Gimbal Advice

[Tim Morten]

Had my gimbal stolen last year, so I'm researching the best replacement. I don't do a ton of gimbal work, but appreciate having one in my arsenal for when the need arises. I'm currently shooting Monstro with Xenons and Otus lenses. I'd love to hear thoughts from owners of the gimbals below...

Ronin MX - Low weight rating, requires extension to work with Red
ACS Beast - Poor customer service
Gravity G3 - Heavy, older tech, possibly still worth considering?
Ronin 2 - Heavy, pricey, but popular
Movi Pro - Pricey, but popular, some issues powering Red 7" (not a problem for me)
Moza Air X - So far just vaporware, lacks a ring option

Others I should consider? Opinions on Gravity v. Ronin 2 v. Movi Pro? I realize I would need a ReadyRig if I go with one of these. Any rumors of upcoming version refreshes from Tilta, Freefly or DJI?

[Andrew Gentle]

Hi Tim, did you make a decision? I'm also looking at options and came up with much the same conclusions as your comments here.

[Josh Birch]

I use a Movi pro and absolutely love it. I see plenty of good second hand deals around for decent prices. Then maybe look into the Ignited Digi TB50 battery adapters, and the tilt offsets allowing you to power the movi for longer and have larger payloads on there

[Tim Morten]

I still haven't pulled the trigger, despite seeing some used Movi Pro rigs in the $4.5k to $6k range, which is still a big investment considering the additional need for a ReadyRig. I'm convinced that the second I buy, something new and great will be announced. :) It does seem like the pace of innovation in gimbals has slowed, everyone seems focused on the DSLR/mirrorless weight class, presumably due to the bigger market there.

[Mandela Gregoire]

I've had a little bit of success with a Zhiyun Crane 3, RED Gemini and Sigma Art lenses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI7phAvEByI

[Andrew Reese]

I'm in the same boat. Running Gemini / Canon Cine Primes / Tilta Nucleus-M FF currently on an old school Ronin 1 with extensions. I hate it honestly. This setup is beyond heavy (without a ready-rig), has drift and I am always having to restart the ronin and turn it off and on, and it absolutely sucks and is almost unusable for tracking shots out of a car as the old gimbal tech apparently just can't take the additional motion/velocity. I am currently looking at Ronin-2 and Movi-Pro but am not thrilled on either and feel that they are too expensive even used for my taste and where I feel the current technology is at in the market. I feel like a new gimbal that is small, lighter, and just as powerful should be around the corner but I have heard nothing on gimbals really in the last year. Improvements have been focused on the DSLR/Mirrorless handheld market. I would love to see a new iteration of a form factor more similar to the Letus Helix in a carbon frame and lighter package with newer motor tech. Something that can handle a heavy red payload with cine lenses and FF but in a easier to handle form factor that can be held more closely to the body. The Crane 3, would be supper ideal if it could handle my Gemini with my cine primes!

[Tanner Wilson]

I'm in the same boat. Running Gemini / Canon Cine Primes / Tilta Nucleus-M FF currently on an old school Ronin 1 with extensions. I hate it honestly. This setup is beyond heavy (without a ready-rig), has drift and I am always having to restart the ronin and turn it off and on, and it absolutely sucks and is almost unusable for tracking shots out of a car as the old gimbal tech apparently just can't take the additional motion/velocity. I am currently looking at Ronin-2 and Movi-Pro but am not thrilled on either and feel that they are too expensive even used for my taste and where I feel the current technology is at in the market. I feel like a new gimbal that is small, lighter, and just as powerful should be around the corner but I have heard nothing on gimbals really in the last year. Improvements have been focused on the DSLR/Mirrorless handheld market. I would love to see a new iteration of a form factor more similar to the Letus Helix in a carbon frame and lighter package with newer motor tech. Something that can handle a heavy red payload with cine lenses and FF but in a easier to handle form factor that can be held more closely to the body. The Crane 3, would be supper ideal if it could handle my Gemini with my cine primes!

I feel ya! We're on MoVI Pro, which is great but feels like an outdated gimbal format. Earlier this year Freefly said in a marketing email that they wouldn't be replacing the MoVI Pro in 2019, but I'd put good money on them coming out with something great in 2020.

MoVI Pro is our daily machine, but that underslung design means the average eye level shot is really heavy held high by hand – or requires a rig. Plus the overall shape and size of the MoVI Pro + Ring means if you are using a smaller camera (like most of RED's offerings naked) you've got tons of unnecessary dead space, unnecessarily holding your arms out wide and far from your core. I do about 500hrs of MoVI work per year. I'm ready for an update!

[paulcurtis]

Look to FB and the feiyu-tech 4500. Someone there has it on a ring and it's compact, it has around 4.2kg capacity i think, similar to Ronin MX. It's way cheaper than Movi and *appears* to do the job.

On the other hand some of the example moves i don't think are that good but i don't know if that's operator or machine.

Has anyone ever really compared gimbals side by side by walking and shooting the same set up to see the balancing results? I think there's an assumption that it will all be smooth but i bet each model performs differently...

cheers
Paul

[Nicolas Chareyre]

If you are interested I will sell my R2 Pro and Readyrig for 7500 €.

[Jason beaumont]

Im pretty happy with the Movi Pro aside from the tilt, it seems to struggle with my cooke s4i mini lenses sometimes. But I do use it like 7 days a week with no technical issues, with my alexa mini and red gemini