector all they way in.
 
Hey Michael:

Did you ever get your grip relocator squared away and working? How are you liking the Helix Jr.? I just had a project that came up, I think the Helix Jr. would be perfect for it. Would like to hear your feedback as a Helix Jr. Noob. I am reading Slavik's website and it's great but he is an old pro. I've been shooting a decent amount with my Zhyun Crane so at least I have a little gimbal experience. Looking forward to shooting a gimbal with my C100 though. How are you handling audio? I would love to use my Ninja Blade with it on the Helix Jr. too, not sure if there is a way to do so
 
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slavikb said:
I'm interested in seeing what other gimbal rigs people are using with their C300 and C300 mark II?

In putting together this article on my C300II on a Helix Standard, I was doing some web research and mostly saw older posts/photos, so I'm wondering what people are using now?

BTW here's a pic of my rig - eventually I hope to try out an Easyrig on the Helix 4th axis, but in the meantime this is working pretty good, especially with the grip handle modification.

View attachment 119458

Cheers,
Slavik
Click to expand...

Interesting you ask! I actually bought the Helix based on your article and found that it did not work well at all.

Perhaps I had a bad unit? After spending more than a day on Skype with their support, unable to get rid of shakyness (especially bad when tilting but still unusable footage in all modes), I returned it.

Still looking for a solution now...
 
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