DJI Ronin-MX

[Brody_B]

Thanks for the suggestion man. I've never used one before. What do you like so much about it?

Well number one since we've been talking about it a bunch, the weight handling capabilities, you really feel like you are in control, and you can tilt and pan to the extremes with the gimbal not slipping and holding strong. It definitely can handle heavy glass, matte box, follow focus, etc. Second, its actually not very heavy. 3rd, every adjustment area has screws for fine adjustments balancing is super fast and precise, the tilt adjustment especially that ronin doesn't have is a must for me now. 5, It comes with the mimic remote control system which is super awesome. 6, it comes with DC to P-tap adapters to power anything you want. also Same fine tuning software etc. Any a few more perks I am sure im missing. Price is more, but to me worth every penny, and still not more than Movi.

All around great unit for me so far. and build quality is very good, I see it lasting a long time.

 

[Michael Reiken]

They really need to release the Ronin Mark 2...re-engineer the first Ronin so it can take at least 15-20lbs and is much lighter like the Movi is. I used my Ronin M with my Raven and Cinemilled weights/plate, with the Sigma 18-35 on a music video last week and it failed at least 4-5 times, which is not ideal at all on set. Had to use a shoulder rig instead sometimes.

Seriously considering selling and moving to the M10. When you add three of those cinemilled weights it really pushes the weight limit to about 8lbs which is the M's limit.

 

[Abiodun Shote]

Just like any piece of tech - you have to know what you are doing. The MX works great with both DSMC1 and DSMC2. You are limited in your choice of lenses, but that is a given. 90% of the time we use it with the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 and can't complain. It is the most compact gimbal that can handle the RED-heads and that is its main purpose. It also handles well the lateral G-forces you get when shooting from cars, helicopters, UAS, etc... at high speeds...

:sifone: Peter

Peter, its either you have a proto unit that works great or you are so piss with DJI's hyper inflated marketing techniques about Ronin-MX but can't (or won't) publicly say anything on it. Man, the R-MX has SERIOUS issues, gimbals are no more "new" territories. Its a given that by now, any average shooter out there is aware of the pros and cons of a gimbal (as a tool). There's no fire without smoke. As much as, I admire Ronin-MX especially for their price point, I have to admit this thing feels more like an hack than a full design. I wish I could return mine (even as a trade-in for Ronin-M), sadly I can't, live in Nigeria and it will cost me almost half the price of the unit to send it back. Have this thing now for a month and I find myself still using the Ronin-M!!!

 

[Peter Majtan]

I have said number of times both publicly and directly to DJI that their support and marketing does have a room for improvement (to be polite). This issue is however not about marketing. DJI never specifically said that the MX is designed for RED in any particular combination. Did they show in all the marketing photos and videos the MX with a RED? Yes they did. Now if you look at all those marketing media - the RED was always upside down - which is the only way it will balance without having to actually modify the gimbal - which is what we are doing. We have our own reasons to be able to fly the Raven / Helium the right way up and we are willing to do what is necessary to make it work. DJI has never told us that it will work. But we know we can make it work. Having said that - every piece of advertising you have seen is true - you can fly those exact configurations and they will balance in that exact manner as shown (upside down). Is the RED in those configurations pushing the limits of what that gimbal can do? Yes, it is. But if you are going to make your own product and you are going to make your own advertising - wouldn't you want to show it at its best? So let's face it - most disappointments here comes from the way people have chosen to interpret DJI's advertising. Did DJI leave the room for interpretation? Sure they did. Did they purposefully mislead or provide false information? No - they did not...

So let's be honest with ourselves - we all knew the big Ronin is the one designed for RED in particular and it is way to heavy and large for the smaller DSLR cameras. DJI addressed this by making the Ronin-M - much smaller gimbal specifically for DSLR and other small / mirrorless cameras. Did that stop people from trying to squeeze the RED's on it? No, it did not. The MX was designed specifically with aerial and high-speed applications in mind. Note that the original Ronin and Ronin-M were in the "handheld" gimbal category, as suppose to the other Zenmuse gimbals made for drones - which were in the "aerial" gimbal category. But that did not stop us from using them in high-speed applications. Myself included - guilty as charged. We have then discovered the limits of lateral G-force effects on the gimbals. DJI not only made a custom firmware (free of charge) to help with this problem, but they even designed a purpose-built gimbal to handle these situations - the Ronin-MX. And knowing that there will be the crazy ones (like us) who will stuck RED on it - they upped the motors to handle the payload too...

It's easy to always blame everything on DJI and - as I have already said - they are far from perfect as a company. It was just a three of them 10 years ago. Look at where they are now. Such a growth leaves a lot of room for errors. RED is a good example of this. They are also not perfect. I will be the first one to say that DJI has a lot to learn from RED's support and treatment of customers. But DJI is also making consumer products sold in their millions around the world. The logistics surrounding that are too hard and too complex to comprehend by most of us...

But just like RED "revolutionised" and "democratised" the film industry where not too long ago we had to pay close to $200K for a professional HD camera - DJI deserves the credit for "revolutionising" and "democratising" the UAS industry and consequently the "gimbal" subsection that spreads across between the two.
And just like I am die-hard fan and supporter of RED and "give back" where and when I can without asking for anything in return - I am also grateful to DJI and instead of complaining I focus on finding solutions to any problems we encounter along the way...

Those of us who have been in the industry for a decade, or two (or more) - we appreciate what it takes to use state-of-the-art bleeding-edge technology and make it work for what we need it to do.
I have been always designing and building small accessories and products that solved any shortcomings these tech might have had - what ever it took to get the job done.
I would not be where I am today without pioneering companies like RED and DJI.

And just like RED - DJI does not "censor" what I say about them in public. Of course I am under NDA about some new technologies under development - but once I am allowed to talk about stuff - they do not control what I say. I have the same relationship with many of our industry's leaders. And that is why they do ask me for advice here and there and do send me some prototype technology to test and provide constructive feedback on. And there are many more people like me. In the end we all benefit from these collaborations.

At the risk of sounding like an old fart - these days many people are too spoilt and are quick to make assumptions and then be very vocal about their dissatisfaction when things don't work out for them. I have seen and have personally dealt with with so many complains and "issues" and the majority of those are easily attributed to the user error, or worst - their inability to even do proper RTFM and their own research about products / technologies before they buy it. In many circumstances the end user lacked even basic comprehension of what their equipment is supposed to do and how it is doing it. I have seen people resting powered ON gimbals (of all brands) against their chests, or even putting them down on the ground (props here to Letus). If you are serious about doing something - learn about it from the basics and work your way up. Make sure you understand your tools and their shortcomings and limitations and learn the ways to work around them - it is the only way to fee yourself. For crying out-loud - we live in a age when you have the entire Internet in your pocket. Information and solutions are out there if you look for them...

No matter how hard you try - you can not make a perfect product. There is no such a thing. It is not until the products are released and begin to be used by the end customers in real-world scenarios, or as I like to say in our industry to be put through "location (ab)use", that the quirks and issues demonstrate themselves. My advice is simple - you can do one of the two things...:

A) Be the "guinea pig" (or as RED likes to call them the "crazy ones" or the "brave ones") and jump on new products and technologies as they are released. Then be prepared to deal with lot of unexpected issues and/or problems. Instead of complaining - provide the maker with constructive feedback, or perhaps even offer / propose a solution. It is going to be an uphill battle and you will lose your hair and sleep along the way. This is not for everyone, but you will get to work with new technologies before everyone else...

B) Be the "everyone else" and wait for the above crazy folks to do the initial testing, so that the manufacturers have a chance to iron these out and eventually release a much more stable product that you can buy and use...

Rant off... ;o)

:sifone: Peter

 

[Abiodun Shote]

I have said number of times both publicly and directly to DJI that their support and marketing does have a room for improvement (to be polite). This issue is however not about marketing. DJI never specifically said that the MX is designed for RED in any particular combination. Did they show in all the marketing photos and videos the MX with a RED? Yes they did. Now if you look at all those marketing media - the RED was always upside down - which is the only way it will balance without having to actually modify the gimbal - which is what we are doing. We have our own reasons to be able to fly the Raven / Helium the right way up and we are willing to do what is necessary to make it work. DJI has never told us that it will work. But we know we can make it work. Having said that - every piece of advertising you have seen is true - you can fly those exact configurations and they will balance in that exact manner as shown (upside down). Is the RED in those configurations pushing the limits of what that gimbal can do? Yes, it is. But if you are going to make your own product and you are going to make your own advertising - wouldn't you want to show it at its best? So let's face it - most disappointments here comes from the way people have chosen to interpret DJI's advertising. Did DJI leave the room for interpretation? Sure they did. Did they purposefully mislead or provide false information? No - they did not...

So let's be honest with ourselves - we all knew the big Ronin is the one designed for RED in particular and it is way to heavy and large for the smaller DSLR cameras. DJI addressed this by making the Ronin-M - much smaller gimbal specifically for DSLR and other small / mirrorless cameras. Did that stop people from trying to squeeze the RED's on it? No, it did not. The MX was designed specifically with aerial and high-speed applications in mind. Note that the original Ronin and Ronin-M were in the "handheld" gimbal category, as suppose to the other Zenmuse gimbals made for drones - which were in the "aerial" gimbal category. But that did not stop us from using them in high-speed applications. Myself included - guilty as charged. We have then discovered the limits of lateral G-force effects on the gimbals. DJI not only made a custom firmware (free of charge) to help with this problem, but they even designed a purpose-built gimbal to handle these situations - the Ronin-MX. And knowing that there will be the crazy ones (like us) who will stuck RED on it - they upped the motors to handle the payload too...

It's easy to always blame everything on DJI and - as I have already said - they are far from perfect as a company. It was just a three of them 10 years ago. Look at where they are now. Such a growth leaves a lot of room for errors. RED is a good example of this. They are also not perfect. I will be the first one to say that DJI has a lot to learn from RED's support and treatment of customers. But DJI is also making consumer products sold in their millions around the world. The logistics surrounding that are too hard and too complex to comprehend by most of us...

But just like RED "revolutionised" and "democratised" the film industry where not too long ago we had to pay close to $200K for a professional HD camera - DJI deserves the credit for "revolutionising" and "democratising" the UAS industry and consequently the "gimbal" subsection that spreads across between the two.
And just like I am die-hard fan and supporter of RED and "give back" where and when I can without asking for anything in return - I am also grateful to DJI and instead of complaining I focus on finding solutions to any problems we encounter along the way...

Those of us who have been in the industry for a decade, or two (or more) - we appreciate what it takes to use state-of-the-art bleeding-edge technology and make it work for what we need it to do.
I have been always designing and building small accessories and products that solved any shortcomings these tech might have had - what ever it took to get the job done.
I would not be where I am today without pioneering companies like RED and DJI.

And just like RED - DJI does not "censor" what I say about them in public. Of course I am under NDA about some new technologies under development - but once I am allowed to talk about stuff - they do not control what I say. I have the same relationship with many of our industry's leaders. And that is why they do ask me for advice here and there and do send me some prototype technology to test and provide constructive feedback on. And there are many more people like me. In the end we all benefit from these collaborations.

At the risk of sounding like an old fart - these days many people are too spoilt and are quick to make assumptions and then be very vocal about their dissatisfaction when things don't work out for them. I have seen and have personally dealt with with so many complains and "issues" and the majority of those are easily attributed to the user error, or worst - their inability to even do proper RTFM and their own research about products / technologies before they buy it. In many circumstances the end user lacked even basic comprehension of what their equipment is supposed to do and how it is doing it. I have seen people resting powered ON gimbals (of all brands) against their chests, or even putting them down on the ground (props here to Letus). If you are serious about doing something - learn about it from the basics and work your way up. Make sure you understand your tools and their shortcomings and limitations and learn the ways to work around them - it is the only way to fee yourself. For crying out-loud - we live in a age when you have the entire Internet in your pocket. Information and solutions are out there if you look for them...

No matter how hard you try - you can not make a perfect product. There is no such a thing. It is not until the products are released and begin to be used by the end customers in real-world scenarios, or as I like to say in our industry to be put through "location (ab)use", that the quirks and issues demonstrate themselves. My advice is simple - you can do one of the two things...:

A) Be the "guinea pig" (or as RED likes to call them the "crazy ones" or the "brave ones") and jump on new products and technologies as they are released. Then be prepared to deal with lot of unexpected issues and/or problems. Instead of complaining - provide the maker with constructive feedback, or perhaps even offer / propose a solution. It is going to be an uphill battle and you will lose your hair and sleep along the way. This is not for everyone, but you will get to work with new technologies before everyone else...

B) Be the "everyone else" and wait for the above crazy folks to do the initial testing, so that the manufacturers have a chance to iron these out and eventually release a much more stable product that you can buy and use...

Rant off... ;o)

:sifone: Peter

Sorry I pissed you off Pete. However, your explanation though lengthy did help explain and educate some of my assumptions. I guess the success of Ronin and the M puts a lot of expectations on the MX. On the contrary I have had a wonderful response from their CS though I have to admit it was more like stumbling across good fortune cookie. So as a resultI always make sure I buy their product from their amazon storefront and when the product isn't listed, all I do is contact and times they respond rather quickly. So my bet is that their CS would catch up very soon.
Back on MX, I adopted M the month it was released and was not a quarter as annoying as the experience with MX! M has it's quirks but getting MX to even perform as M puts its motors into the hot zone super fast. I appreciate more strength but feels more like its struggling which brings to my question:
What's your optimal settings for hand held configuration?
Thanks

 

[Brody_B]

I am sorry but I can't stand aside and listen to all this bull shit and DJI ass kissing. Its become clear you have ulterior motives and biased relationship with them.

This issue is however not about marketing. DJI never specifically said that the MX is designed for RED in any particular combination.

Have you even tried to look at their website before you speak?

See what DJI says here next to RED camera use. "Can be easily balanced to support your preferred setup" - Bull Shit

Now if you look at all those marketing media - the RED was always upside down - which is the only way it will balance without having to actually modify the gimbal

Not sure your point with this, but again look at their website dude. "the RED was always upside down"?? My ass.

and DSMC2

We have our own reasons to be able to fly the Raven / Helium the right way up and we are willing to do what is necessary to make it work. DJI has never told us that it will work. But we know we can make it work.

I am guessing you added a bunch of weights, which makes a light weight gimbal meaningless. Again something DJI has never mention the need for to their customers to do. Speaking of that, nowhere on their MX description page does DJI mention the need for the RED accessory mount.

Is the RED in those configurations pushing the limits of what that gimbal can do? Yes, it is. But if you are going to make your own product and you are going to make your own advertising - wouldn't you want to show it at its best? So let's face it -

Lets face it DJI is deceiving a lot of customers with this product and their advertising. And not only with RED, have you seen this video about the ARRI?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDhU6TLAe3g

Or this one about the BMCC?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVrk1aLiwOs

There are more out there, on other forums too, just do a search

most disappointments here comes from the way people have chosen to interpret DJI's advertising.

Not true, if you read back on this thread, deception in advertising is only 1 issue, the biggest issue is that it doesn't work well at all with RED cameras. Flat out it is a shit design that seems like DJI just wanted to save money by not redeveloping a new big Ronin, just cut corners, slap on a new cage, add a silly lens blocking front battery, and a couple small things to the Ronin-M, and then market it as a new "for RED" use gimbal. Its clearly pretty lame.

Did they purposefully mislead or provide false information? No - they did not...

Really?

So let's be honest with ourselves -

Somebody here isn't being honest, and it sure isn't me.

But just like RED "revolutionised" and "democratised" the film industry where not too long ago we had to pay close to $200K for a professional HD camera - DJI deserves the credit for "revolutionising" and "democratising" the UAS industry and consequently the "gimbal" subsection that spreads across between the two.

I would not be where I am today without pioneering companies like RED and DJI.

Dude there are many gimbal companies out there with much better products and even cheaper products than DJI. And are you seriously trying to compare RED to DJI?! Wow.

And just like I am die-hard fan and supporter of RED and "give back" where and when I can without asking for anything in return - I am also grateful to DJI and instead of complaining I focus on finding solutions to any problems we encounter along the way...

I got a feeling your hoping DJI is reading this right now.

Those of us who have been in the industry for a decade, or two (or more) - we appreciate what it takes to use state-of-the-art bleeding-edge technology and make it work for what we need it to do.

Again I don't think DJI is here so u can stop the ass kissing. Gimbals are not "bleeding-edge technology" anymore and haven't been in a while. And when you buy a product that has had tons of competitors making them for years, you expect positive results, good customer service, and no deception. You don't just "deal" with a sub par product in the vein of it being newish technology.

And just like RED - DJI does not "censor" what I say about them in public. Of course I am under NDA about some new technologies under development - but once I am allowed to talk about stuff - they do not control what I say. I have the same relationship with many of our industry's leaders. And that is why they do ask me for advice here and there and do send me some prototype technology to test and provide constructive feedback on. And there are many more people like me. In the end we all benefit from these collaborations.

It all makes sense now.

At the risk of sounding like an old fart - these days many people are too spoilt and are quick to make assumptions and then be very vocal about their dissatisfaction when things don't work out for them. I have seen and have personally dealt with with so many complains and "issues" and the majority of those are easily attributed to the user error, or worst - their inability to even do proper RTFM and their own research about products / technologies before they buy it. In many circumstances the end user lacked even basic comprehension of what their equipment is supposed to do and how it is doing it.

If you wonder why people think your full of it with this one, its because you default blame the "user" in every case, and have not once questioned DJI practices. You lie about DJI not advertising the MX as a RED Gimbal, you make up stories about them only promoting use of the RED upside down. Dude i'm not trying to be a jerk, but you are clearly full of it here. I feel obligated to represent the truth to any future customers of DJI and describe my experiences with them and their product, and that is GOOD thing. I am not the only one here with this view.




Stop assuming everything that is wrong with DJI is the customers fault.

 

[Michael Reiken]

+1 Brody - I agree. I was inches away from ordering the MX to upgrade my M but seeing as it doesn't do much more over my M (I already have all the weights and battery distributor etc) I am holding back. So many bad reviews - even on B&H website most of the reviews are negative. No diss to DJI, I love my M (which was marketed for DSLRs and worked flawlessly with my 5D, never had one issue, but I am trying to make it work for my Raven and it keeps failing on set - with a heavy lens it craps out. So need something which takes more weight and the MX really is not appealing to me. Marketing the MX as a 'RED' ready gimbal is very misleading - they should at least have links to the weights, or info on how to make it work with REDs. Looks like I may be moving to MOVI.

 

[Brody_B]

+1 Brody - I agree. I was inches away from ordering the MX to upgrade my M but seeing as it doesn't do much more over my M (I already have all the weights and battery distributor etc) I am holding back. So many bad reviews - even on B&H website most of the reviews are negative. No diss to DJI, I love my M (which was marketed for DSLRs and worked flawlessly with my 5D, never had one issue, but I am trying to make it work for my Raven and it keeps failing on set - with a heavy lens it craps out. So need something which takes more weight and the MX really is not appealing to me. Marketing the MX as a 'RED' ready gimbal is very misleading - they should at least have links to the weights, or info on how to make it work with REDs. Looks like I may be moving to MOVI.

Ya its a bummer man, I did like my Ronin-M with the A7Rii tho, and I have their Focus which I love, not all their gear is bad . MOVI is about the only gimbal I haven't had any experience with yet tho, but if your in LA I know you can stop by Tilta's new Burbank location and get your hands on a gravity to checkout, if you consider going that route. I have nothing but good things to say about my experiences with mine.

 

[Abiodun Shote]

@Brody I share your pain and dissapointment and like I said earlier, the ONLY reason I never returned my MX is the prohibitive return shipping cost, however, I do think you're a little harsh on Pete. We shouldn't bash each other for taste and affiliation choices. Yes, Pete did defended DJI to the extent of neglecting the fact that DJI "purposely" marketed MX as designed to handle RED cameras easily when clearly it doesn't which is "misleading" in my books! However, calling him (or implying) a jerk for his extreme affiliation/likeness to the product is crossing the line.

@Michael, PLEASE save your money!!!

Still looking forward to Chris' plans on a GB for TiltaMAX gimbal. Peace

 

[Michael Reiken]

Ya its a bummer man, I did like my Ronin-M with the A7Rii tho, and I have their Focus which I love, not all their gear is bad . MOVI is about the only gimbal I haven't had any experience with yet tho, but if your in LA I know you can stop by Tilta's new Burbank location and get your hands on a gravity to checkout, if you consider going that route. I have nothing but good things to say about my experiences with mine.

Ok cool. I will check them out. Do you use the Gravity now with your RED, does it work well? Can you post a pic of your setup? I am keen to sell my M as I hate being limited with lenses, gear etc. Does it take long balance? And how do you power the RED? Can you power from their battery? Sorry for questions lol

 

[Brody_B]

@Brody I share your pain and dissapointment and like I said earlier, the ONLY reason I never returned my MX is the prohibitive return shipping cost, however, I do think you're a little harsh on Pete. We shouldn't bash each other for taste and affiliation choices. Yes, Pete did defended DJI to the extent of neglecting the fact that DJI "purposely" marketed MX as designed to handle RED cameras easily when clearly it doesn't which is "misleading" in my books! However, calling him (or implying) a jerk for his extreme affiliation/likeness to the product is crossing the line.

@Michael, PLEASE save your money!!!

Still looking forward to Chris' plans on a GB for TiltaMAX gimbal. Peace

Hey Abiodun,

Never called anyone a jerk or bashed anyone based off of their personal taste. I only called out bull shit where lies and mis leading is present, along with DJI.

 

[Remington Chase]

The MX is not a working product at this time. It is designed to work with the M600 UAV and so far no one has it working as a useable gimbal for any camera much less a Red. Hopefully DJI is aggressively working on a fix.

The cost of the MX with all the accessories you need to fly a red is about $3200. And it's a little frustrating to have a $3200 paperweight sitting here.

You'll know when they have it fixed as you'll start to see lots of great footage on YouTube from all sorts of different people around the world using it with reds and other cameras.

Peter, you posted in the Raven forum months ago a picture of the Raven on the M 600 with the MX and said you would soon post footage, what happened?

 

[Peter Majtan]

Sorry I pissed you off Pete. However, your explanation though lengthy did help explain and educate some of my assumptions. I guess the success of Ronin and the M puts a lot of expectations on the MX. On the contrary I have had a wonderful response from their CS though I have to admit it was more like stumbling across good fortune cookie. So as a resultI always make sure I buy their product from their amazon storefront and when the product isn't listed, all I do is contact and times they respond rather quickly. So my bet is that their CS would catch up very soon.
Back on MX, I adopted M the month it was released and was not a quarter as annoying as the experience with MX! M has it's quirks but getting MX to even perform as M puts its motors into the hot zone super fast. I appreciate more strength but feels more like its struggling which brings to my question:
What's your optimal settings for hand held configuration?
Thanks

Abiodun - you did not piss anyone off - certainly not me. Faceless words on internet page are easy to misinterpret without the added "human" elements of facial expressions and voice intonation. My nick name here in Japan is Totoro, which refers to a "gentle giant" - despite of my size I am rather patient and calm person who rarely if ever gets pissed off. Frustrated? Sure...

I am glad you have found a good CS, that alone can go a long way in helping you sorting out your configuration. When it comes to handheld operation - I have practically zero experience, as we are using the MX for our motion applications on ground and air based vehicles. These setups are rather different from handheld configurations, as the emphasis is on high G-forces. And while the MX (rather obviously) can not be compared to the normal (and much larger / heavier) Ronin in therms of payload capacity and configuration - the way the MX outperforms his big brother in terms handling these high G-force applications - at least for us - far outweighs the limited choice of lenses / configurations. What I was trying to hint at is that you can either look for an excuse why id does not work, or look for a solution on how to make it work. Clearly there are many of us who make it work rather well. And I am not talking about our highly-customised prototype we are working on for our specific uses. I had the MX working out of the box with only the extension tubes and the rear-mounted battery-to-D-tap adapter plate (not sure why DJI insists of calling it P-tap) with both DSMC1 and DSMC2 RED cameras...

P

 

[Peter Majtan]

The MX is not a working product at this time. It is designed to work with the M600 UAV and so far no one has it working as a useable gimbal for any camera much less a Red. Hopefully DJI is aggressively working on a fix

I beg to differ... ;o)

And those are just from the "early" days with DSMC1. Wait till you see what we have been up to with DSMC2... ;o)

Peter, you posted in the Raven forum months ago a picture of the Raven on the M 600 with the MX and said you would soon post footage, what happened?

I could come up with ton of excuses - but the simple answer is "life". Those who know me are aware that we have been expanding into our new 1500 sqm facility in another prefecture where we have been allocated 5 sqkm of "R&D" airspace. All this while kicking off two major multi-million USD projects. Words like "busy" and "tired" has lost their meaning long time ago. We are using the MX like crazy - but majority of these projects are yet to be released, and until then I am not allowed to share the actual footage. As things calm down (soon, I promise) - we will shoot some spec stuff jut to show off what the MX is capable in the right hands. One of the main benefits of our recent expansion is that we now have a lot more staff to take a lot of the weight off of my shoulders - giving me progressively more time to go through the TB's of various footage and put something together for you guys. All I can do for now is to ask for you patience...

P

 

[Adam Levins]

Red CF and panavision 35mm compact prime: https://vimeo.com/175587634

 

[Dave Draper]

Very disheartening to hear of and see all the problems relating to the Ronin-MX and larger cameras like RED, Alexa, C300, etc.

We wanted to get an MX as our first gimbal, but are now having major second thoughts...

 

[Philip Lima]

I wanted to chime in here as a longtime RED user(from R1, see my join date) and M600/MX owner. I should mentioned that I also own a Freefly Octo, M10 and M15. I have used gimbals since the beginning and have been flying REDs on UAVs for years.

The M600/MX combo is by far the cleanest, simplest, best flying kit I've ever used. Hands down. Is it perfect? Nope. But it pretty darn close. I haven't used the MX as a gimbal on the ground at all, so I can't speak to that specifically.

I was able to balance both my RED Weapon carbon, RED Scarlet-W and Scarlet MX without issue using the RED kit that DJI offers. I just did a shoot off the back of a wakeboard boat following wakeboarders around the lake, doing 20+MPH consistently for 12+ minutes and still landed with 40% battery. Here is how I look at the MX and really, all gimbals. You cannot expect it to just work out of the box with every camera on the market. I appreciate what DJI did in making specific kits that work with a few of the more popular cameras to keep the price down so just buy what you need rather than getting a bunch of unnecessary parts. I will never fly a 5D or a black magic camera off my MX, so why would I want to pay to have those parts included in the package? As an early adopter, I've made sure to have plenty of time to get everything in order and tested before actually relying on a product. I do this with my Movis and I will continue doing this with my MX. A prep day isn't optional if you're putting a camera on a gimbal, it just needs to happen.

If anyone has specific questions about how to make the DSMC or DSMC2 body work with an MX, I'm happy to help. I've balanced and flown both with great luck.

 

[Marcel M]

Phillip the biggest problem for me was the weapon does not fit into the cage without the kit.... is the Scarlet W shorter? are you using the top cage?

I wanted to chime in here as a longtime RED user(from R1, see my join date) and M600/MX owner. I should mentioned that I also own a Freefly Octo, M10 and M15. I have used gimbals since the beginning and have been flying REDs on UAVs for years.

The M600/MX combo is by far the cleanest, simplest, best flying kit I've ever used. Hands down. Is it perfect? Nope. But it pretty darn close. I haven't used the MX as a gimbal on the ground at all, so I can't speak to that specifically.

I was able to balance both my RED Weapon carbon, RED Scarlet-W and Scarlet MX without issue using the RED kit that DJI offers. I just did a shoot off the back of a wakeboard boat following wakeboarders around the lake, doing 20+MPH consistently for 12+ minutes and still landed with 40% battery. Here is how I look at the MX and really, all gimbals. You cannot expect it to just work out of the box with every camera on the market. I appreciate what DJI did in making specific kits that work with a few of the more popular cameras to keep the price down so just buy what you need rather than getting a bunch of unnecessary parts. I will never fly a 5D or a black magic camera off my MX, so why would I want to pay to have those parts included in the package? As an early adopter, I've made sure to have plenty of time to get everything in order and tested before actually relying on a product. I do this with my Movis and I will continue doing this with my MX. A prep day isn't optional if you're putting a camera on a gimbal, it just needs to happen.

If anyone has specific questions about how to make the DSMC or DSMC2 body work with an MX, I'm happy to help. I've balanced and flown both with great luck.

 

[Peter Majtan]

Philip - if you have the MX working with both DSMC1 and DSMC2, you must have "biased relationship" with DJI and for sure you have "ulterior motives". Stop "kissing their ass" for crying out laud...!!!

Sorry, I could not resist... ;o)

For some reason if you can make your s*** work well - it can not be because you are a professional and know what you are doing. Some folks come to this industry with next to no experience and expect an easy walk in the backyard. I have done 7 years of steadicam operation and 10 years of filming aerials from full-size aircrafts before starting with these hand-held gimbals. This is no different then some folks buying professional cinema cameras and expect to become DoP overnight. Do you need such an extensive experience and knowledge before you start using these hand-held gimbals? No. But it sure helps understanding the core technology, physics and all the not-so-obvious aspects of this craft. Once a year at the end of February I teach week-long course "camera in motion" at the prestigious LASALLE institute in Singapore as part of their 3-year long filmmaker's course. We always start with the absolute basics and the plain physics involved. It goes a long way to understanding how all this gear works, how we can make it work properly and how to make the best out of it. Some folks thinks that DJI sends me "special super-stable" equipment to test. They are missing the point of "beta-testing". Beta gear is by far the most unstable, unpredictable and it always comes with NO user manual. The whole point of beta-testing is to discover all the problems and issue and find fixes / solutions before the product is released. And to DJI credit - even their beta gear works a lot better then I always expect it to. I have been impressed with the built quality (most other beta gear I test from other companies look nothing like the final product to be released), cleverness of engineering and deep understanding of our craft. Almost everyone I know at DJI actually uses this equipment and you can tell. They might have now become a massive multi-national corporation - but their company was founded out of passion, love and respect for our craft. And they have managed to keep these core values through out their phenomenal growth. Is all their gear perfect without any flaws? Of course not. But they are quick to respond, solve issues and evolve their products. Does that remind you of someone? I know lot of people hate when I compare DJI to RED and sure there are some key differences between these two companies. But they both have the same core values and they both have turned upside down their respective fields. Actually - come to think of it - they actually created these fields. The fact that I can today go out and shoot 4K+ RAW high-speed aerials with a complete system that costs less then $25K is both unbelievable and a testament to both of these companies...

So thank you Philip for chiming in and keep up the great work!

:sifone: Peter

 

[Philip Lima]

Phillip the biggest problem for me was the weapon does not fit into the cage without the kit.... is the Scarlet W shorter? are you using the top cage?

I am using the top cage and the RED kit. It's definitely a requirement to have the red kit to balance a either a DSMC or DSMC2 body on the MX. The Scarlet-W and Weapon bodies are identical, other than materials.

Here are some pictures of how I have it configured.

And one more from my last shoot with it...