Handheld gimbals

[jtvang125]

I just picked up one of those handheld gimbals and wanted to share a few thoughts. If you're curious on which one, its the Feiyun Tech MG v2.

1. Prepare to spend atleast 15-20 mins setting it up and balancing it. It's not, slap your camera on and go. If you're impatient or not mechanically inclined be prepare to be frustrated and taking even longer. It can take just a millimeter or two to make it balance. Anything added on or taken off (mic, monitor, lens change) will require rebalancing as well as taking it down because it only fits a certain way in the case. The guy I bought it from said it took him 3 hrs on his first attempt. Also be extra careful when balancing because the camera can rotate and possibly causing the lens to bang against the brackets. Good thing I had a UV filter or I would have a nice nick on my lens.

2. While it's a lot better than handheld you still need to practice and use certain techniques. Having one doesn't instantly make you a pro cameraman. When following a subject bend your knees and hold it close to your body to reduce the up and down shake. The gimbal does not stabilize this and if your camera or lens doesn't have stabilization too you'll have to be extra careful in your motions to reduce shake.

3. Expensive. Even the chinese branded ones are still $500+ for ones that can hold a mirrorless or dslr. So consider if you're really going to make use of it before dropping this much cash on one.

4. Big and bulky. Not something you can take everywhere with you and some places may even prohibit it because it gives the impression that you're shooting professionally. Also I would avoid use in the rain or sand as the motors are not weather sealed.

Notes
*rear motor and bracket will block your lcd screen at times
*mounting plate blocks the battery and lcd door on my camera
*blocks door to hdmi, usb, and hp jack on left side of mycamera
*no quick release mounting

 

[mooncancook]

Thanks for the review. I have the Feiyu G4 for action cam and it is quite compact. I was kind of interested in their gimbals for mirrorless to play with when traveling, but they are too pricey and from what you describe they would be too bulky and draw too much unwanted attention.

 

[Kaido]

My stabilizer history so far:

1. Started out with a Poor Man's Steadicam ($14 DIY) by Johnny Chung Lee (well, I bought the kit for $39, but still a good deal! lol). The heavy weight actually gave me some surprisingly good shots on my Canon HV20 MiniDV camcorder.

http://littlegreatideas.com/stabilizer/diy/

2. Upgraded to a CMR Blackbird ($675 full kit). Big performance boost, but yeah, it took awhile to balance every time. Great shots tho! Used that puppy with my Canon T2i dSLR.

http://www.camotionllc.com/blackbird.html?osCsid=755514a7b55d9ec98b920c8fa94ee430

3. Just got a FeiyuTech SPG Plus ($299) last week for my iPhone 7+. I was previously shooting stuff on my iPhone 5 & iPhone SE with a Moondogs Lab anamorphic adapter. That phone is dead now, so I'm just waiting on the clamp-on i7+ ana lens coming out next month.

https://www.amazon.com/FeiyuTech-SPG-Flashes-Precisely-Adaptable/dp/B01N97AARJ/

I really like it. I considered getting a one-handed gimbal (I actually backed the Snoppa M1 off Indigogo, still waiting on that), but after watching a lot of MOVI footage, I opted for the additional stabilization of the 2-handed rig. Like you said, it's not magic - still requires some operator technique - but it is awesome. I can also have it balanced & stabilized in under a minute, which is just fantastic. My Blackbird sometimes took me up to 20 minutes of fiddling to get it perfect. The SPG Plus has a few different modes (normal mode, tilt-reactive mode, etc.) plus a joystick for controlling panning & tilt.

Really quite happy with it for the money. I will probably be shooting on my iPhone exclusively for 2017; it's not for everyone, but I really like it. Filmic Pro v6 just came out & has some amazing features (zebra stripes etc.). The new anamorphic lens is due out in April, which is a ton cheaper than anamorphic lens for real cameras, plus I don't have to use a crazy adapter to get it to work like they have for dSLR's & other rigs. It is limited in that you don't get any other lenses, just the 1.33x adapter on top of the stock iPhone lens, but the results are pretty dang good for what it is. Compares to the big-boy cameras pretty well too:

The rig is pretty compact; pre-balanced with my phone, I can turn it on and be up & running in literally seconds.

 

[ollo993]

thanks

 

[luv2liv]

i might get that SPG plus in the future. looks very nice n compact!
for now, i hold my drone, without the props in place. it works pretty good as seen in the beginning and ending of this vid. i was walking backward at a normal pace.

 

[Kaido]

i might get that SPG plus in the future. looks very nice n compact!
for now, i hold my drone, without the props in place. it works pretty good as seen in the beginning and ending of this vid. i was walking backward at a normal pace.

Neat, I just read an article about that trick, very nice!

I do like my SPG Plus quite a bit. I wish there was a budget-friendly drone that could carry my iPhone, especially if there was a gimbal onboard. I really like shooting on Filmic Pro due to the app's control features, plus using my Moondog Labs anamorphic adapter, and don't want to switch to a different camera just because it's flying. Also, no Filmic Pro integration with the SPG Plus currently, so I'm just running it manually without the extra Bluetooth controller features that the official app has (face tracking & all that jazz), but it works great! It would be awesome to have a multi-function gimbal that you could operate handheld, then plug into a drone, then stick on the end of jib for crane shots (especially with a remote control joystick or something).

 

[jtvang125]

Sold my gimbal on CL. Felt the reliability just isn't there. Every time I go to use it, it always seems to behave differently. I think the technology is still a bit too premature right now but should be better in the next couple of revisions. I'll probably revisit them then.

 

[jtvang125]

Picked up another gimbal last night, the BeHolder MS-Pro. Yea yea I know I said I'm going to hold off but I wanted something for my upcoming trip to the east coast (my first). I got it really late last night so I didn't get a chance to try it cause the batteries had to be charged first. While I got that going I did try to balance it to see if it'll work with the longish lens I have (4.3"). Company said that it likely won't because of that and my setup was at the very limit of the max payload but I took the gamble. I figured if it didn't I can pick up the kit lens for about 100 bucks. Despite what they told me it did balance but I still didn't know if the motors would be able to keep up at that point. I left it at that point and went to bed.

With the batteries charged this morning I got a very quick test in before leaving for work. While all the modes worked I did notice the camera was not sitting level when turned on. My balance might be off or the gyro will need re-initializing. Here's some of my thoughts so far.

likes
-shorter and slightly more compact than the zhiyun crane which I was comparing to
-almost tool-less (just 1/4" screw for mounting plate)
-quicker to setup and balance
-two 1/4" screw holes on handle to mount accessories
-OLED screen that shows battery life and current mode
-does not block left side ports and only partially blocks lcd
-pins prevent the gimbal from flopping every which way when off (also a creates another issue)

dislikes
-no carrying case. At this price it really should come with one.
-pins prevents going inverted by swinging handle to the right. Makes it awkward if you're holding it in your right hand and needing to swing towards the left to go inverted.
-handle not very ergonomic and can use some rubber for better grip
-needs separate charger to fully charge batteries to 100%. Included charger only charges to 80%.
-just one set of batteries included
-still some slight shake going inverted but it seems almost all gimbals still do this

 

[Ns1]

marked

 

[jtvang125]

For anyone still following, here's a short update.

Like I mentioned above the gimbal was not horizontally level and had a slight drift to the right straight out of the box. I tried the recalibration method in the manual but it never worked. There are numerous youtube videos showing that the gimbal can be hooked up to a pc and it can be tuned and other things modified. Since there was a chance of bricking the gimbal I didn't want to try and possibly make it worse than it already was. I was also worried it might void the warranty and I could no longer exchange it or send it in for repair. The seller agreed to exchange it but pushed to try the tuning and calibration. I agreed to try before resorting to a replacement. Fortunately I was able to get the horizon and drift fix after doing the calibration.

I thought everything was good but the very weekend after it just died with only a few hours of use. It powered on but no response from the motors, menu button or joystick. I tried recharging the batteries thinking they were low but no change. After it failed to be detected by my pc I was confident it was dead and setup a time to get it exchange. That went without a hitch but guess what, the replacement was even more off on the horizon level and the drift was more pronounced. I really started to wonder where the QC and testing was on these things. I think any reasonable person at this point would request for a refund but I'm a sucker for punishment so I stuck with it by going through the whole calibration steps again. Only after my third try did I manage to get this one perfectly centered. Lets see how long this one will last.

 

[luv2liv]

after seeing all the youtube vids, i finally got the zhiyun crane v2 for $650 at B+H Video. balancing the canon m6 was impossible and i thought theres something wrong with the gimbal. at last, after looking at 20 youtube tutorials on balancing, i realize my m6 body was heavier on the bottom. i added dead weights to the flash hot shoe on the top and it works out perfectly fine now. videos are rock solid steady.

truly unimaginable for me to work with something and costs less than $1000.
1 only complaint is that i dont think you can charge via ext usb battery pack. meaning if the included battery dies during a shoot, you need to physically remove the battery, and swap in 2 spares. wish all devices now can take extra juice via ext battery packs like the sony 6500

 

[jtvang125]

after seeing all the youtube vids, i finally got the zhiyun crane v2 for $650 at B+H Video. balancing the canon m6 was impossible and i thought theres something wrong with the gimbal. at last, after looking at 20 youtube tutorials on balancing, i realize my m6 body was heavier on the bottom. i added dead weights to the flash hot shoe on the top and it works out perfectly fine now. videos are rock solid steady.

truly unimaginable for me to work with something and costs less than $1000.
1 only complaint is that i dont think you can charge via ext usb battery pack. meaning if the included battery dies during a shoot, you need to physically remove the battery, and swap in 2 spares. wish all devices now can take extra juice via ext battery packs like the sony 6500

While that would be nice I think it's not being implemented is because the batteries last a very long time already. My current one is rated at 8-12hrs of runtime so that's more than enough for a full day of shooting. Plus they tend to take a long time charge so it's easier and faster to just swap in a new set. If you're being paid for the shoot then you'll definitely have atleast a spare set.

Yes, they are still expensive and that will bring on the naysayers but many of them have never tried one. You'll hear them say that gimbals are just expensive gimmicks and they can achieve the same results with a tripod/monopod or by using the in-camera stabilization. While these do help they don't to the degree of a gimbal or have the flexibility to shoot on the go. So if you're serious about video then it's a no brainer to pick one up.