Nebula 4200 Gimbal Stabilizer Announcement (DVXUser Sponsor)

cseeman said:
I'm seeing vertical footsteps motion so I'm not sure if the handle springs are working properly.
If you translate the Japanese it would some that they noted that issue.

Filmpower should do a setup example showing the impact of setting up the spring response properly.
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Spring arms can isolate vibrations from vertical and horizontal directions. Different tension will have different natural frequency. Human also has a natural frequency when walking. If the two natural frequencies cancel each other out, the stabilizer will work smoothly. Otherwise it will enlarge the vibrations. Users need to adjust back and forth and practice a lot to get the best stabilization.

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The springs can handle the high frequency vibrations better if they are looser, but the reaction period will be longer. The tighter they are, the shorter the reaction period will be.
 
Good technical explanation. Best spring tension would therefore depend on the individual's walking/running style. I'd hope Filmpower or an end user would do a setup tutorial. While other aspects of balancing a gimbal are commonly available online, this is a unique feature of the 4200 5 Axis. It would seem one should set tension and record a walking/running test.
 
Don't expect miracles from the stabilizer. They can dampen the jostling of running. But the slow up and down of walking is difficult to dampen with this setup. I don't think the springs will help much with walking. But some demonstrations could prove me wrong. The benefit in this case is the fact that you are holding the rig with two hands instead of 1. So now you've gone back to a two-handed rig instead of a pistol grip.

If you look at how steadycams work, they are mounted to the body and the operator has his hand on the yoke. That is, his hands are on the same side of the springs that the camera is on. The hands not only control the camera movement, but they also act as dampers. Take a look at this video and see how the body of the operator is moving around, but his hands stabilize the camera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1vHvRiEUkU

With the Nebula, the hands are not on the camera side of the springs. So you have a load balanced on a set of springs with no damper except the friction of the joints. This is not going to be nearly as effective.
 
Paul, that theory is a bit flawed. The vertical isolation in a quality Steadicam is achieved almost entirely through the mechanical arm, with only a negligible amount via the operator. Because the operator's body moves in multiple axes (rotation, fore/aft and side/side as well as vertically), some of those axes will translate through the arm and affect the vertical stability. The operator's hand that rests on the handle at the end of the arm is serving to position the system in space, regulating its distance from the body and height from the ground. If there was to be any measurable dampening it would be happening here, but again, with a quality brand arm there should be almost no need. The other hand on the post will be doing no dampening whatsover, as that is purely engaging pan, tilt and roll with a fingertip touch.

I don't know what the internal design of the Nebula arms are but I will assume that they are not copying the design of the Steadicam brand arms of similar size, which due to their patented isoelastic-type response curve are far more effective than the competitor's arms at eliminating unwanted movement (once you get to full-size rigs, there are other manufacturers making excellent arms). If one was to rip apart a Pilot arm for example and mount it into the Nebula design, it should work much better.

Apologies because my Steadicam days are behind me and my terminology may be slightly less than accurate, but I know what I experienced, which is that a lesser designed spring arm will do much less of the job than a properly designed one.
 
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Iris, most important that Filmpower show video on how to setup and especially for the spring arms because people have no experience with that.
 
This footage is interesting. You can see the springs flexing in the mirror shot, reacting to motion and there's no vertical bouncing often seen in waling shots later in the video.

 
The Nebula stabilizer has a unique behavior. The handles spread and contract in your hands while the springs flex. So the operator's hands move apart and back in. The operator's hands can act as a damper to the spring movement. Here is a video of the stabilizer with a 935 gram load. The springs were at the factory settings.

In the video, the operator tried to walk as steady as possible. The white line is for reference. Note how the hands and top of the stabilizer move compared to the string. It's just one test. One would have to play with the springs to see how else it might behave.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KisLK7_lQJE
 
Paul, thanks for the clear example of the spring motion.
You can see the same motion in the first 5 seconds of the "Zeta" video (after the opening logo) I discovered and posted on 1/30. Later in the same video you can see a far amount of walking, running, handling stairs very smoothly. Iris mentions having to adjust them to an individuals pattern so it counters rather than exaggerates vertical motion. Since that's a form of gimbal setup unique to this, either Filmpower or someone needs to explain the process of adjusting spring tension and walking to get that set correctly.
 
Here's some footage. Second time using a gimbal. Took some trial and error to get the settings right and calibrated. Once I got it figured out it was pretty easy to use. For me, it seems to work the way I hoped it would. But your mileage may very.


Setup was a Pocket with A Wooden Camera cage and a Nikon 20mm f2.8 with BMPCC speedbooster. Around 5:07 is a full on sprint on foot. A little shaky. Hoping with practice that'll smooth out.


 
Adorama and AliExpres have both dropped the price from $999 to about $699.
Interesting shift. One can speculate why.

If it's really shipping in large quantities I find it odd that there aren't more user videos being posted or, more "mainstream" reviews.
 
cseeman said:
Adorama and AliExpres have both dropped the price from $999 to about $699.
Interesting shift. One can speculate why.

If it's really shipping in large quantities I find it odd that there aren't more user videos being posted or, more "mainstream" reviews.
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Adorama was having a limited time sale at $699 a few days ago! But it has returned to the original price now.
 
Dang I would of been tempted to give it a try at 699. Haven't kept up to date on it though, wonder if it's worth selling the nebula 4000 lite to upgrade.
 
I wonder what the shipping situation is. There's virtually no online end user videos and nothing from the more mainstream reviewers.
Either production runs are very small or it's not selling well.
I see 4 reviews on B&H and three of them are One Star.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...s_4200pro_5_axis_gyroscope_stabilizer.html#rv

Perhaps some of the build quality issues are being address. Alas we can only speculate.
There's no calibration tutorial from FilmPower which would be especially important for setting up the springs for walking or running.

I don't understand the intent of the short lived sale given the scarcity.
If B&H had the sale I would have considered because they have a 30 day exchange or refund policy.
Given the apparent support issues from FilmPower, I'd be very reluctant to buy online.
 
cseeman said:
I wonder what the shipping situation is. There's virtually no online end user videos and nothing from the more mainstream reviewers.
Either production runs are very small or it's not selling well.
I see 4 reviews on B&H and three of them are One Star.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...s_4200pro_5_axis_gyroscope_stabilizer.html#rv

Perhaps some of the build quality issues are being address. Alas we can only speculate.
There's no calibration tutorial from FilmPower which would be especially important for setting up the springs for walking or running.

I don't understand the intent of the short lived sale given the scarcity.
If B&H had the sale I would have considered because they have a 30 day exchange or refund policy.
Given the apparent support issues from FilmPower, I'd be very reluctant to buy online.
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Some of the users on a email chain that Filmpower sent out have had their units for a quit a while. Some are having trouble operating it as they lack instructions and others simply haven't had time (they said) to get to shooting any footage. I think I'm one of the first in the US to actually get some footage up. On my end I simply haven't had a lot of time due to work and school. I'll be recording some new footage tonight while using a wireless monitor. See how that goes. I was able to change the setup around a little so I could hold the handles from the top to face down so I could put it on two c-stands to start making adjustments. Be on the lookout tomorrow for some new footage.

I do think there needs to be proper instructions for adjusting the springs. What's out there is vague and has potential to mess things up if you like what you have. This will be my next goal after my friend borrows it for his shoot this weekend.

Build quality is okay. Ronin is probably better. The toolless setup is okay, but def. could use improvement. I removed the bolt that adjust the camera's ability to move foward and back and replaced it with a 1/4-20 bolt from a local hardware shop. It was just too much of a hassle. The battery life seems pretty good. I would not recommend plugging anything into the battery. Seems to weaken it quite a bit.

The calibration and setup is almost identical to the Nebula 4000. So if you get this and need basic instructions, I advise following the tutorials already on YouTube.

I'll try to do a more detailed and thorough review when I've got some more time. Don't count on me being in front of the camera any time soon though.
 
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Well Car3o if you need any help let me know since I just noticed your in Florida haha. Excited to hear how it is and if it's worth upgrading from the 4000 (mostly just want the extra weight limit )
 
Oh snap. Yeah, def. I actually frequent Port Orange quite often. Gfs parents live out there. Are you perhaps selling your Nebula on CL?

Something I forgot mention. The 4200 handles the Gh4 with a 17mm lens with no problem. It also handles the Pocket along with a Wooden Camera cage, Speedbooster and a Nikon 20mm with no issues either.
 
Car3o said:
Oh snap. Yeah, def. I actually frequent Port Orange quite often. Gfs parents live out there. Are you perhaps selling your Nebula on CL?

Something I forgot mention. The 4200 handles the Gh4 with a 17mm lens with no problem. It also handles the Pocket along with a Wooden Camera cage, Speedbooster and a Nikon 20mm with no issues either.
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Looking forward to your beautiful videos. If you have problem, you could contact our support. They will help you as soon as possible. Email: support@filmpower.com
 
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