C300: Thoughts on using a stabilization gimbal?

In the course of tweaking a camera profile for the Helix I ran into a bit of a dead end due to my lack of familiarity with the tweaking software. A skype call to customer service over at Letus solved the issue in about 5 minutes and got the result I wanted. +1 for Letus customer service. After a little bit of doodling with a default camera profile, I've got the action of my Helix where I want it for now. The learning curve to get to this place was pretty easy after a a little bit of reading and a quick call to customer service.
 
I tried the stock Canon LCD and while that would have been my preference, it is significantly heavier than the DP4 and raised the center of gravity of the camera too much, making balancing more difficult. Neutral, or as close to neutral balance as possible around the roll axis is important with the Helix and the DP4 gets me to that point much faster. Since cabling audio to the 300 would completely restrict freedom of movement needed on the mount, the stock LCD wasn't getting me that much anyway.
 
Is it hard to balance with the side grip? I use the DPAF and have programmed the button no. 7 for AF and lock af by using that. I guess during a shot touching the buttons would introduce shake. However, for ease of locking focus on a person it may help and I wonder if you can balance when it is attached to the C300.
 
I haven't taken the step of mounting the side grip and rebalancing the rig .using the side grip on the helix and touching the button to activate focus would likely be an issue just like it would be with a steadicam . What might be worth trying if you use EF lenses like I do, would be to use the wifi dongle on the camera with live view and have an assistant with an iPad activate the focus function over wifi. This would be a poor man's substitute for a teradeck bolt wireless link and a wireless remote follow focus operated by an assistant . I do have the wifi dongles and will give this idea a test soon .
 
Looks good, Mark- thanks for sharing.

So are you leaving the lens at 17mm and manual focus set for distance to your walking subject?
And what's the power for the DP4?
 
Mark Smith said:
I tried the stock Canon LCD and while that would have been my preference, it is significantly heavier than the DP4 and raised the center of gravity of the camera too much, making balancing more difficult. Neutral, or as close to neutral balance as possible around the roll axis is important with the Helix and the DP4 gets me to that point much faster. Since cabling audio to the 300 would completely restrict freedom of movement needed on the mount, the stock LCD wasn't getting me that much anyway.
Click to expand...

Mark - Got it. Thanks. Makes sense.
 
groveChuck said:
Looks good, Mark- thanks for sharing.

So are you leaving the lens at 17mm and manual focus set for distance to your walking subject?
And what's the power for the DP4?
Click to expand...


Sometimes I park the lens at 17 but i find myself frequently at 20 -23 mm and the taping off the zoom barrel at whatever focal length I choose so no accidental shifts in focal length& balance happen. the DP4 gets power from the Helix rig via a cable I made up. The camera is on BP battery power for now until my lemo power splitter shows up and I can run both camera and Dp4 off the juice box.
 
Mark,
How are you fixing the C300 to the Helix? Are you using any plate to attach the C300? I have just started trying to balance it. Also, I am trying to balance with the Canon LCD on top but the cables are hitting. Without that I can't shoot, as I don't use any other external LCDs. I would appreciate any inputs and photos.

If anyone else is using C300 with the Helix, then please let me know.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi
 
jm.gardiner said:
A friend of mine who also has a C300 went in on a system that included the Ronin, Red Rock Micro wireless FF and paralinx arrow. We've used in on two jobs so far. In our situation we've left one C300 rigged on the gimbal completely stripped down (evf module as well) and timecode synced to the other camera and audio. With a wide angle constant volume lens like the canon 16-35mm it's pretty amazing. We've also used the canon Cine 24mm with great results. I can't imagine fitting a 70-200mm on the gimbal, I think it'd make it far too front heavy to balance.

Our current setup is mounting the C300's lcd unit on the cross bar, but it limits the movements you can do. No briefcase mode unless you get the factory upgraded cable extenders.

Like steadicam or anything else it needs a team to run properly. Switching back and forth from gimbal to off gimbal would be tricky if you have the camera rigged up for handheld. You have to strip everything off the camera including the baseplate and eye piece. The weight is considerable, you'll want an assistant for sure just to take it between takes. I think it's just over 15lbs, an easy rig will be our next purchase.
Click to expand...

How are you mounting the LCD on the cross bar? Guessing you have a cold shoe with 1/4 inch thread that screws into the Ronin monitor bracket ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top