PilotFly H2 Gimbal

i bought the Came Sinlge and it was a disaster. so many things wrong with it and was returned. I'm convinced that all of these gimbals are flakey at best to get them running properly. i believe if you are and expert with the software you have a good chance of dealing with one if not forget it. i keep using my Ronin because its software is intuitive and very easy to use. i look forward to the day when a small gimbal comes out that is easy to set up and use. till then ill use my heavy Ronin. lol!
 
david_p said:
i bought the Came Sinlge and it was a disaster. so many things wrong with it and was returned. I'm convinced that all of these gimbals are flakey at best to get them running properly. i believe if you are and expert with the software you have a good chance of dealing with one if not forget it. i keep using my Ronin because its software is intuitive and very easy to use. i look forward to the day when a small gimbal comes out that is easy to set up and use. till then ill use my heavy Ronin. lol!
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I've only ever heard good things about the Ronin line. I do wish they had light weight offering.....
 
I suspect they have their own software instead of the simpleBCG that many others use. We can't expect different results from the cheaper solutions if they are all using the same software.
 
This is my first time posting to DVXuser after lurking for a little bit. I ordered the H2 from B&H on June 7th and received it on July 6th. I watched several videos on how to balance these gimbals and I was able to get the following combination balanced pretty well: Sony A7SII with Zeiss 16-35mm f/4. I did some tests around a park where I live and it worked beautifully. Micro vibrations were only noticeable when attempting inverted mode.

The next day I decided to slap on an variable ND filter and re-balance. For some reason this proved more difficult than I expected. I somewhat was able to balance, but noticed a lot of vibrations from the pitch motor during some extreme positioning and when using the tilt function on the remote. Tilting slowly would reduce the vibrations on the pitch motor but it was still very evident when performing the tilt controls at full speed.

Over the weekend, I decided to take off the ND filter and re-balance. It worked out fine, and I was able to make this YouTube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUt6htjp0GA. I noticed only the slightest bit of vibration when my footsteps were not smooth (moving from the street up to a curb) and when performing side-to-side sweeping movements in fast order (shot in 60p and some 120p). All of this was corrected in Premiere using 3-4% warp stabilizer to quite decent results.

Then yesterday, I decided to install a Manfrotto QR baseplate and this is when things got more difficult. The combination of the baseplate and my A7SII + 16-35 made it extremely top-heavy. I lowered the arm on the pitch motor but it only goes so far before it hits the stopper. Then I actually adjusted it such that the stopper is no longer above the edge of the motor and it worked better... BUT I feel I can dislodge at anytime and fall out! It just makes me nervous. Is there anything else I can do to compensate for the top-heavyiness of my setup?

Also, I haven't messed with PID settings yet - this is all out of the box. I own a Mac and I've heard it's not possible to do a FW update unless I do the initial update via a PC. Is that accurate? Overall, I really like it except for the micro vibrations here and there and the pitch wobble at extreme positions. Footage looks amazing with my A7SII. Next I'm going to try a different lens set up, or add a mic on top and see how it all affects the stability of the system.

 
Carlo Timothy said:
Then yesterday, I decided to install a Manfrotto QR baseplate and this is when things got more difficult. The combination of the baseplate and my A7SII + 16-35 made it extremely top-heavy. I lowered the arm on the pitch motor but it only goes so far before it hits the stopper. Then I actually adjusted it such that the stopper is no longer above the edge of the motor and it worked better... BUT I feel I can dislodge at anytime and fall out! It just makes me nervous. Is there anything else I can do to compensate for the top-heavyiness of my setup?
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Carlo, welcome! And very nicely shot!

How heavy is the Manfrotto base/plate combo? And how much does it elevate your camera? Manfrotto makes sooooo many different types of bases/plates it's hard to keep track! Did you know that Manfrotto is an Italian word that means "system for increasing profits"?! It's true: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?307098-Why-I-stopped-buying-Manfrotto ;-)

Have you ever given arca-swiss compatible bases/plates a try? They can be smaller and lighter, and are nearly universal (even Manfrotto finally introduced an arca-swiss compatible plate).

I've used many different bases and plates and recently found the perfect (for me!) pairing that I use on all my gear:

Base: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KNPITI2
Plate: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014TPGJH4

Light, solid, secure. Weighs in at 118 grams total, but you can take off the front guard on the plate to make it even lighter. The thing I like most about these two are the built-in slots for attaching straps. I add Optech Uni-loops (they sell them in several different lengths) to each base and plate on my gear (male on plate/female on bases): https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=photo&field-keywords=uni-loop

When I shoot handheld, I use an Optech wrist strap (https://www.amazon.com/OP-TECH-USA-6701062-Wrist/dp/B00137NMMW/ ) and when I'm on my stabilizer, I snap the male and female together to prevent flopping. I even have one on my messenger back shoulder strap so I can quickly attach and carry my camera without needing a neck strap (although I also have a couple of the neck straps too!).

Anyway, point is... if the Manfrotto is challenging you weight-wise, perhaps another mount might work for you better. Good luck!
 
Just got mine. Doesn't work with A7s ii, Tamron 24-70 Di VC, and metabones even though it's under the weight requirements. I believe it's because there is no possible way to balance the setup. It constantly vibrates.


It does however work with my canon 50mm prime 1.4.

Edited. I was able to balance the setup with the Tamron but it still vibrates viciously.
 
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This thing is a piece of junk. If you mess with the settings, there's no way to go back to default and my motors won't turn back on.
 
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OKay, Pilotfly customer support helped me fix it. It works now and the vibration seems to be gone with my 24-70mm lens.
 
OKay, the red battery is for the bluetooth handle but there is no positive or negative on this thing. Not sure which side is the right one.


I think i got it. These batteries are huge so I just wanted to be sure.
 
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My pilotfly H2 handle came defective. I can't turn on the bluetooth controller. The red battery doesn't work no matter which way i put it in and I'm sure that it's fully charged because i get a blue light when I place it in the charger. So disappointing and I don't want to return it because I'll have to wait due to all the backorders.
 
Anyone having any better luck with the Pilotfly? I love the footage I've seen online and I love how compact and integrated it is with the two handle setup, yet it seems like a lot of people on here hate it. For me it's between the Pilotfly H2 or the Zhiyun Crane. It seems like a lot of people like the Crane but a lot of the footage I've seen can be kind of bouncy and the long handle makes it awkward for adding two handles or accessories later like a monitor.

So what's everyone's input? I'd love to see a comparison review between the two. Honestly there are so many of these gimbals it'd be nice to see a Great Gimbal Shootout between Came-TV, Freefly, Pilotfly, Zhiyun, and DJI (and whatever other company gets into the mix by then).
 
I haven't received mine yet but I have had experience with other BGC gimbals. In my experience the micro vibrations are due to too much power being applied to the motors for lower weight cameras/configurations. The gimbal overshoots then tries to correct, overshoots less and corrects less, on and on until it reaches balance. In my experience, lowering the power settings removes these vibrations. You can do it on site using the android app but of course YMMV.
 
I have been using my H2 with a Pany FZ1000 with flip out screen. I successfully changed the joystick settings to correct orientation due to the flipped mount. However, when I switch to follow mode, ie. hit the mode button twice, my joystick settings return to their original orientation... How do I get the changed joystick settings to apply to all selectable modes?
 
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