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

Dustylense,
With all respect I think what you've said might apply to one faulty item, but not two.

Another poster just a few pages back said his wasn't working. A guy Derek Yeo on youtube has had his stop working.

I don't appreciate your gloating that yours is fine. I know the feeling. My first one worked for two days, second one for an hour.

So, like you say, if I get a third unit (at a cost of a further $114 shipping paid by me, and it fails again, am I doing something wrong? Well... who knows, because there are no instructions. Information on the Alexmos boards in general online is horrific, and Angelica (the sole customer support agent) is unlikely to be able to fully comprehend my problems, nor adequately articulate suggestions because her grasp of English is not great.

Is it really unreasonable when spending $700 to expect a certain level of product testing to have been carried out, or decent instructions or FAQs to be available?

If I send this one back - may get a third, and it 'might' work, but the whole process will have cost me $930 compared to your $700.

IF I get a third and it also is faulty I would have to send it back also for the refund. So I would be refunded $700, but would have spent $345 on posting returns.

If you have any ideas of what I might be doing wrong, I'd love to hear them.

No movement. No Beeps. One single green constant light. PC also no longer detects it via USB. There seems to be a lot of heat generated. The black pastic stuff around connections has started to melt in places. Short circuit? I HAVE NOT interfered with any connections or circuitry.

I'll let you know the update come Monday as I know from previous experience, customer support does not work weekends...
 
Mine (which I'm just borrowing, so am lucky) seems to be 'weak in the yaw' so to speak. Don't know what the cause is. I've spent a LOT OF TIME with the Nebula 4000 and can say this for sure. The wiring was not done with care. The plastic ties are very tight on mine. The wires often get crimped. Eventually it will short out, is my guess. The profiles got erased on mine before I got it. Filmpower doesn't put up any profiles to be downloaded in their support section. The manual is a joke. I've had to jot down profiles from the videos. Sometimes the motor seems hot, so have to dial back the power. The placement of the switch is horrible. I'm always hitting it on or off by accident. The power supply/battery does not instill me with confidence the thing won't burst into flames one day. In short, I'm not surprised you've gotten faulty units clivemcl. I put up a video about the design defect I believe is in the yaw rail, but got so many negative comments took it down. I put up a spreadsheet where others can put in profiles. Nothing. if I were you I'd feel the same way. For what it's worth, I'm with you.
 
One thought on PID settings. Having played with them for awhile on this unit I'm almost wondering if sharing them is largely useless. If your unit has a motor inverted or you mount the same camera and lens I have but with a less dense battery or are a millimeter or two off in each direction you are going to get different results. I suspect either staying with default profiles or doing your own custom PID tuning axis by axis is probably the best way to go. In Dugdale's review he links to a video that shows you how to do this. My guess is that with practice someone could get to a point where they could mount and do a custom tune in about 15 minutes. I think that's the way you get the full power out of this unit. Default settings work great if you are standing still or using your arms alot. I think most folks, unless the are ninja's will need to get into the PID to remove the bounce from walking. Some old production tropes, like using a wheelchair, rollerblades, fig rig can also massive improve performance of this device with default settings. I've also found that anything over 900g or that is top heavy is super difficult to balance on this thing.
 
clivemcl said:
Dustylense,
With all respect I think what you've said might apply to one faulty item, but not two.

Another poster just a few pages back said his wasn't working. A guy Derek Yeo on youtube has had his stop working.

I don't appreciate your gloating that yours is fine. I know the feeling. My first one worked for two days, second one for an hour.

So, like you say, if I get a third unit (at a cost of a further $114 shipping paid by me, and it fails again, am I doing something wrong? Well... who knows, because there are no instructions. Information on the Alexmos boards in general online is horrific, and Angelica (the sole customer support agent) is unlikely to be able to fully comprehend my problems, nor adequately articulate suggestions because her grasp of English is not great.

Is it really unreasonable when spending $700 to expect a certain level of product testing to have been carried out, or decent instructions or FAQs to be available?

If I send this one back - may get a third, and it 'might' work, but the whole process will have cost me $930 compared to your $700.

IF I get a third and it also is faulty I would have to send it back also for the refund. So I would be refunded $700, but would have spent $345 on posting returns.

If you have any ideas of what I might be doing wrong, I'd love to hear them.

No movement. No Beeps. One single green constant light. PC also no longer detects it via USB. There seems to be a lot of heat generated. The black pastic stuff around connections has started to melt in places. Short circuit? I HAVE NOT interfered with any connections or circuitry.

I'll let you know the update come Monday as I know from previous experience, customer support does not work weekends...
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i think it would be of great help to at the very least tell us what camera and lens you're mounting. Like I said, there has to be more than a 1000 units out there. I've heard of no more that 5 units with issues. That is far less than .025% of manufacturing error. And if you ever have been around manufacturing, that's pretty good especially when the components are coming from China. I understand your frustrations though.
 
My Lens/Body combo can't be relevant here. Its well under 1KG if that's what you are wondering. Its clearly circuitry issues on both occasions. The yaw expansion board has a green light proving it is powering up. No lights on the main 2-axis board though, but this board is very warm. Like I say, the black plastic stuff around solder points has melted again.

Anyone with the right amount of knowledge feel confident in telling me what I could measure with a multimeter to try and answer the question of power?
 
Hi Chris, I agree, but think about the implications of what you're saying, that each unit is physically different. That means the factory settings will work okay for some, not for others; it will just be a matter of chance. If you've got one that doesn't work well with the factory settings then you do NOT have an exact procedure, from the factory, on how to configure your PID settings. Do they not know, or do they do it by feel? In my case, I have no idea if my Nebula's instability is from a bad motor, wiring, card, or just by inability to configure the PIDs properly. There is NO technical support; at least no one has ever gotten back to me. There is no way I know of, to easily tell if the handle has overly twisted the wires inside. The bottom line is that the Nebula is an experimental platform, using an 8-bit card that I believe is no longer being developed by Basecam. Again, I think clivemcl is right to be miffed. This thing should be sold as an experimental bucket of wires and bolts ;)
 
Perhaps I could have been clearer in my last post. My comments shouldn't be taken as either an excuse or an endorsement for the Nebula, nor should they be considered exclusive to the Nebula versus other gimbals. I suspect best practice, and I'm only a dangerous amateur and enthusiast here, for ANY gimbal is that the way to get the best performance is a custom PID after you mount a camera for the first time. In order to do that you have to understand PID settings and what they do. When you understand that you can quickly understand if a unit is tuned correctly. Now I agree you have to be a bit of a pioneer to take a bet on the Nebula right now and I share the same concerns you do and I wouldn't know how to figure out if it's defective or not either if I was having the issues that both you and clivemci is having but I suspect that for some users that understanding PID settings and the software could help some folks figure out some basic issues (Inverted motors, inability to self calibrate, etc.) If I was a professional shooter I'd probably be pretty leery using this product. For now, at least for me, it takes too long for me to calibrate and I'm nowhere near mastering it or the black art of making these things sing.
 
dustylense said:
Mine has been working flawlessly and has lots of miles on it.
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Ditto.

I guess we should all brace ourselves for the sellers/retailers of other gimbals to come in here and bash any serious competitor.

Competitors need to innovate and compete. You win by creating better products -- not by "marketing" nonsense.

Produce a better, more cost competitive, and more versatile gimbal -- and I'll happily come in here and report the truth about your better product.
 
Ran across this video while searching for others using my camera (the Panny LX100) on the Nebula. Very smooth. I don't see how he could possibly be running with the stabilizer as you can clearly hear the skateboard but no footsteps. If he's on a bike, he's very good at riding backwards.



 
Interesting to hear of other issues around the N4. I'm very disappointed with mine and total lack of meaningful post purchase support. As already mentioned I have no idea if my unit is faulty, incorrectly set up, wires twisted etc but is doesn't work!

With much fiddling I have managed to get it to now respond, have uploaded new profiles and I guess I now either stick with it to try all options to get it properly functioning or I dispute it via my credit card and get It returned at their cost.

I do appreciate its a new untested product, I am keen to help build a better improved platform around the N4 with my feedback but it's utterly pointless if the manufacturer can't be bothered to listen or respond.

I have had help via the N4 Facebook group, so highly recommend visiting there if you are also struggling, there is a rep of the N4 on the site, who does seem keen to help out, maybe support for the N4 will slowly improve

By the way im a pioneering amateur female user, not that it makes any difference ��
 
You do wonder. When small companies suddenly start to get attention. They go out of stock a few times early on...
What sort of pressure is there put on to get the product out the doors. Is production rushed and careless in order to maximize sales while the internet is still talking? Who knows. Maybe those with early models experience less problems.

If it were a professional established English speaking company I'd expect to be hearing shock that this happened me twice, sincere apology, and re-assurance that this was a freak incident. Instead I'm getting "Can you return back.and we return your money?"

Far from convincing me to gamble a third time.
 
mintakax said:
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.
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I still have had no emails regarding my order. I'm not sure how to proceed. I have emailed chdntech several days ago but have not received a reply. Yes, I have thoroughly checked my spam folder. I guess I'll wait a week and if I don't receive it or hear from them I should probably make a paypal dispute ?
 
clivemcl said:
You do wonder. When small companies suddenly start to get attention. They go out of stock a few times early on...
What sort of pressure is there put on to get the product out the doors. Is production rushed and careless in order to maximize sales while the internet is still talking? Who knows. Maybe those with early models experience less problems.

If it were a professional established English speaking company I'd expect to be hearing shock that this happened me twice, sincere apology, and re-assurance that this was a freak incident. Instead I'm getting "Can you return back.and we return your money?"

Far from convincing me to gamble a third time.
Click to expand...

I am seriously regretting my decision to order one. What was I thinking ? I understand that faulty units will happen, but having to spend ones own money for shipping to China is crazy ! I should have waited and bought from the U.S. dealer.
 
My Nebula seems to work fine if I don't pitch down or up beyond 20 degrees, when it starts to shake. I've zeroed out the yaw and have tried multiple settings that keep the camera steady in pitch and roll, but any yaw settings whatsoever create a shake. I've reset the acc and gyro. The Yaw seems fine if I tilt the Nebula to right or left. If I zero out pitch and role, then camera moves, at start, to about 30 degree off proper yaw. Have tried trim setting, but they don't seem to do anything. Any thoughts, procedure, I can get to remove this shake? I can't isolate where it's coming from.
 
mintakax said:
I still have had no emails regarding my order. I'm not sure how to proceed. I have emailed chdntech several days ago but have not received a reply. Yes, I have thoroughly checked my spam folder. I guess I'll wait a week and if I don't receive it or hear from them I should probably make a paypal dispute ?
Click to expand...

Please read through this thread. Everyone has experienced the same thing, but ultimately received it.
 
maxotics said:
My Nebula seems to work fine if I don't pitch down or up beyond 20 degrees, when it starts to shake. I've zeroed out the yaw and have tried multiple settings that keep the camera steady in pitch and roll, but any yaw settings whatsoever create a shake. I've reset the acc and gyro. The Yaw seems fine if I tilt the Nebula to right or left. If I zero out pitch and role, then camera moves, at start, to about 30 degree off proper yaw. Have tried trim setting, but they don't seem to do anything. Any thoughts, procedure, I can get to remove this shake? I can't isolate where it's coming from.
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Everyone must always check that none of the cables snaking through the brackets can come into contact with other brackets. They can bulge out and rub, even the slightest touching will cause problems.
 
I still have had no emails regarding my order. I'm not sure how to proceed. I have emailed chdntech several days ago but have not received a reply. Yes, I have thoroughly checked my spam folder. I guess I'll wait a week and if I don't receive it or hear from them I should probably make a paypal dispute ?



I suspect they may be in a back order situation right now, so I'm going to allow some extra time for mine to come. After all, it's traveling half way around the world.

When I get it, I'm going to take my time with setup, watching every online video first, get really familiar with the settings, set it up using the standard profiles and/or one I found posted for my particular camera, be extremely careful about wires and cables, and if it still doesn't work , I will then panic.:Drogar-Kriz(DBG):
 
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When I first had mine with my GH4 and 12-35 lens attached I was setting up PID settings and connected to laptop via bluetooth I noticed the pitch and roll motors got very hot, too hot to touch in fact and the heat had caused the surrounding metal to get really hot I turned it off quickly as something would definitely have burnt out otherwise. I think it was because in my impatience to use it I had not balanced it correctly so I started again took the time to ensure it was balanced as good as could be i.e. it would remain at each angle that I placed it I then set the PID settings and it worked perfectly and has not got hot again. So if you are a new user I would recommend watching some of the balancing videos available i.e. D Dugdale or others and ensure that you have near perfect balance before you turn it on. When they are sent out Its not a one size fits all for the PID settings as they have no idea what camera and lens you are going to use on it and as their instruction paper is lacking I would suggest you watch all the videos currently on line regarding setting up especially if you are using a camera and lens that approaches the upper weight limit that the unit can take. I love mine works beautifully and its a really good tool.
 
Jacksmith, thank you for posting and providing some reassurance. Always good to know the details on why problems exist. Got your email (from Anjelica) about my unit having been shipped and arriving in about a week.
 
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Getting more confident with mine now. Got myself an r-strap type thing so the bracket screws into the back of the handle and clears the carriage/sled by a couple of mm,so that's OK. And got myself one of those neoprene wrist compression support bandages to put on the handle for a better grip and softer hold. Felling like I might be able to use it in anger on a job on thursday evening. Fingers crossed…
 
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