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

Hi

I'm an idiot. Please read to avoid doing what I did, and see if you can provide some help.

So, I have one of the earlier units, where a "long press" to the button is cleverly configured to erase all data and restore the (absolutely useless, according to the manufacturer and my current experience) preset values.

Please do yourself a favor and change that "long press" setting to something else. I didn't even do a long press: I was trying to do a gyro/acc calibration, so I did 4 presses, but nothing happened, so I did another 4, the N4000 interpreted those 8 not-really-that-consecutive presses as a long press, and screwed me over. My "I'm an idiot" statement at the top is because I knew my unit had the dangerous configuration and did nothing to keep it from exploding in my face. Don't be an idiot.

Anyway... I know the settings are particular to each individual unit, but what I have now is not even in the ballpark. Could somebody upload the config files for the 3 modes in his N4000? Please?
 
Samuel H said:
Hi

I'm an idiot. Please read to avoid doing what I did, and see if you can provide some help.
Click to expand...

Obviously, you didn't read my gazillion warnings on this (Nor did I read those before me!) :happy: Filmpower sent me the profiles a couple of weeks ago. Until you get it from them you can download from my site

http://maxotics.com/photos/

In the box write: n4profiles, then hit submit

You'll see a link to download them in a zip file.

They instructed me to

1. Load Profile 1
2 Calibration the ACC and Gyro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PACWhQw9zqs
3 Let your Nebula 4000 stand on table itself. Press the AUTO button to find the right INERT and POLES. After AUTO, Manual change all POLES to 14.
Don't forget WRITE to save setting.
4 If profile 2 or 3 is clear, load other files. The last profile setting to WRITE is the default turn on setting like Profile 1 follow mode.

Dave Dugdale has a very helpful page too:
http://www.learningdslrvideo.com/nebula-4000-lite-1/
 
Oh, I read plenty of warnings. But (did I mention this?) I'm an idiot.

Thanks for the links and the explanation, I'll get to it this afternoon.
 
A bit of advice on the matter - the software has the option to save the profiles on your PC/Mac. I'd recommend to do this just to keep a copy, and definitely do it if you've customised the settings!
 
I've attached some old rods from a broken shoulder mount, inverted the handles and it seems to be easier to handle ( and slightly smoother )
I might shorted the rods at some point. It depends if they start getting in the way.

The wrap on the grip is a wrist support from the pound shop which I was using to make the grip more comfortable.

The plate that sticks out the back of the handle is for an R Strap

I must admit. being new to these things, I've struggled to get it working smoothly, but it seems all is well now. All I have to do is practice my ninja walk.
 

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Question to experienced users who are happy with how their Nebula 4000 is performing: do you feel very small vibrations when holding the handle? Because I do (well, I did, pre-screw-up) but they seem small enough that the footage looks fine. But I don't know if that's normal.
 
And so it begins - Dave Dugdale has said that he knows of a similar gimbal to the Nebula 4000 due to be launched at NAB.

If its a big brand, Filmpower may still do well due to low cost. If its CAME for example with a similar pricepoint, then the competition will really begin!
 
Samuel H said:
Hi

I'm an idiot. Please read to avoid doing what I did, and see if you can provide some help.

So, I have one of the earlier units, where a "long press" to the button is cleverly configured to erase all data and restore the (absolutely useless, according to the manufacturer and my current experience) preset values.

Please do yourself a favor and change that "long press" setting to something else. I didn't even do a long press: I was trying to do a gyro/acc calibration, so I did 4 presses, but nothing happened, so I did another 4, the N4000 interpreted those 8 not-really-that-consecutive presses as a long press, and screwed me over. My "I'm an idiot" statement at the top is because I knew my unit had the dangerous configuration and did nothing to keep it from exploding in my face. Don't be an idiot.

Anyway... I know the settings are particular to each individual unit, but what I have now is not even in the ballpark. Could somebody upload the config files for the 3 modes in his N4000? Please?
Click to expand...

Long press better change to the last"inverse YAW motor".
 
A question for those who are using the Nebula 4000 Lite with the A7s: are you shooting full frame, crop mode, or both? Thanks.
 
I'm shooting in crop but only because the only lens I own which is light enough is the 16-50mm kit lens from my A6000.

There aren't many options for wide and full frame especially if you need to add on the weight of an adaptor to use non-sony glass!
 
Shooting with the 16-50mm, are you able to get some smooth walking shots with the lens at 50mm? Most of the tests I've seen have been shot with wide angle lenses. Thanks.
 
I haven't tried this but I suspect you could get some decent shots at 50mm. One thing I've noticed about this gimbal is that it really excels at keeping a perfectly level horizon (in that long, speeded up video someone posted of walking up and down a streetscape, the horizon was perfectly level thoughout). When I do a "side to side" dolly type shot it really shines, could easily replace a track dolly or slider, especially in mode 3. When walking forward, at least at out of the box PID settings with an LX100, you will get bounce from footsteps, especially on foreground objects.
 
I'm using the a7S with the sigma 19mm f/2.8, which is APS-C too. I couldn't make it work with my Leitz Elmarit-R 24mm f/2.8 (too front heavy), but looking at the results I'm not sure I'd want to use FF mode anyway: the rolling shutter in the a7S has never bothered me because jumpy motion bothers me way earlier than jello; yet, with the N4000, there's no jumpy anything anymore, and even at APS-C I'm finally noticing the jello on footage that is otherwise perfectly usable (often: a big pan when turning a corner, or something like that).

Luckily, the only price I have to pay to stay at APS-C instead of FF is one stop of DoF, and one stop of high-ISO. Sharpness and DR are about the same, which is to say, pretty good.

I'll test it with the sigma 30mm f/2.8 too. But first I have to get some time to bring it back to life after my not-really-a-long-press screw-up.
 
Hey Samuel-

Will yours still communicate via Bluetooth or USB? Mine is on the way back to Filmpower after a similar issue. If it would still communicate, I could probably take care of it myself.
 
Yes. After the not-really-a-long-press issue it got nearly-dead, but after a few turn-on wait turn-off wait cycles, it stopped beeping and I could connect to it through both USB and bluetooth.

Thanks to maxotics I got the profiles back on the thing, and have tuned it again to close-to-usefulness (it still needs some work, but very minor; it's actually better now than it was just before the screw-up).

So, I thought I could shoot a short video and show you my 3D-printed piece to use the Flycam-nano brace with the N4000. I guess the market is really small (you need to have both the N4000 and a Flycam brace), but if anybody is interested, I could sell these for $25 each, worldwide shipping included. If you want one, write to similaar.feedback@gmail.com.

DSC00001.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWsgPyWpiQg

 
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I'm using the A7S with the Sony 10-18 lens in APS-C mode. I don't have any full frame lenses for the A7S at the moment. Just the 10-18, the 18-55 and the 55-210. If I want anything special, I can use my Canon lenses (NOT on the nebula 4000 though)
The 10-18 works fine at both ends of the length. The 18-55 also works well at 18mm and is lighter than the 10-18 physically.
 
Hi there,

yesterday I made this gimbal-timelapse clip with the Panasonic LX100 on the Nebula 4000 (no stabilisation in the post):

Cheers
Thomas.
 
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