PilotFly H2 Gimbal

This EC1 claim has my attention: Adaptive PID-algorithm for preventing vibrations in big angles

That's what we were talking about earlier. With the encoders, there is no reason we should have to dink with PID settings. The software should take care of it.
 
This weekend I had the chance to shoot some test footage with the H2 and the Came-TV handles attached on the bottom. I absolutely love this setup! Unlike the Pilotfly handles, the Came-TV can break down into small pieces and fit in a compartment in my camera bag. It's super sturdy and weights very little and takes maybe 3-5 minutes total to assemble the gimbal, handles, and balance. I walked around with this setup for at least three hours and it's so light and easy I'd be comfortable holding it all day with no strain at all.

https://vimeo.com/171624380
https://vimeo.com/171625210
pw: H2

My camera/lens combo is around 850 grams, I've not touched any PID or software settings, and I get only slight vibrations if I strain the motors with an extreme position. And a few vibrations in invert mode, but it's still very useable. I'd say the gimbal itself has performed super well, the only issues I have are my unsteady walking, moire in 60fps, and less-than-ideal autofocus, none of which I blame the gimbal for.

I know a lot of folks are freaked out about the H2--and I was in that camp a couple weeks ago as I struggled with PID settings--so I just wanted to say I'm having a wonderful experience with it right now. I've got a wedding shoot coming up this week, and I'm super excited to see it in action.
 
I put gaffers tape on the bottom of the gimbal and on the base of the arm. It feels stable, though a couple of times that day I'd notice it twisting loose a bit and have to re-tighten.

Even though it looks a bit tall with this setup, I have my arms down comfortably at my side and the camera is up near eye-level. And I can see the camera's LCD screen well enough to get by with that. Can anyone tell me why so many gimbals have the handles up above? It doesn't seem very comfortable to get the camera to eye-level that way. Anyway, my setup admittedly doesn't look as cool as a Ronin M, but it's super comfortable.
 
Flapjack Mountain said:
.... Can anyone tell me why so many gimbals have the handles up above? ......
Click to expand...


I think this is because gimbals started out on copters, which need this orientation. They just added handles to the copter gimbal in the beginning. Later, designers started figuring out that this was not the best design for hand-held. That's one of the reasons why I like the Letus and the Optimus.
 
Paul F said:
This EC1 claim has my attention: Adaptive PID-algorithm for preventing vibrations in big angles

That's what we were talking about earlier. With the encoders, there is no reason we should have to dink with PID settings. The software should take care of it.
Click to expand...

I was just reading back in this thread because I recalled someone mentioning another gimbal (the EC1)....

Anyway, I was looking for info on the EC1 and copied that blue bit into Google and got this:

16-06-30-.jpg

Err, uh..... It looks like a claim Pilotfly also makes, even though I do get vibrations at big angles. Lots of them!
 
Update on my Pilotfly H2..... The yaw motor has been getting........ bumpy? What I mean is, it feels like the bearings have some dirt or something in them because the motor isn't spinning smoothly (the pitch and roll motors do). When I first unpacked the gimbal it was like butter.

I started to notice it a few days ago but chalked it up as something that I must have not noticed initially. It's gotten worse and I've written to Pilotfly. They're having me return it to B&H for a new one. B&H actually gave me the choice of swapping it for a replacement or returning it (still within the 30 days). I was on the fence about that but B&H did say the 30 day clock will start over on the new one once I get it, so that should hopefully give me time with it to make sure the replacement doesn't have the same problem.

Yay B&H!

Only thing now is that I have to wait for them to get stock. 8(

I'm wondering though, has anyone else had any issues with non-smooth operating motors?
 
That is unfortunate.

Regarding the adaptive PID, I did some reading and it turns out that the adaptive PID is part of the simpleBGC software that most everyone uses. I was too lazy to fully read through the SimpleBGC manual, but I get the impression that this is not an automatic feature, but something you have to adjust; it's yet another set of parameters to dink with. If so, that's too bad.
 
One quick note to those with Panasonic cameras who want to use the camera with the screen flipped out..... While you can flip the roll axis to allow the camera to be mounted with the screen out, you will loose the ability to use the 5-click Home feature, which brings the gimbal back to it's default home position. I wrote to Pilotfly about this and got the following back:

"Move move (5 clicks Mode button) works only in normal position, if you flip the roll axis then this feature is not working!!! Why? Well the encoders were calibrated in the other direction and the home move command tries to move back to "0" which is on the other side. So the behaviour of your gimbal in that state is normal and cannot be fixed with a FW upgrade."
 
An update on my H2--I filmed a wedding last week with the H2 running more or less continuously for three or four hours and it turned out great! I had a rode videomic pro rycote and a 7" monitor mounted on the handle and it wasn't a problem holding it up around eye-level for the entire time. The gimbal was smooth and motors behaved as they should. Occasionally the horizontal axis would drift, but I'd just power down the gimbal, restart it, and it'd be fine. Also, with the encoders, I could just hold it in the correct position for a couple of seconds and it'd stay there too. My only issue is that the autofocus on the a7sii is tricky to manage while holding the gimbal, but on the whole I'm very happy with the footage!
GimbalWedding.jpg
 
That looks pretty cool. Are you using your phone as a monitor or did you have something else? How did you mount your phone to the handle? I will have a similar setup whenever I get my unit in.

Also, you are extremely close to the bride and groom. Do you get permission for that?

Last question! What lens do you use with your A7S on that rig?

New Question
Can the Pilotfly H2 be used as a Jib?
 
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Beebop, I mounted a SmallHD 701 to the dual handles with an Atom Clamp and ball head and it held up nicely. I'm sure your phone would mount nicely too.

I filmed with 55mm and 28mm primes. The venue was tiny, so everything was close to the bride and groom and my position just made sense for the situation.

Keylight had some interesting posts in this thread about jibs that you might want to check out. Without anything other than the gimbal, I can raise it above my head, lower it, and walk toward the subject, all with smooth motion. So you might consider that jib-like.
 
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I've decided not to wait for a replacement H2 from B&H. Given my experience, some of the newer reviews on the web, and Flapjack's experience with his original gimbal (glad the new one is working out Flapjack!) it's too much of a hit or miss for me at this point. It's disappointing and frustrating, but it's the right call (again, for my particular circumstances) and it's back to using reliable physics based stabilizers until the technology matures a bit more.

One final note about Pilotfly (the company). Their support does seem to be getting better (more responsive) and I commend them for that. I'm sure they're really pressed to keep up with demand but I wonder if better QC would mean less time replacing units/responding to problems. The firmware issues they are having are almost certainly a Basecam problem, but keeping users updated on which firmware version to use seems like it should be a pretty simple thing to do. The last time I wrote to them about upgrading the firmware it was because the Pilotfly site said to use a non-existent version (for the second time!).

Since B&H puts replacement orders at the top of the queue, those waiting on their H2 backorders should now be one spot closer to getting them. ;)
 
FYI, For those interested, as of this moment B&H has the H2 in stock. If you decide to get one, I hope you'll post here on how it goes. I wish you much luck!

16-07-11-.jpg
 
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