Micro Gimbal for GH4, BMPCC, A7s - $699 USD

tommykristensen said:
I ordered a Nebula4000 on Filmpower.com a week ago, money transferred via Paypal (to a company named ShangZhilin?)

I've tried to contact them via mail to get a DHL track'n'trace number, but haven't heard anything from them. Did any of you order from the same place, and did you get a track'n'trace number?
Click to expand...
Check your spam folder
 
Just pulled the trigger on mine and got a confirmation email in my regular inbox- but it is from a no reply email and no DHL tracking #. Will have to find an address to request # from.

I've weighed the pros and cons of this device against known reliable devices such as the Ronin, considered that some have gotten bad copies of Nebula, etc. Bottom line is, even if I were to get a bad one, I could buy 4 of these for the price of a Ronin, and to me it looks like with proper setup I can get similar footage with much more portability. So I'm taking my chances.
 
"Just wanted to share this quick test video my friend and I did while we were experimenting with the Nebula 4000 and the Panasonic LX100. It's a really great combo and I was really surprised at the camera and gimbal's performance, especially the LX100 in low light. I shot mostly at ISO 3200, however in other scenes (which are not on the video), I tried 6400 and it was really clean! Another great thing is using the Panasonic Image App, I could control the ISO, follow focus, and zoom wirelessly (tested all of this on other shots not included with this video), while my friend just concentrated on using the gimbal. This would be great for a small production shoot! And to this was his first time using it, we had no practice time or preps for the shoot, just wanted to do a quick test to see both devices capability! I want to learn more about the LX100 and it's settings."



I am about to combine the same camera with the Nebula. Just wondered how you are able to monitor- can you see the LCD by looking down at it? Can the screen be tilted at a slight upward angle to help?
 
I received the N4000 today. That's 6 days after I paid, which I think is pretty fast. I had to pay 50eur in import fees. The thing is TINY, and those motors... way beyond tiny.

As somebody already told me here, a7s with quick release plate ends up top-heavy, the bracket can't be lowered enough (and I already peeled away the 1mm foam stripes from the base). I'll have to put some weight under the camera, because with bad balance the footage is jerky, and the camera tips off if I tilt more than a few degrees.

So far: positively impressed, but having to work on it a bit more (as expected).
 
mainstreetprod said:
"Just wanted to share this quick test video my friend and I did while we were experimenting with the Nebula 4000 and the Panasonic LX100. It's a really great combo and I was really surprised at the camera and gimbal's performance, especially the LX100 in low light. I shot mostly at ISO 3200, however in other scenes (which are not on the video), I tried 6400 and it was really clean! Another great thing is using the Panasonic Image App, I could control the ISO, follow focus, and zoom wirelessly (tested all of this on other shots not included with this video), while my friend just concentrated on using the gimbal. This would be great for a small production shoot! And to this was his first time using it, we had no practice time or preps for the shoot, just wanted to do a quick test to see both devices capability! I want to learn more about the LX100 and it's settings."



I am about to combine the same camera with the Nebula. Just wondered how you are able to monitor- can you see the LCD by looking down at it? Can the screen be tilted at a slight upward angle to help?
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You can actually still see the LCD while on the gimbal, however the screen does not move. The way I monitored the footage was through the Panasonic Image App for my iPhone, it's an excellent app where you can control the focal length, the focus, etc.
 
I received just that same email without shipping info. Then, 5 days later, another one with the carrier details and tracking number. Then, the next day, the box at my door.
 
Does anyone have any experience running a setup that is just slightly over 1kg?

A couple of my setups (ie BMPCC + SB + Tokina 11-16) are just over 1kg but within 1.1kg. And size wise the BMPCC is a small c so it might have a bit more flexibility to move around compared to the GH4?
 
mainstreetprod said:
Did you clamp the phone to the bottom of the Nebula? I don't have an Iphone but do have an Ipad mini, maybe I can make that work.
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I actually was monitoring on my iPhone while my friend handled the Nebula but I've seen Dave Dugdale mount it. You should check out his review to see the mount.
 
I ordered the nebula on the 10th through the chdntech site. I received a paypal confirmation , but that's all, no confirmation from Filmpower or any indication of shipping, etc. Has anyone that ordered and received theirs had this happen ? I'm hoping to receive it next week so I can familiarize myself with it prior to an upcoming trip in two weeks.
 
My experience so far, trying to balance the N4K:

* My first best would be to use a quick release and my Leitz 24mm. That ends up at around 1100g, but the bigger problem is that the thing is too top-heavy, so a moderately fast tilt will make the motor lose step and the camera sinks forward. If I add weights in the bottom, I can balance it better, but the motion is heavily constrained: tilt it forward more than a few degrees and the weights hit the lower structure.

* Plan B: "OK, I'll have to get rid of the QR, I want to keep using my nice 24mm". It won't work: without the QR, the camera is too front-heavy and I can't balance the tilt properly. Keeping it top-heavy doesn't work great, but making it front-heavy is much more of a deal breaker.

* So, plan C: Let's keep the QR, and switch to a much lighter lens, in my case an APS-C Sigma 19mm f/2.8. With this, everything can get balanced properly (well, it's still slightly top-heavy, but now it's really close to being OK). I still have motion constraints (the vertical adjustment is at max, the horizontal max around 10mm from max), but they are not as bad, I can work with this. Now let's look for some nice PID settings...
 
I just got back from using mine in Calgary shooting the Canadian National Ski Slopestyle and Halfpipe athletes and I cannot begin to describe how game changing using the Nebula 4000 was. The gimbal performed really well in a variety of condition from light snow to negative 20. The size alone makes the gimbal ideal for me as it packs up into my camera backpack nicely and is less bulky than carrying around a steadicam. The only issue that I encountered with the gimbal is that when it was very cold it had a harder time going back to and finding level. Other than that for action shooters that are working in an extremely high paced environment it is an awesome piece of kit.
 
Dugdale said:
If you guys are interested an American company is now selling the Nebula 4000 Lite, so if you are worried about shipping from Hong Kong you can order it from there, see my update:
http://www.learningdslrvideo.com/nebula-4000-lite-review/
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Here's a direct link to the company now selling it, Camera Motion Research (maker of the Blackbird stabilizer)

http://www.camotionllc.com/nebula-c-30.html


Cost is $25 more, probably well worth it if it ships straight from a US warehouse, and being warranted by CMR. They also have an improved allen wrench that comes with it. Looking forward to getting mine (from China) hopefully in the next few days.
 
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but...

My first Nebula 4000 Lite worked fine for a few days and then stopped operating correctly. The noises (Beeps) were not the same and it just swished about erratically. When connected up, the software said 'Sensor is not connected'.

Filmpower said 'send it back'. I did. At a cost of £77($116) to make sure it was 'tracked'. Filmpower said they would not pay postage.

Replacement model arrived today. After an hour or so, the thing just went dead. Not completely dead - theres still a green light on. But no movement, no beeps. Buttons do nothing. When I connect up the USB, the PC does not recognise a device as being connected (don't tell me about drivers - that is NOT the issue here).

SO yea... to say I'm livid is an understatement.

I guess I'll know better next time not to be one of the pioneers who takes the risk.

Really gutted - when both models I had worked, they were very exciting, and I'd been looking for a small fram single hand gimbal for months.

GUTTED and DISSAPOINTED
 
clivemcl said:
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but...

My first Nebula 4000 Lite worked fine for a few days and then stopped operating correctly. The noises (Beeps) were not the same and it just swished about erratically. When connected up, the software said 'Sensor is not connected'.

Filmpower said 'send it back'. I did. At a cost of £77($116) to make sure it was 'tracked'. Filmpower said they would not pay postage.

Replacement model arrived today. After an hour or so, the thing just went dead. Not completely dead - theres still a green light on. But no movement, no beeps. Buttons do nothing. When I connect up the USB, the PC does not recognise a device as being connected (don't tell me about drivers - that is NOT the issue here).

SO yea... to say I'm livid is an understatement.

I guess I'll know better next time not to be one of the pioneers who takes the risk.

Really gutted - when both models I had worked, they were very exciting, and I'd been looking for a small fram single hand gimbal for months.

GUTTED and DISSAPOINTED
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"I guess I'll know better next time not to be one of the pioneers who takes the risk."????

I going to assume that hundreds of these gimbals are out in the wild. I've had mine for over a month. Sorry your units were defective. Just a stroke of bad luck I guess. But without "pioneers who takes the risk" in the world, we would still be in caves eating berries. So you can go on eating berries or you can contact the makers and have them work with you on a replacement unit that works. If you get a 3rd unit that fails I'm gonna say you're doing something wrong. Mine has been working flawlessly and has lots of miles on it.
 
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