Letus Gimbal

[Elizabeth Lowrey]

Attn Letus:
You have screwed up your pricing strategy. Instead of providing an awesome product at a unheard price of $4K you should instead price your product at $18K, like Movi, then provide us simple minded folks a $14K discount so we can feel like we got a bargain. That is because we are unable to look at products/pricing as a net value. We must see an arbitrary discount off list.

Geez people . . . lighten the fuq up. Letus is resetting the bar for the entire industry.

You beat me to it, and, although your example is actually not an exaggeration at all given the price of the Movi, I was going to go conservative and say, "Would you feel like you're getting a much better deal if the retail price were $5,900, like the H14 (ONLY during the NAB special . . . normal price is $6350) or if it were 10K-ish like the Be Steady 4, or $5,295, like the early bird special for the Allsteady 7 Ultimate, or even $5K, like the Ronin and THEN it were offered at $4K?" Would you say, "This is such a sweet deal, I'm getting a thousand, two thousand, 6 thousand dollars off the price?"

To me, Letus' approach is the absolute most honest, psychologically PURE way to do business, one that I truly wish were the norm in commerce, something like the Saturn model of car sales. "This is our best price, this is what we think will remunerate us adequately for our THREE YEARS of product development and ingenuity and what we also feel will give customers a great product at a VERY low relative price in the field. If you want it great, if not, feel free to buy the Movi at over four times the price."

Have the mind-programmers of commerce really succeeded to the point that even the very intelligent people at this forum have to have games played with pricing in order to feel good about a purchase?

 

[hienle]

Attn Letus:
You have screwed up your pricing strategy. Instead of providing an awesome product at a unheard price of $4K you should instead price your product at $18K, like Movi, then provide us simple minded folks a $14K discount so we can feel like we got a bargain. That is because we are unable to look at products/pricing as a net value. We must see an arbitrary discount off list.

Geez people . . . lighten the fuq up. Letus is resetting the bar for the entire industry.

I heard you all about the pricing. Here we go, we can do better than $105, it's just a token, here is the real deal.

We are pricing the 4th axis at $10k as Terry once suggested because now we own a patent on it. We will give all RU's a $5k break if you sign up within the next 24 hours.

 

[Zeb B]

I heard you all about the pricing. Here we go, we can do better than $105, it's just a token, here is the real deal.

We are pricing the 4th axis at $10k as Terry once suggested because now we own a patent on it. We will give all RU's a $5k break if you sign up within the next 24 hours.

Now you're talking!! Love me some discounts off list!!

 

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Attn Letus:
You have screwed up your pricing strategy. Instead of providing an awesome product at a unheard price of $4K you should instead price your product at $18K, like Movi, then provide us simple minded folks a $14K discount so we can feel like we got a bargain. That is because we are unable to look at products/pricing as a net value. We must see an arbitrary discount off list.

Geez people . . . lighten the fuq up. Letus is resetting the bar for the entire industry.

Hello Mate,
Are you indicating that in your DJI Ronin group buy, you are getting no or almost nil discount?

If you are buying Letus Helix than your thoughts count, if not....

 

[Scott Pultz]

What is the actual price of the 4th axis? Since it is passive, I'm hoping that it is cheaper than the other axis.

 

[Zeb B]

Hello Mate,
Are you indicating that in your DJI Ronin group buy, you are getting no or almost nil discount?

If you are buying Letus Helix than your thoughts count, if not....

Buying both Mate . . . since they have different missions and are both great products and values at full price. You need to step back and look at your alternatives: BeSteady, Movi, gStabi etc

 

[Dimitri Boschma]

Also - is it possible that the handles are removable?

The probably will, in some form... hope that will be in the tool less form.

 

[Terry VerHaar]

I heard you all about the pricing. Here we go, we can do better than $105, it's just a token, here is the real deal.

We are pricing the 4th axis at $10k as Terry once suggested because now we own a patent on it. We will give all RU's a $5k break if you sign up within the next 24 hours.

Oh, shit!! Now everyone is going to blame me for the pricing. lol

 

[Elizabeth Lowrey]

Elizabeth,

At all time, the center of the lens should be at the center of the Roll axis AND the top and bottom weight of the camera would be balance by counterbalance weights also left and right should be balanced. Once this is achieved, swing it up or down would be the same and it should just float in that axis. In the picture, it does appear that the lens is lower than the center of roll axis, it should not though.

For the ball bearings that coincides with the tilt axis, it is necessary because without it, the camera on the Helix could only be auto level on the tilt axis, but not able to be controlled by your right (or left) hand. This will allow the system to be used on the steadicam arm and still be able to tilt with the twist of your wrist as it is on the 3rd axis. If you understood the bottom ball bearing, it's the same idea that allow you to pan it on the 4th axis bearing and the motor on the pan axis will do its follow job.

For the 4th axis frame, it must be able to lock into the 3rd axis so it can be used with the handle because without the lock feature, all you could do is hold the rig and have gravity pulls it down and auto level using the 3 motors. With the lock feature, you can try to pry the system up like other gimbals to do a tilt up shot, etc. If you don't use the lock feature, you would need to hold the system with one hand and adjust tilt with the other.

Hope it's clear.

Mostly, LOL.

I'm sure you know what the Kessler Crane looks like. Can you just comment briefly on which of the configurations you think would work best with it? In addition to the config I reposted, the following are possibilities:

and

The second one is actually very much akin to what I originally proposed before the 4th axis was announced, but what I don't like about it is that it requires remounting the camera on the platform perpendicular to its normal orientation, turning the roll axis into the tile axis and definitely requiring a custom and perhaps tricky balancing. But it would also be light and give 360 panning and full tilt (except for a few degrees near vertical, but that's no big thing). Not sure how it would actually attach to the crane platform, but I assume it would be possible since you posted it.

The other configuration, where you basically just turn the whole rig on its side and make the tilt axis the pan also gives you complete freedom of panning, no need for rebalancing, and virtually all the tilt you'd ever need. But to me the possible drawback is that all the load is carried by that single side piece of aluminum and that single 90 degree joint connecting it to piece that's normally the bottom of the U bracket. It doesn't extend fully across and tie into the other handle (over the camera), which would seem to increase the tendency for bending or "springing." The other curiosity is how you'd mount it to a crane with the right handle attached. Are you proposing an accessory piece of hardware that would accomplish that? And are you very comfortable with a 14-16 pound camera payload being carried by a single side of the U bracket?

It's so hard to evaluate this as a lay person looking at pictures and reading descriptions rather than holding the actual product and seeing whether/how much it might flex under that kind of stress or seeing that in a demo video (hint hint!)

 

[Dimitri Boschma]

The images where some fast renderings in follow up of a 'discussion' , for pointing out that 360 pan would be possible. In a way...
So how to mount is not incorporated in this renderings. But That would be no problem...
I have a Kessler to, I Am sure that on delivery time this is figured out. Or sooner.

 

[Umar Agha]

This looks awesome and I'm signing up!

Just curious... have we seen a.) a fully functioning piece in its final form and b.) any stabilized footage from this baby?

 

[john zerihoun]

Attn Letus:
You have screwed up your pricing strategy. Instead of providing an awesome product at a unheard price of $4K you should instead price your product at $18K, like Movi, then provide us simple minded folks a $14K discount so we can feel like we got a bargain. That is because we are unable to look at products/pricing as a net value. We must see an arbitrary discount off list.

Geez people . . . lighten the fuq up. Letus is resetting the bar for the entire industry.

I second that!

 

[Adam Eden]

sign up where? Im not going to read 35 pages to find a link. Where is it?

 

[Dimitri Boschma]

sign up where? Im not going to read 35 pages to find a link. Where is it?

PM Aaron Pinto for the link for placing a deposit..

 

[Mike Garrick]

Zeb is so right WTF $4K for this with a$105 discount sweeeet ....where do I sign up !

 

[Paul Kalbach]

For single operator use, what kind of follow focus are people going to use? Seems like the ideal solution would be wireless with trigger action? I'm not sure if this exists...

RedrockMicro Remote with Finger Wheel.
http://store.redrockmicro.com/Catalog/microRemote-Bundles

 

[Dimitri Boschma]

I am going to use this also... (I have one). For a 'one man band shoots' this would be a good option.
Rtmotion has also a nice one. (Both brands have steep delivery times at this moment)

 

[Les Dittert]

So this uses the very popular Bascam ( Alexmas ) electronics to do the stabilization. This is good as the software and boards are constantly updated. Bad , in the system is not open source and the development can not be tailored to a narrower market.

Questions : Which version ? 32 bit new one http://www.basecamelectronics.com/simplebgc32bit/ ?
Supporting the wired joystick option ( $17 for board on ebay )?
What are the specs of the motors ( all 3 the same I believe ) ?

What is the weight of the empty 3 axis version ?

Thanks

 

[hienle]

So this uses the very popular Bascam ( Alexmas ) electronics to do the stabilization. This is good as the software and boards are constantly updated. Bad , in the system is not open source and the development can not be tailored to a narrower market.

Questions : Which version ? 32 bit new one http://www.basecamelectronics.com/simplebgc32bit/ ?
Supporting the wired joystick option ( $17 for board on ebay )?
What are the specs of the motors ( all 3 the same I believe ) ?

What is the weight of the empty 3 axis version ?

Thanks

It's 32 bit. I am working with Alex to get our need implemented.
Yes on Joystick. Need to connect to appropriate pin
Custom motor tailored to our system. Much more torque. 8kg rating, but since our unique balance in our system, it can torque a lot more, just the motor. The release version will do 20lbs, support structurally too

The 3 axis with motor, around 5lbs. Without motors, 3lbs

 

[Aaron Pinto]

Hien and I are discussing additional goodness to provide to the RU community for your support. Initially, the biggest benefit was the early access to reservations. That is still locked to the RU community right now. PM me if you need the link!

Your enthusiasm and feedback is greatly appreciated. We value it greatly and will try to find a way to throw in some additional benefits to the members here. Thank you all again!