Gimbals 2.0 - The Quest for the perfect Gimbal.

[Jamon Lewis]

Enrique when you get a chance I'd love to know about that custom aluminum plate that your using to mount the monitor way back.

 

[Karl Kim]

Soy Cuba is one of my favorites, and I just built a single axis For my steadicam ;-) That isn't the final version. Biggest issue is high freak vibes, but a top plate as well as a bottom plate solved most of that. Surprisingly not as useful as you'd think. I built this other nutzo thing once for a commercial, and it was pretty cool, but the times you need it are so few.....Something cool is going to come from all of this ;-)

Nick

Is that your shop Nick? If so you just gave me shop envy... hmm- auto horizon on 1 axis not worth the trouble? (weight limit, balancing gimbal and steadi etc) and simply easier to do in post? I have RC control for the helix, maybe I'll just try 3 axis with remote head operator.

 

[Nick Gardner]

Balance isn't hard, the single axis is solid, It works fine, I just thought it would be more amazing ;-) yes that's my shop (a little part of it).

Nick

 

[Hal Long]

I've had the Helix since October and have had it on many commercials and every shooting day of a 45-day run on a TV show. On the show we flew mostly GH4s and on the commercials always an Epic/Dragon. First off, you don't need a computer to change it in the field. You can pre-set five profiles to switch between on the unit. I keep two red files (fast/slow follow + heavy weight) and two GH4 build files. I save the fifth profile to use with an RC controller and this works great. We had the camera downrange shooting talent close-ups back towards live gunfire and were able to smoothly get our singles. Saved a lot of time.

There is an android app which i've been using on an Ebay'd $60 tablet that has worked with no issues so far. But more importantly... LETUS JUST RELEASED AN IPHONE & IPAD APP. So all of those complaints should be resolved.

In my experience, the Helix just works in every set-up. It's super easy to carry and balance. True, moving monitors around and changing the camera config will require some adjustments but pretty much every gimbal will experience some of this. I spent an hour or two setting my Epic and GH4 configuration profiles back in December and haven't had to do more than ten minutes' tweaking since then. It's comfortable to use, light and goes from one-arm carry on the ground floor to two-above as fast as you can fly it.

I've used the Movi extensively and was impressed with it, but I'm very happy I bought the Helix. I've been strapped onto a tactical assault buggy shooting car-to-car bouncing down a creek bed, run through obstacle courses and put the gimbal through many complicated moves up to this point and it's always worked as expected.

Moreover, I think the slip ring SDI pass through and the Letus on-board battery + Lemo distribution works great and solves a lot of problems.

Anyway, just my thoughts.

Good luck,

H

 

[Ned Wilson]

I've had the Helix since October and have had it on many commercials and every shooting day of a 45-day run on a TV show. On the show we flew mostly GH4s and on the commercials always an Epic/Dragon. First off, you don't need a computer to change it in the field. You can pre-set five profiles to switch between on the unit. I keep two red files (fast/slow follow + heavy weight) and two GH4 build files. I save the fifth profile to use with an RC controller and this works great. We had the camera downrange shooting talent close-ups back towards live gunfire and were able to smoothly get our singles. Saved a lot of time.

There is an android app which i've been using on an Ebay'd $60 tablet that has worked with no issues so far. But more importantly... LETUS JUST RELEASED AN IPHONE & IPAD APP. So all of those complaints should be resolved.

In my experience, the Helix just works in every set-up. It's super easy to carry and balance. True, moving monitors around and changing the camera config will require some adjustments but pretty much every gimbal will experience some of this. I spent an hour or two setting my Epic and GH4 configuration profiles back in December and haven't had to do more than ten minutes' tweaking since then. It's comfortable to use, light and goes from one-arm carry on the ground floor to two-above as fast as you can fly it.

I've used the Movi extensively and was impressed with it, but I'm very happy I bought the Helix. I've been strapped onto a tactical assault buggy shooting car-to-car bouncing down a creek bed, run through obstacle courses and put the gimbal through many complicated moves up to this point and it's always worked as expected.

Moreover, I think the slip ring SDI pass through and the Letus on-board battery + Lemo distribution works great and solves a lot of problems.

Anyway, just my thoughts.

Good luck,

H

Thanks for he run down. I didn't know you could create pre-sets. That's great and a time saver. Could you comment on best powering options for Epic? Run time, etc.

 

[Jamon Lewis]

Thanks for he run down. I didn't know you could create pre-sets. That's great and a time saver. Could you comment on best powering options for Epic? Run time, etc.

Thanks for the write up Hal, I'm very interested in Ned questions also. Thx

 

[Bo Kostelac]

I've worked with the Movi M15, Ronin, and Came-8000.

The Movi M15 is by far the best in my opinion. For starters, its far lighter which is a huge bonus. Easy to balance. Has an auto calibration feature for the motors (connects to your phone). It seamlessly works with the Alta multirotor from Freefly (well almost, you have to swap in the landing gear which takes about 5-10 minutes).

I haven't worked with the Helix. Looking forward to checking it out. It looks easier to put down in between shots though which is a big plus.