DJI Ronin and A7s Promo Shoot

Erik Naso

Erik Naso

Veteran

https://vimeo.com/111138082

I Had a lot of fun playing with the DJI Ronin and the A7s. Nice combo. The Ronin is heavy but the A7s isn't so made it more tolerable to use. I did a blog post HERE for more on the setup. I mainly directed this spot and had a op for the Ronin. This was the first time for both of us. I had shoulder surgery early this year and not strong enough yet to operate but I knew what I wanted so directing made sense.

I used only one LED panel so the ISO levels got pretty high for some scenes. trying to keep it a little dark. I also wanted to have a deeper focus so f5.6 and f8 was the goal. The lens I used was the Sigma 18-35. I tried others and it just hit the sweet spot for me. I was worried about rolling shutter so went with APS-C. I think I would have been fine going full frame too but didn't want to risk it. We had a lot of fun shooting this. Now I want to buy one. Seems that's the case a lot :-D

The Ronin is easy to setup. I haven't used other 3 axis gimbals but I've heard stories about the Movi being difficult to get setup quickly.
 
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This camera really shines at night use :)

Is it the gimbal being unbalanced, or just lack of regular use that is causing all the jumps in motion? I feel like I can see both footsteps and a subtle changes in movement each time you elevate and/or change angles. I have used 3 gimbals so far and the Ronin is by far the best value / ease to setup. The only really con I found was the weight, and super huge container that requires the gimbal to be disassembled to fit.
 
Looks great. What did you do picture profile wise?


Erik Naso said:

https://vimeo.com/111138082

I Had a lot of fun playing with the DJI Ronin and the A7s. Nice combo. The Ronin is heavy but the A7s isn't so made it more tolerable to use. I did a blog post HERE for more on the setup. I mainly directed this spot and had a op for the Ronin. This was the first time for both of us. I had shoulder surgery early this year and not strong enough yet to operate but I knew what I wanted so directing made sense.

I used only one LED panel so the ISO levels got pretty high for some scenes. trying to keep it a little dark. I also wanted to have a deeper focus so f5.6 and f8 was the goal. The lens I used was the Sigma 18-35. I tried others and it just hit the sweet spot for me. I was worried about rolling shutter so went with APS-C. I think I would have been fine going full frame too but didn't want to risk it. We had a lot of fun shooting this. Now I want to buy one. Seems that's the case a lot :-D

The Ronin is easy to setup. I haven't used other 3 axis gimbals but I've heard stories about the Movi being difficult to get setup quickly.
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LeoGrey said:
This camera really shines at night use :)

Is it the gimbal being unbalanced, or just lack of regular use that is causing all the jumps in motion? I feel like I can see both footsteps and a subtle changes in movement each time you elevate and/or change angles. I have used 3 gimbals so far and the Ronin is by far the best value / ease to setup. The only really con I found was the weight, and super huge container that requires the gimbal to be disassembled to fit.
Click to expand...
The only shot I wish was better was the handoff over the fence. I wanted to time it with the train moving and the look up. It was a little bumpy. Other than that I think it's pretty smooth.
 
Erik Naso said:
The only shot I wish was better was the handoff over the fence. I wanted to time it with the train moving and the look up. It was a little bumpy. Other than that I think it's pretty smooth.
Click to expand...

There are the times I was referring:

:02 seconds - foot step jitter and jerky pan motion as the camera rises towards news desk
:04 seconds - foot steps jitter and jerky pan motion as you turn the corner of the door
:06 - :07 seconds - as reporter comes up stairs if you watch the railing you can see the amount of movement
:09 seconds - unsteady dolly into reporter
:13 seconds - obvious hand off over railing
:17 seconds - more jerky motion around cam op / reporter
:19 seconds - watch the garden all, see how much it moves?
:21 seconds - looks a bit like a wobbly jib / dolly shot

I certainly don't have the skill to perform any of these shots better, but I'm guessing there is a definite skill/technique to operating and balancing these things. Seeing videos like this immediately tell me they were done by someone with minimal experience. Not a knock against you Erik, I'm just trying to put my finger on what it is I don't like about a lot of these gimbal videos I see popping up nowadays.

The motion in which the camera moves does not appear to have a "steady" look, like compared to say, a lot of the early launch material for the movi. Given the technology is still fairly new, I'm not sure if it is an operator or technical error on the gimbals part.
 
Looks good in terms of composition and lighting etc., and I understand the critique on the gimbal, but I wonder if it isn't an operator error but rather a7s being too light for the Ronin. I wonder if you added some weight who perform better? I've heard some lighter gimbals work better with the GH4 and A7S.
 
LeoGrey said:
There are the times I was referring:

:02 seconds - foot step jitter and jerky pan motion as the camera rises towards news desk
:04 seconds - foot steps jitter and jerky pan motion as you turn the corner of the door
:06 - :07 seconds - as reporter comes up stairs if you watch the railing you can see the amount of movement
:09 seconds - unsteady dolly into reporter
:13 seconds - obvious hand off over railing
:17 seconds - more jerky motion around cam op / reporter
:19 seconds - watch the garden all, see how much it moves?
:21 seconds - looks a bit like a wobbly jib / dolly shot

I certainly don't have the skill to perform any of these shots better, but I'm guessing there is a definite skill/technique to operating and balancing these things. Seeing videos like this immediately tell me they were done by someone with minimal experience. Not a knock against you Erik, I'm just trying to put my finger on what it is I don't like about a lot of these gimbal videos I see popping up nowadays.

The motion in which the camera moves does not appear to have a "steady" look, like compared to say, a lot of the early launch material for the movi. Given the technology is still fairly new, I'm not sure if it is an operator or technical error on the gimbals part.
Click to expand...

Realise this is an old thread, but interesting stuff here. I know what you mean Leo. Obviously gimbals don't take out much up and down motion (as they stabilise 3 axis not 4), and so this is something the operator has to deal with, particularly when walking or running. Panning movements should be relatively jerk free, but I have found my Ronin shots also looking a bit unsteady. Having just bought it, I am hoping it is just an operator or settings issue, and I will get better the more I use it. So far most of my footage has a "gimbal" look to it rather than a steadicam look.
 
Thanks Erik for posting this. Great to see the Ronin in action, and actually on a paid job, rather than just running around someone's garden (like many of the ronin videos out there).
daniel
 
Daniel haggett said:
Thanks Erik for posting this. Great to see the Ronin in action, and actually on a paid job, rather than just running around someone's garden (like many of the ronin videos out there).
daniel
Click to expand...
Thanks Daniel.

On a side note I won a photography Emmy for this spot so I guess it was "good enough" :-D
 
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