dji Ronin (XL) Multi Test-Shoot/Review!

[jake southard]

If you want to run a ronin alot on your own and only have canon and sigma ef lenses. What would be the best way to change the focus?
I looked at the cinegear follow focus but skipped the groupbuy since i think it would probely be better with something that works directly with the internal motors of the lens. Would it be better to have gone the cinegear round anyway? I do not think I will pull of long lenses and short dof while operating the gimball at the same time. With the new design of the exoskeleton it looks like you could use one hand to change focus before you start recording (for wide tracking shots). But i like to have the chance to change focus more conviniant.

Also has anybody worked with the belt clip and redbricks to power the camera. Im not so intrested to get yet another power sulotion if not needed. Perhaps getting another battery plate the red bricks mounted on the handle bar?

I bought arm extenders (150$) for the ronin and run my RED Bricks on the back of my Scarlet. Works perfectly. could always use a vmount mount (http://www.red.com/store/products/accessory-v-mount) and mount it on the SIDE of your RED via RED's side cheeseplate, and run a Ptap cable to your camera. ALthough this way you couldnt use RED bricks, as they dont have ptap

 

[woody james]

Slightly confused... where is 'post 3' and 4?

Maybe im being stupid but is a lot of this review missing?!

Thanks

 

[Ketch Rossi]

Slightly confused... where is 'post 3' and 4?

Maybe im being stupid but is a lot of this review missing?!

Thanks

Post #3 & #4, we originally reserved so that I could post additional photos and video review...

I deleted them...


Have no more words to add on how long this has taken, but an incredible amount of things has happen...

Good news is that I'll be at last shooting this "Review" while in Miami Beach, Florida in a more defined and in detail as I would have been able to do then, having used the Ronin in a variety of major shoots in about all terrains and vehicle types, has given me a very broad understanding and this will allow for the most in detail review, and step by step how to and "set up" of the Ronin, which will show once the video will be up next month.

I will however not post the video here, but make a new thread and post the link to that thread here...

 

[Björn Benckert]

I bought arm extenders (150$) for the ronin and run my RED Bricks on the back of my Scarlet. Works perfectly. could always use a vmount mount (http://www.red.com/store/products/accessory-v-mount) and mount it on the SIDE of your RED via RED's side cheeseplate, and run a Ptap cable to your camera. ALthough this way you couldnt use RED bricks, as they dont have ptap

But don't you think the rig gets a bit out of balance with the battery on the back? We really tested the ronin with extenders and my conclusion is that... well, it did not work well at all.
Do you have any video showing the rig working well in all positions etc with a reasonably large battery on the back?

To me all on camera battery configurations not only adds weight to the rig but also stress the motors and when adding the extenders it might fly but if the lens, focus motor and filtertray is even somewhat heavy. the whole package has to slide so far back that it will intersect with the pan motor when tilting and such. Also as the extenders are only for the horse shaped arm between roll and tilt the balance point moves off from the centre of pan so when the rig is not held straight the pan axis is not aligned trough the weight centre point and again that motor is is getting to much force.

So according to my findings the best option is to run the whole camera from the Dtap of the ronin and let it take power from the ronin battery, that will off course empty the ronin batteries quite quickly but that is as I see it the lowest possible weight solution... Second to that would be to run an additional cable trough the rig and up to the handle bar and place a V-lock batter on the bar so the weight at least get away from the actual gimbal. We also tested with rather thin power cables going out from the camera to a belt thing but that is not such good solution as it must be carried and the cable even if it´s thin hangs of the camera and ruin a perfect balance setup.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

The battery ion the back is just fine, it only needs a lower center of gravity and that is exactly why I have designed a new Low Profile Battery plate for it, this will allow for easier and faster balancing and free up space during tilt.

Powering the Epic/Scarlet cameras via the Ronin's battery is not possible, but I do agree that this would be the best solution, an all in one power Battery on the Ronin, possibly on the next model...

This is just the first Proto... (I have already made a second one which goes even lower making the mounted Brik even with the Top Plate).

No extra cable getting in the way either, a very short and straight Lemo connection goes form rear of Battery plate thru the Battery Mount strait on to the camera.

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

I have not found the power sulotion I belive in yet, but I was hoping the belt clip would be good. Perhaps its best to put a redbrick on the handlebar and run a cable down to the camera. But it seam like many dont think its a problem to put a redbrick on the gimball. To me it would be more logic that a thin cable would do less negativ for the gimball than a heavy battery.

Is there a pull on battery sulotion that i missed? Otherwise i will start one.

How did you connect the lcd screen? Slackline's cable or wireless!

But don't you think the rig gets a bit out of balance with the battery on the back? We really tested the ronin with extenders and my conclusion is that... well, it did not work well at all.
Do you have any video showing the rig working well in all positions etc with a reasonably large battery on the back?

To me all on camera battery configurations not only adds weight to the rig but also stress the motors and when adding the extenders it might fly but if the lens, focus motor and filtertray is even somewhat heavy. the whole package has to slide so far back that it will intersect with the pan motor when tilting and such. Also as the extenders are only for the horse shaped arm between roll and tilt the balance point moves off from the centre of pan so when the rig is not held straight the pan axis is not aligned trough the weight centre point and again that motor is is getting to much force.

So according to my findings the best option is to run the whole camera from the Dtap of the ronin and let it take power from the ronin battery, that will off course empty the ronin batteries quite quickly but that is as I see it the lowest possible weight solution... Second to that would be to run an additional cable trough the rig and up to the handle bar and place a V-lock batter on the bar so the weight at least get away from the actual gimbal. We also tested with rather thin power cables going out from the camera to a belt thing but that is not such good solution as it must be carried and the cable even if it´s thin hangs of the camera and ruin a perfect balance setup.

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

How do you connect headphones etc? Looks like the plates gets in the way?

The battery ion the back is just fine, it only needs a lower center of gravity and that is exactly why I have designed a new Low Profile Battery plate for it, this will allow for easier and faster balancing and free up space during tilt.

Powering the Epic/Scarlet cameras via the Ronin's battery is not possible, but I do agree that this would be the best solution, an all in one power Battery on the Ronin, possibly on the next model...



This is just the first Proto... (I have already made a second one which goes even lower making the mounted Brik even with the Top Plate).

No extra cable getting in the way either, a very short and straight Lemo connection goes form rear of Battery plate thru the Battery Mount strait on to the camera.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

Space is tight indeed, but all connectors work fine... And there are always 90 degrees adaptors...

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

When is going to be out for sale?

 

[Ketch Rossi]

This shown on picture, is my first proto, and have already made a second one which is the one that brings the actual battery Brick at camera top plate level for an even lower center of gravity and to allow it to clear the bottom of the Pan axis on Tilt action.

I'll have to see if I am going to actually make them or pass the design on to some one that is already making accessories, or team up with some one.

The battery plate it self to be used on final model will not be the one picture either as it will be Blueshape's latest Battery Plate design that I'll be using, which will sport the latest technology in battery plate with some great extras I can't announce as of yet... Think iPhone...

Ultimately will depend on demand, I guess once I have the first full working proto done, I'll do a thread and see interest.

 

[jake southard]

But don't you think the rig gets a bit out of balance with the battery on the back? We really tested the ronin with extenders and my conclusion is that... well, it did not work well at all.
Do you have any video showing the rig working well in all positions etc with a reasonably large battery on the back?

To me all on camera battery configurations not only adds weight to the rig but also stress the motors and when adding the extenders it might fly but if the lens, focus motor and filtertray is even somewhat heavy. the whole package has to slide so far back that it will intersect with the pan motor when tilting and such. Also as the extenders are only for the horse shaped arm between roll and tilt the balance point moves off from the centre of pan so when the rig is not held straight the pan axis is not aligned trough the weight centre point and again that motor is is getting to much force.

So according to my findings the best option is to run the whole camera from the Dtap of the ronin and let it take power from the ronin battery, that will off course empty the ronin batteries quite quickly but that is as I see it the lowest possible weight solution... Second to that would be to run an additional cable trough the rig and up to the handle bar and place a V-lock batter on the bar so the weight at least get away from the actual gimbal. We also tested with rather thin power cables going out from the camera to a belt thing but that is not such good solution as it must be carried and the cable even if it´s thin hangs of the camera and ruin a perfect balance setup.

It doesnt stress the motors any more than it would with no battery on the back. When you balance the ronin initially, the Ronin app will tell you how hard the motors are working to support the camera. As long as these numbers are all below 5, you have a pretty well balanced rig with minimal motor stress. As far as running your RED off Dtap, thats not possible

The only issue i've found with the arm extensions wasnt the weight, it was that it pjts the rig a little bit further away from your body. Which causes fatigue quicker

 

[Björn Benckert]

It doesnt stress the motors any more than it would with no battery on the back. When you balance the ronin initially, the Ronin app will tell you how hard the motors are working to support the camera. As long as these numbers are all below 5, you have a pretty well balanced rig with minimal motor stress. As far as running your RED off Dtap, thats not possible

The only issue i've found with the arm extensions wasnt the weight, it was that it pjts the rig a little bit further away from your body. Which causes fatigue quicker

Ok, Can you explain why it would not be possible to feed the epic with a power cable going from the Ronin Dtap to the Epic AC power port?

I guess you can put any weight on the rig as long as it´s in balance but the lighter it is the better the rig will behave as the (dont know the right word for it) the G forces from a longer/heavier camera body comes in play.

To my findings a perfectly balanced camera with less weight is what to strive for. And the extension arms, for the most setups, push the center of gravity forward / away from the center of the pan axis. So when tilting heavily and then panning the pan motors get´s to work quite heavily.

 

[Joel Arvidsson]

So I have not used my ronin since christmas when I quickly balanced a canon still camera on it just to see how it worked. The balance was pretty easy and today when I had time to balance the epic on it I run in to a little problem with the roll axis. I don't know if you all have redvolts to throw in the sidehandle since for me its leaning towards right even when I have the sidehandle alll the way against the left side.

By looking at this video it seam like he must have a redvolt in the side handle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRjTyNnKzBc&feature=youtu.be

 

[Björn Benckert]

So I have not used my ronin since christmas when I quickly balanced a canon still camera on it just to see how it worked. The balance was pretty easy and today when I had time to balance the epic on it I run in to a little problem with the roll axis. I don't know if you all have redvolts to throw in the sidehandle since for me its leaning towards right even when I have the sidehandle alll the way against the left side.

By looking at this video it seam like he must have a redvolt in the side handle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRjTyNnKzBc&feature=youtu.be

You can loosen the screws in the roll axis and offset the "horse shoe" or what ever it´s called, the bit that goes between tilt and roll a bit towards the side of the handle side. But make sure you got everyting on the camera before you start balancing, possibly you can put the focus motor on the SSD side and balance it out that way instead.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

Final production run of the Compact Case for the DJI Ronin I designed in collaboration with HPRC Plaber in Italy, I did this because while the Ronin come with it's Large case, I simply needed a more compact and lighter case for my travels, and this case has answered all of my needs.

If you also need a smaller, lighter case for your Ronin... Here is your answer...

EDIT: Now also available in the USA for $394 at B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1125028-REG/hprc_hprc2700wron_wheeled_hard_cs_w_foam.html

 

[Antony Newman]

Very snug.

AJ

 

[Ketch Rossi]

Very snug.

AJ

Indeed it is Antony, glad you like it.

I thank DJI for including a case with the Ronin, but at the same time I suffered a LOT traveling all over the world with that BIG heavy case, and while my design does not allow for Monitor space, I never just use a monitor ONLY for the Gimbal, so monitors always must have their now case.

And with this compact case design using the HPRC 2700 we were able to make the case almost half sized and dropping almost an incredible 18LB!!

It really makes a difference to me, not only when flying, but also when lifting it up to my SUV form location to location.

I love it!!

 

[Ketch Rossi]

The HPRC 2700 Compact Case for the DJI Ronin is now also available for $394 at B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1125028-REG/hprc_hprc2700wron_wheeled_hard_cs_w_foam.html

 

[Ned Wilson]

But don't you think the rig gets a bit out of balance with the battery on the back? We really tested the ronin with extenders and my conclusion is that... well, it did not work well at all.
Do you have any video showing the rig working well in all positions etc with a reasonably large battery on the back?

To me all on camera battery configurations not only adds weight to the rig but also stress the motors and when adding the extenders it might fly but if the lens, focus motor and filtertray is even somewhat heavy. the whole package has to slide so far back that it will intersect with the pan motor when tilting and such. Also as the extenders are only for the horse shaped arm between roll and tilt the balance point moves off from the centre of pan so when the rig is not held straight the pan axis is not aligned trough the weight centre point and again that motor is is getting to much force.

So according to my findings the best option is to run the whole camera from the Dtap of the ronin and let it take power from the ronin battery, that will off course empty the ronin batteries quite quickly but that is as I see it the lowest possible weight solution... Second to that would be to run an additional cable trough the rig and up to the handle bar and place a V-lock batter on the bar so the weight at least get away from the actual gimbal. We also tested with rather thin power cables going out from the camera to a belt thing but that is not such good solution as it must be carried and the cable even if it´s thin hangs of the camera and ruin a perfect balance setup.

I use 5400 mah 4S Lipos strapped to the cross bar and a cable I bought from gimbal user. Works well and keeps the camera load very light and responsive. The weight of the lipo is about 1.25 lbs. No V mount or plate to weight it down. In hindsight, I'd go with 3500 mah lipos as they're lighter and you'll get about an hour. My 5400's give me an hour and a half on Dragon. The main issue with lipos is getting the proper chargers, adaptors, voltage reader, and following charging protocols.

 

[James T Mather]

Has anyone run a full sized Alexa with follow focus on the DJI Ronin successfully? Are there any limitations or balance issues? (I understand you need extension arm on the gimbal). I have a movi m10 which isn't going to cut it. Any experience here on this? Thanks all.