Recommendations for stabilized "walking" camera setup?

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Sneakle

Well-known member
I've got a gig calling for shooting interiors of some office buildings with lobbies, conference rooms, hallways etc, to entice leasing. What rig would you choose for 1 man working fast, autofocus and gimbal stabilization? This is speedy work for youtube distribution. Thinking maybe the DJI Osmos but it's poor in low light, or would my GX9 on a gimbal be better for low light situations so I can use a faster lens? I also have a DVX200.
 
How wide do you need to go? All the cameras you're mentioning have smaller sensors.

The GX9 with a SpeedBooster may work. Or with a wider MFT lens. But then AF is pretty much out (but you'd have IBIS). You can also use MF at a higher aperture.

If it's a one-time important gig, I'd maybe rent a full-frame camera [something like a 1DX Mark II (4K is @1.3x) or 1DX Mark III with a Sigma 14mm = beautiful results). Or a7RIV. Nikon D780. Or something even cheaper. Is 4K mandatory?

You'd have wide, low-light, AF, and 4K slow-motion (on the Canons) for appealing shots while walking (even without IS on some models).

Maybe if you share more about the project/goals, we can narrow it down.

___

For the best IBIS, you have two choices: Panasonic or Olympus

For the best AF, you have two choices: Sony or Canon

So you'll have to compromise unless you use a gimbal or settle for no AF. [People shoot f/8+ with MF on full-frame cameras (better low-light) all the time and capture nice results.]
 
What is your budget for renting or buying gear?

What are the lenses you already have?

How dark do you think it will be?
 
I have various f2.8 lens in m4/3. Widest being a 20mm 1.7 and I have a nikon d750 with fast lenses starting with a 20mm f1.8. As far as darkness, not expecting too dark, maybe some daytime hallways or conference rooms with windows. Was mulling over the DJI Ronin-SC Gimbal Stabilizer that is on 1 day sale at BH today. I have some budget. It's 10 buildings in different states. Just trying to make it easy on myself to get in-focus moving shots.
 
20mm on MFT isn't going to get you a lot in the room if you can't back up too far.

20mm on a D750 would be very nice, but the video resolution is limited (but maybe it doesn't matter).
 
I think the resolution of the 20mm 1.8 would be adequate for this job. Would be cutting with drone footage from my Mavic. Just haven't done much video with the Nikon d750. Not being a mirrorless camera makes it kinda of a drag to monitor. It's what I usually shoot architecture stills with. Maybe as you were saying, f8 and a wide lens would be acceptable focus. And would consider purchasing or renting another camera. Shooting 4k but editing on 1080 timeline etc.
 
I meant the resolution of the camera...the D750 has pixel-binned HD. Any detail in wider shots would fall apart compared to modern day cameras optimized for video output. (It would look like complete mush. But maybe that's okay, IDK. But there are much better cameras for the job.)

The lens itself is perfectly fine. And stills are gorgeous. Just needs to be on a camera with better video processing.

And the D750 doesn't have 4K video.
 
Understood. Maybe Nikon Z7? I have a lot of Nikon lenses and not sure I want to go down the Sony A7 road.
 
For the D750, can you view video through the viewfinder or do you have to go to the LV?
Nothing wrong with LV shooting which would be required anyway for walking, but just thinking of versatility when shooting stills to quickly shoot video.
 
Sneakle said:
I've got a gig calling for shooting interiors of some office buildings with lobbies, conference rooms, hallways etc, to entice leasing. What rig would you choose for 1 man working fast, autofocus and gimbal stabilization? This is speedy work for youtube distribution. Thinking maybe the DJI Osmos but it's poor in low light, or would my GX9 on a gimbal be better for low light situations so I can use a faster lens? I also have a DVX200.
Click to expand...

If you have to work fast for speedy YT distribution need stabilization need width and need to get reasonable results in lowish light rooms you could look at the GoPro Hypersmooth setup options like in the clips below. They require minimal time and effort for speedy work and deliver pretty reasonable YouTube experiences.

On the other hand if you can grab a drone you can use that handheld. I've done similar to the two clips but with a two man team walking with a Phantom 4 Pro walking through schools for a series of educational videos. When shooting hand held drone we take the props off the drone and one person walks with the drone holding the legs of the Phantom 4 Pro while the second person drives the camera controller for pan / tilt and rotation. The drone controller operator can use all the camera's manual controls if they wish such as aperture, ISO, shutter, WB etc, etc. With the Phantom 4 Pro approach you have a 20 megapixel 1" sensor that can grab 100Mbps 50/60 video and pretty decent stills at the same time. The lens is an f/2.8 equivalent to 24mm in FF. All in all you can and get some pretty decent hand held video and stills results. Combine those shots with the aerial capabilities of the drone of the building exteriors and you have a pretty small easy to transport kit that covers most situations. Not saying it's the critical quality option but for quick turn around good YT quality it works pretty well. Just have a few batteries and charger for longer days. Mind you without running the motors the batteries last a LOT longer doing the handheld drone stuff.

Chris Young

Maybe not exactly what you were thinking but it might trigger some ideas / thoughts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymcVeVKf2u0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcuGqx_X3_8

Bit of an experiment from Newsshooter's Matt Allard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHn9stiEQwk
 
I'm looking for a similar setup; thinking the D850 with a 16-35 stabilised lens plus the Weebill gimbal. I've done some tests at ISO 800 and video looks fine to me.
 
I highly recommend the Laowa Zero-Distortion 12mm lens for wide-angle interiors. It has very low distortion and a very wide field of view. Most wide-angles have distracting distortion which can be especially problematic for architecture. The 12mm is for full-frame and they also make a 9mm zero-distortion for MFT (granted that it's not as wide at 18mm equivalent). They are manual focus lenses, which is too bad, but the depth of field with such a wide angle lens is quite large.

In any case, I think 20mm is nowhere near wide enough on a MFT sensor, although on FF it's pretty good. It all depends on the space - you may never need wider than 24mm or you may be thanking your lucky stars you brought a 12mm. It's a really nice option to have.

If you have Nikon autofocus lenses, sticking with a new Nikon body makes a lot of sense as the autofocus adapts well from F to Z. From what I've read and seen, autofocus doesn't adapt well across brands. I've only read about the Z6 and it seems like a great camera with great autofocus. My only quibbles were that in order to get log or 10-bit, you have to record externally. Also no 4K60p.

The ronin-sc would probably be great. I have the Ronin-S and I love it. Easy to use, fast to set up. The S has a heavier payload than the SC but otherwise I think the features are the same and I doubt I've ever used more weight than the SC could handle. I actually use the Ronin-S focus motor (it goes right on a rail built in to the ronin and takes power from a port on the gimbal and is controlled by the wheel on the handle). I use the Ronin S primarily with my Lumix S1 (which I would highly recommend except that you said you want AF and it has poor AF). I get by quite happily pulling focus manually off a 7" monitor attached to the handle. The only times I wish I had AF are when I'm walking in on a subject and quickly approaching the minimum focus distance, or following a subject with shallow depth of field.

Changing lenses and rebalancing on the Ronin-S is very fast (though it takes another 30 seconds if you're using the focus motor). That being said, if I were only going to use one lens I would agree that a 16-35 is probably the way to go. But my personal vote would be both a 12mm and a 24-70mm. Do a pass of the room with one lens and then switch and use the other. You may end up needing some telephoto shots - it may not be all wide-angles. I would even recommend a 24-105 but they have more distortion typically than a 24-70.

People also make 12-24mm zooms. That could be good too. But either a 12-24 or a 16-35 is guaranteed to have more distortion than my trusty Laowa 12mm.

One last thought - did you consider the iPhone 11 pro? It has built-in (equivalent) 13mm, 26mm, and 52mm lenses I believe. Not sure how good the video autofocus is, anyone else know? And you can throw it on a little gimbal

Let us know what you end up doing!
 
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I did look at the iPhone 10/11 and saw some impressive on-gimbal footage, shot outside. And looking seriously at the Nikon Z6. Not clear on whether the z6 can autofocus video with adaptor and G lenses.
 
That autofocus sample looked acceptable to me. Since not trying to lock onto a bird flying by etc. I think the Z6+adaptor+ 20mm 1.8 looking good for interiors. A lot in focus anyway with that lens and full frame.

NorBro said:
Quick test I saw on YouTube...there are probably many more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r1DQiogjQg

With that in mind, there should be slower AF control settings but I also wonder how loud it is with any lenses.

Ideally, you'd just go for the best: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1452459-REG/nikon_20070_nikkor_z_14_30mm_f_4.html

Or their 20mm f/1.8 (or another Z lens).
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, exactly...the wider you are, the more deep focus you'll have for everything further away from you (which is why stopping down would help even more if you encountered any potential AF issues).
 
You may also want to check out the Sigma or the Rokinon 14mm - both have AF

Also - 20mm full-frame at f1.8 can still definitely miss focus
 
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