FS5: Seeking gimbal/steadicam advice

[Ivor C]

A client is engaging me a series of stylish/illustrated interviews re their org for internet distribution. At least two of the initial ones lend themselves to gliding/steadicam moves, eg interviewee on a long walk through moorland.

Consequently I'm thinking of pushing the button on a brushless gimbal system. But there's a couple of options open to me based on kit and the overall (envisaged) shooting scenarios. I mostly shoot on an FS5 and a couple of Nikon D5300 DSLR's, so they are:

1) The one handed vertical stick gimbal route with a DSLR on top/bottom. The pros are the whole set up will be a lot smaller allowing shots in confined spaces, which I anticipate there will be a lot of through the series. Also the cost ranges from £800-1000.

2) Get something wider/bigger to handle the FS5, like a Ronin/Letus Helix. But the cons here are price, weight and size.

So the obvious choice is go the smaller stick route. So tell me why I shouldn't?

 

[Imamacuser]

I'm going to go against the grain and recommend a traditional style steadycam, they hold a lot of weight and are cheaper than gimbals, but there's a steeper learning curve.

 

[Wes.]

I will also tell you that a 3axis brushless gimbal won't hide footsteps of the operator anything like a proper steadi-cam will. It's a learning curve, also for pans and solo-operator stuff, it's not as intuitive.

I own a Ronin-M and fly my A7S on it with rokinon primes and redrock micro's remote focus finger wheel system. I love it, nice and light, available as b cam so I don't have to disassemble my A cam handheld/tripod rig in order to get a cool shot. But I do know that it's a specialty item, I have had my best success relying on it as b cam, and not A cam. (for run and gun mind you). I've shot music videos with the setup as primary/only camera with great success, but those shoots are a bit more controlled and you aren't figuring stuff out while recording.

You might consider the DJI OSMO as a standalone, small, stick based gimbal. I wouldn't think a DSLR on a one handed stick based gimbal would be that fun to operate though, you'd end up with two hands and a weird way of holding it I think.

Good luck either way

-Wes

 

[mattjeh]

I have used a movi m15 at length with an FS5, don't forget to factor in arm fatigue especially for long interview shots. I've not tried one, but I'd love to give the helix Jr a go with my FS5 as it looks perfect for it (although annoyingly not available easily here in the UK). The design means less arms out stretched which would help with the fatigue, but more expensive than the equivalent ronin-m with the traditional top bar design.

 

[bengiles]

I bought a Zhiyun Crane last week, with the extra handles that allow you to hold it like a Ronin/Movi etc. I'm so far very impressed with it, it lasts almost a day on one set of batteries, and it packs away in a small backpack with an A7Rii, 16-35 and 24-70 GM lenses, with room to spare.

Ben.

 

[andykwilkinson]

I have used a movi m15 at length with an FS5, don't forget to factor in arm fatigue especially for long interview shots. I've not tried one, but I'd love to give the helix Jr a go with my FS5 as it looks perfect for it (although annoyingly not available easily here in the UK). The design means less arms out stretched which would help with the fatigue, but more expensive than the equivalent ronin-m with the traditional top bar design.

This is one of the important reasons why I bought a Letus Helix Jr for my FS5 a year or so back...I tried a Movi and just knew it would be hell on my arms - and back! Very, very happy I went with the Letus. Well worth the extra cost for this reason alone IMO. I've written about my experiences with it in some detail on my website.

Mine arrived at Stansted Airport within 24hrs of pressing the 'Buy' button on the Letus website! That was the easy bit - but you have to pay the huge airfreight cost for that (there was no cheaper but slower shipping cost option for international shipping, at least when I bought mine). And then you have to pay the UK import taxes (VAT - which I simply claimed back on my business VAT return) before they delivered it to my studio very shortly afterwards

Sure, if anything goes wrong with it I suspect it would be a pain to get it back to the USA for repair but one of the other reasons I chose Letus is that they have very a good reputation for after sales service and rugged reliability - which is certainly not true of some other 3-axis gimbal manufacturers. The other critical thing is being able to put it down anywhere.

Sure, I am always trying to improve my skills in using it - but my clients seem to love what I have achieved so far - it really is a great combo with the FS5!

 

[Gene Sung]

There's Pros and Cons to both and I've owned both a Ronin (which I sold) and now I own a Devin Graham with a vest.

Ronin Pros:
• Your grandma can pick it up and get a smooth shot. Total no-brainer. Requires very little practice and you just gotta figure out how to balance it right.

Ronin Cons:
• The reason I sold mine is because DJI has let me down on 3 shoots with electronic issue. #1 - Regular Ronin would spin after a few minutes requiring constant On / Off #2 Ronin-M was stuck in a dutch angle that we could not undo #3 DJI Osmo. Showed up on set and the operator just could not connect via wifi or blue tooth no matter what he tried. After 30 minutes we just gave up and used the Devin Graham
• Does not work well with longer cameras like the FS7. You can balance it, but it requires weights on the back with longer lenses like the Sigma 18-30

Devin Graham Pro:
• With a Smooth Shooter vest it's quite a bit cheaper than a Ronin with a vest.
• No electronics so it always works. This is HUGE.

Devin Graham cons:
• It takes a lot more practice and requires perfect balancing to get steady shots. My shots looks terrible until I figured out how to do it properly.
• Requires more adjusting. Like when you go up stairs, it helps to readjust for that while the Ronin can just do it.

The Ronin / gimbals are smoother but the big issue is electronics. Since DJI has crapped out on 3 different shoots, I;m a bit weary. It's extremely stressful when you cannot get it to work and everyone is waiting for you.

Here's a video of the Devin Graham after I finally figured out how to do it right. Once you get it, you can get smooth shots pretty easily. Still never as easy as a Ronin / Gimbal, but at least it won't break.