PilotFly H2 Gimbal

Flapjack Mountain said:
I received my replacement H2 and so far it's working well. I'm using my a7sii (627 grams) and Sony 28mm (200 grams), so it's well under 1kg and pleasant to hold. Balance takes less than a minute, I haven't touched any settings, and I'm delighted to say everything is working as it should with only a few vibrations in invert mode.
Click to expand...

Definitely good to hear since I have the same camera and lens combo. Pilotfly posted on their facebook group that the micro vibrations are caused by the IBIS. They posted a video using the H2 with the IBIS on and off. They suggest users to turn off the IBIS. Did they send you the same H2 you had or did they send a new one?
 
SuperMachoAlpha said:
Here's the video that shows how the IBIS causes vibrations on the footage. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hp7oFOxb92Y
Click to expand...
Thanks, this is really helpful. I'll have to do my own tests but it looks like the way to go is IBIS with the focal length set manually, as in the third example, yes?

Also, notable is this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meG5jUUuwr0&feature=youtu.be
He's using 5dmiii (850 grams), Rokinin 14mm T3.1 (620 grams) and--if that's not enough--a custom manfrotto QR plate (~280 grams, but probably less since he replaced the factory plate). That's nearly 1.75kg, and straight out of the box no PID changes, and it appears to be working well. So maybe this pokes a hole in my under 1kg capacity theory?
 
TheDingo said:
To my eye the smoothest footage appeared to be when the IBIS was shut off completely. The third example still had the odd bit of jitter in the footage to me.
Click to expand...

I agree. On my Ronin M I was getting somewhat of a strange quick movement on my footage (I had my a6300 with the speedbooster and a tamron 24-70 ef lens) when I turned off the VC on the lens, that strange warp/jitter went away so this may be the same case with the A7sii's IBIS and the H2.
 
I cant really decide on the H2 or a Ronin M, I like fact H2 is smaller and I can use it in a car easier, and I can add the handle bars like a ronin. I got a gh4 and a 12-35mm. any advice would be cool.
 
Lindquist said:
I cant really decide on the H2 or a Ronin M, I like fact H2 is smaller and I can use it in a car easier, and I can add the handle bars like a ronin. I got a gh4 and a 12-35mm. any advice would be cool.
Click to expand...

Well, they're obviously different animals, often used differently, but if your use scenario allows both, then there is one consideration that I would take under advisement: load capacity. Much as I like the idea of a pistol-style one handed gimbal, they all fail for me for one simple reason: load capacity. It is a pretty agreed upon conclusion by gimbal operators, that these gimbals do best when they are pretty solidly lower than stated top load capacity. So if f.ex. the PilotFly H2 has a load capacity of 2.2 KG officially, you'll do better to keep well below that top number. That being so, add up the configurations of the camera+lens+filter+addon you expect to use the most. For example, I like the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 with the MetaBones SpeedBooster plus Vari-ND filter - add a camera like GH4, and whatever else. Think about that. It significantly limits the camera + lens combos you can use with the H2. The Ronin M top load capacity is 3.6 KG - that's a lot more choices. That would be something to think about. Now, if you jus stay with the GH4 and the Pana 12-35, then you're fine with the H2. I like to have other options, because cameras come and go, and I'd like my gear to serve more than one camera combo.

Of course, if you already have a gimbal that can carry more, and you want to get the H2 for just super tight spaces with a small camera and small lens, then that's a nice piece of kit to have in your arsenal. But as your ONLY gimbal? I'd go for the Ronin M. YMMV.

That said, I personally would look around at more than just the Ronin M - there are other gimbals out there.
 
Last edited:
OldCorpse,

I, too, was looking at the H2 or Optimus. Found the weight a little too restrictive... The new Prodigy looks good, although it's a little more $ than the M:
Came-TV Prodigy

What are some other Ronin M sized gimbals that are decent?
 
Last edited:
If you need a big payload, look at the Letus. I tried it at NAB. Nice.

It has some unique features. The axis are not configured in the usual positions. With their arrangement, the camera is higher up for a give hand position. This makes it less fatiguing.

Notice that the pitch motor is on one of the handles. So when you let go of one handle and drop it down, the axis change position. The pitch motor becomes the yaw motor. This makes it very easy to go from a head shot to a ground shot. The build looks very good. The price is right. There aren't many reviews at B&H, but they like it.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...REG&ap=y&c3api=1876,52934715962,&Q=&A=details
 
Finally getting some time to work with the H2.

There are a few things I can't seem to figure out (or they aren't working correctly). 5 clicks should return the camera to home. But home seems to be slightly off level (for both pitch and roll). Following the accelerometer and gyro calibration (as show here) doesn't fix this. Nor does calibrating for a new home position (as shown here).

After inverting the camera mount (as shown here) so I can flip out the screen on Panasonic camera, calibrating for the new home position again (as I did above) doesn't actually set a new home position. After calibrating, the gimbal tries to flip the pitch/tilt 180 degrees (resulting in the camera pointing back at me).

Can anyone else calibrate or reset their home position?

There seems to be a BIG mess with the SimpleBCG versions that are out there. First off, here's my version info:

1.jpg

It's kind of odd....

Current version: 2.59 b5
Latest version: 2.56 b9

So the "Latest" version has a lower version number than the "Current" version?!

But then on the Pilotfly site they say: "The actual released firmware is 2.59b6."

Totally confusing! I thought that perhaps they accidentally swapped the 6 and the 9, but looking at the changelog makes it clear that they didn't! After clicking the "Check for beta versions, too" box (gotta love that comma!) I get this:

3.jpg

What's REALLY frustrating for me is that it looks like someone is re-writing changelog histories! This is a BIG no-no in software. Here's what I mean....

The (non-beta) 2.56 b9 changelog says:

-Bugfix: if a middle motor (ROLL in normal case) rotates over +-90 degrees, system becomes unstable
-Minor bugfixes
Click to expand...
But then buried down in the (beta) 2.59 b7 changelog it says:

2.58 b3
-Bugfix: if a middle motor (ROLL in normal case) rotates over +-90 degrees, system becomes unstable
-Minor bugfixes
Click to expand...

These are the same things, but they've changed the alleged version where this fix is applied from 2.56 b9 to 2.58 b3. This is sloppy, or worse. Then add in Flapjack's upgrade experience and.... It seems to be a bit of a scary mess. I'd guess that the firmware problems are from BCG and not Pilotfly, but it could be either of them.

The dropdown shows the available versions to upgrade. Note that Pilotfly's "The actual released firmware is 2.59b6" is not on that list!

5.jpg

No wonder Flapjack (and others?) have had issues with upgrading! Flapjack, I'm wondering what version did your replacement unit ship with?

I'm going to write to Pilotfly support to see if I should update or not (I'm actually having the problem that 2.56 b9 / 2.58 b3 purports to fix, so I'd like to get that resolved), but at the moment I'm not touching that Upgrade button (especially with this warning at the top of the beta changelog: "THIS IS UNSTABLE EXPERIMENTAL BUILD FOR TESTERS ONLY!").
 
Mine says the current version is 2.59 b3. I haven't had time to do much with the H2 this week, but I'll do some test shooting on Sunday. I still haven't touched the settings, but so far it's working okay.
 
I'm on the fence, Bern... keep hoping to hear / read / see more user experiences before I cancel mine... but I don't enjoy being a lab rat early tester...hmmm....
 
I just saw the H2 at my local camera rental store. The owner said he's not renting out the H2 for now because the last 2 people that rented it said that "the horizon is off" and that they experience major vibrations. They also said the software isn't helpful and only makes the H2 go wild-pretty much the same issues we have read about on here. Apparently the issues are all real. Now I'm just wondering why there haven't been any more reviews on B&H about this. Now I'm trying to think of reasons not to cancel my order.
 
With these kinds of issues, and given all the options out there and how quickly the landscape for gimbals is changing with new stuff coming out every month practically - well, I wouldn't touch the H2 with a ten foot pole. YMMV.
 
Hmm H2 isn't sounding so hot anymore. I just cancelled my BH Preorder and placed a pre-order for the new Beholder EC1 instead which is $150 less plus seems to have a $100 rebate for DS1 owners. I've been really impressed with my DS1 so the EC1 seems like it might be a better bet than the H2...
 
Beholder EC1 with Encoders and 5 lb weight capacity. That's caught my attention.

@SuperMachoAlpha I think Dugdale mentioned the horizon issue in his pre review video but PilotFly sent him a fix.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top