Team Rebel Design Beholder DS-1 3 Axis Handheld Gimbal

I saw Owldolly version at PhotoPlusExpo and the Ikan version at CCW just a few weeks later. They're both the same. I think Team Rebel Design distributes through both. Same unit though.
 
Mine showed up about a week ago. Great solid feel and look to the whole thing.

Suppose I better fire it up and see how it works.

...yeah, been a little busy..
 
Is there any reason this would not work with a lighter load such as a smart phone? Would the PID need major tuning? I want to be able to use a GH4 or a Galaxy S5 depending on the situation.
 
Paul F said:
Is there any reason this would not work with a lighter load such as a smart phone? Would the PID need major tuning? I want to be able to use a GH4 or a Galaxy S5 depending on the situation.
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Well worst case you could throw some weights on it.
 
nyvz said:
Yeah certain items I always buy at B&H for their return policy since they are close by me and I'm there all the time, but for a $150+ discount I'd go for ebay if it's an item that I have researched carefully and know I would only return if it's faulty. The ebay seller had a 14-day return policy.

Here's the one I bought on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/351629954488
They accepted a $650 best offer pretty much immediately which I was a little surprised about.

Frankly the fact that the B&H one was in stock but had a higher price and no information scared me off a little since you don't know what Ikan changed about it compared to the original. It looks like it may not come with the extra set of batteries and has different colored knobs but who knows what else is different. I haven't been impressed by ikan in the past, they seem to just rebrand chinese items and sometimes make them worse and rarely make them better and then they charge more for it.
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Thanks for the tip. I was going to order one from B&H today. I'm getting one of these instead.
 
The web site says that the USB port can be used for remote control. Does anyone know what's at the other end of the USB; a phone with an app? Is that available now?
 
I haven't used one of these one-handed gimbals before. Would rigging one to a shopping cart/equipment cart/skateboard produce footage as smooth as you would get from a doorway dolly?
 
Yes and no. They are only as good as the operator. They do not compensate for up and down movement. So any jitter that the cart is experiencing will be seen. Gimbals mostly use wide angle shots to keep the movement defects less obvious.
 
Paul F said:
Did you consider the Came TV Single? I'm debating between it and the DS1.
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i just got the Came-TV Single a couple of days ago. i took it out of the box and mounted an A7SII with the FE 24-70mm and it fired up with no issues. upon shooting some test though i found a some vibrations in the shot even though i didn't feel or hear them when shooting. i figured it was time to get the software and attempt to dial in the settings better. (on a side not i found almost all of the "out of the box" videos on youtube and lets go shoot some test footage to be "not good" having lots of vibrations and quirks so i didn't expect to be able to shoot without adjusting the setting somewhat).

so being on a Mac i see that there is "no option" to use a smart device. argh! ok, ok so i research and finally get all of the drivers and software installed and have success mounting the gimbal into the SimpleBGC_GUI v2.50.b3 app. i played with it a bit then uhooked to give it a try and it wasn't good and actually had more vibrations so i went to hook it up again but...

now i didn't have the "USB" option to hook up. what? it was there a second ago but not only bluetooth / modem options. i tried different USB cables to no avail. i did get the rapid flashing light on the back motor but still no hookup.

i reinstalled the software and drivers but no change.

then i restarted the computer and now...NOTHING shows up under "connection" drop down menu. no bluetooth, modem or USB... ZERO.

?

after the very easy setup with my Ronin / iPad app this is frustrating. I'm probably going to return the gimbal if i don't get it going by the end of today. I'm not happy about the lack of IOS support. sure i guess i should have understood this prior to purchase but oh well. i bought it from B&H so i know I'm covered.

as to the Single itself?
nice build
heavier than i thought but still manageable i feel.
i like that you can grab the motor and re-set the position without any app needed or having to restart. i felt this is a big bonus for this gimbal over others.

the tool less knobs are "ok" but feel like they could be broken if tightened too much. something i told myself to be very conscious of so don't think this is a problem.

thought there would be an extra battery but there wasn't. i think on and earlier version there was so was surprised.

this gimbal overall seems very nice. I'm just at a loss as to the software issues and am feeling like it might not be worth it since i don't want to have to have a computer on a location shoot to deal with adjustments even if i get this software going.

any ideas on my software issues? I'm on an 8 core mac pro OS X 10.10.5

thanks
david
 
david_p said:
i like that you can grab the motor and re-set the position without any app needed or having to restart. i felt this is a big bonus for this gimbal over others.
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Yes, this is one of the key features that appeals to me. Having encoders also is supposed to allow it to run on one set of batteries all day.

david_p said:
I'm just at a loss as to the software issues and am feeling like it might not be worth it since i don't want to have to have a computer on a location shoot to deal with adjustments even if i get this software going.
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That's unfortunate. I hope you resolve it. I'd like to hear more about how it works if you get the software sorted out.
 
I did the $650 offer posted on page 3 of this thread and it was accepted. My DS1 is on the way. I'm going to be shooting real estate and some beach/tourism B-roll along with some promos for a yoga studio and a personal trainer. What swayed me was the capacity and the ability to go inverted without needing to readjust. For 4k I'll be shooting the A7rII, for 1080p I'll mix in the A7s. Can't wait, I had the 8-bit Defy G2, but it was really finicky and on some camera/lens combos I couldn't get rid of the vibrations. I'm hoping this will be easier to tune.
 
i posted a few above this that the Came TV Single does not work on IOS. it does work on an Android device though. i don't have any PC computers but am now thinking of buying the barest Android tablet to run the software for the Came TV Single.

i do not know anything about Android...what is the most bare bones tablet that would work this kind of software for a gimbal.

i won't do anything else on this tablet since i have an iPad so i don't care about storage speed or performance for games or watching movies etc.


are any of these low priced ones workable?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/rca-ref...1313935614.p?id=mp1313935614&skuId=1313935614

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung...1312618822.p?id=mp1312618822&skuId=1312618822

any other suggestions?

thanks
david
 
Paul F said:
Yes, this is one of the key features that appeals to me. Having encoders also is supposed to allow it to run on one set of batteries all day.



That's unfortunate. I hope you resolve it. I'd like to hear more about how it works if you get the software sorted out.
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my conclusion to my Came TV Single gimbal experience.

i bought a Samsung/android tablet to solve my location/software issues but never could get the gimbal to connect. i returned the tablet although the tablet was probably not at fault since i could get other items to connect so i know it was working.

the battery on the gimbal on my first test outing lasted about an hour or so. after that it went horribly bad. the few times i got it connected to my computer/software i got an alert that the battery was drained so id charge it and put it right back into my computer. i did this about 4 times and was getting about 20 seconds of battery life. i finally gave up. ironically @ B&H where i bought it i noticed that the only review (1 star) stating that he was at a wedding and the battery died on him instantly. i thought...ok just a lemon or a freak of nature. nope. apparently this is a problem for Came-TV. so much for their claimed 10 hour battery life.

needles to say I'm returning it for a refund. won't bother with another one.

the only thing that made me go for this over others was the encoders and the ability to adjust on the fly but have lost all confidence in the companies quality control. prior to this i was seriously looking at the Beholder DS-1. i may just wait until NAB to see what else hits plus i expect to start seeing 5 axis gimbals anyway.

i have the orginal DJI Ronin and although its heavy I've come to really appreciate the software interface compared to the very tedious software that i had to use the the Came. thats another reason i may wait a bit longer too.

i highly do not recommend this gimbal.

david
 
I have tuned my came single on my Mac with no issues. I had a similar problem with not seeing the proper usb connection but what ended up working for me was making sure the gimbal was powered up before I plugged it into the usb.

i also had a similar issue with the battery indicator saying it was dead - this was again because the gimbal itself was not powered on and it wasn't sending a voltage signal out so the software was reading the battery as dead. You can connect it to your computer without powering it up - but you don't want to do this. Turn it on and then plug it into the usb.
 
david_p said:
the battery on the gimbal on my first test outing lasted about an hour or so. after that it went horribly bad.

needles to say I'm returning it for a refund. won't bother with another one.
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Perhaps you were a bit quick in your decision. From the Came TV FAQ:

Lately, there have been a small handful of customers who have reported that the internal battery on their newly purchased CAME-Single has gone bad. Based on these reports, it is stated that their gimbals do not start up, despite having given it a full charge.

To clarify the matter, however, there is a very strong chance that the battery is still good. When this situation happens, it is more than likely that the gimbal's internal control board has gone into a protective sleep mode....

It goes on to explain how to reset it.
 
Paul F said:
Perhaps you were a bit quick in your decision. From the Came TV FAQ:

Lately, there have been a small handful of customers who have reported that the internal battery on their newly purchased CAME-Single has gone bad. Based on these reports, it is stated that their gimbals do not start up, despite having given it a full charge.

To clarify the matter, however, there is a very strong chance that the battery is still good. When this situation happens, it is more than likely that the gimbal's internal control board has gone into a protective sleep mode....

It goes on to explain how to reset it.
Click to expand...

You suppose this will work on my wife too?
 
first thank Paul F and FRP for your input and the article on the battery.

i had the thing packed late last night and ready to go back but then saw the posted article so thought id unpack and give it one more chance before sending it back. i once again hooked it to my mac pro but could not get it to show up in the "connect" list. I've dealt with 2 different Mac Pro's and all i can say is its very flaky and is simply prone to not wanting to connect the majority of the time.

as far as the battery fix? if i really wanted to keep it i would have tried that but did not because i thought it might void my option to return it since it would probably be clear i had tampered with it so that wasn't an option. still there are more than enough other things that are funky with this gimbal that i just don't want to have anything to do with this company anymore. if i happened to get a "lemon" then oh well i won't take another chance for many more reasons that just the battery issue.

i put my A7sII on my Ronin and its as smooth as silk and going to be better walking than any small gimbal anyway and with great software and works on my iPad and has been 100% reliable and predictable. i had a hankering for a small gimbal but will wait and be happy for the moment that i still have my Ronin.

thanks for the input guys!
david
 
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