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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Letus Gimbal

Elizabeth Lowrey said:
So that means that if you elect to use a V-mount battery on the camera side itself, you can run a D/P tap to 2-pin lemo off of that and power the Helix and its motors? That is VERY cool and should alleviate Ned's concerns entirely. I was under the impression that you could only power the Helix from the back side, meaning that power for the camera would have to also come from that same battery (or from a REDvolt if you elect to power them separately).
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Yup, you can do that
 
Keep in mind that the cross bar on the 3 axis has an arca-swiss in the middle. You could use something like the Letus TaG Tiny receiver mounted to a battery/cheese plate of your choice and snap that directly to the Helix. There will be many options available as the product line matures. Feedback is great! Keep it coming!
 
Philip Lanyon said:
Not sure how a Vmount battery on the back would affect weight, Both in arm/operating and balance,motor strength, but if the gimbal/ operator could handle it for long periods, it would be great to have more mounting options where the cold shoe is. From what I understand, the cold shoe is mounted with one 1/4 20 bolt, leaving the female hole if removed. It wold be fantastic to have a few mounting options up there. Perhaps a small plate with at least 4 x 1/4 20 holes and a 3/8 hole in the centre. This would allow the mounting of a battery system or anything else including a cold shoe mount, or wireless transmitter.

On another note. Could we not put the red brick flat on top of the Epic? this might remove some of the the "antenna" weights as it would bring the COG of the camera up. This may allow for the extra weight of the battery. just a thought.

P.
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Good thoughts all around. When I was talking about an integral swat rail in place of the hotshoe back at post 433, what I felt would be ideal (but perhaps too much to ask) is something like the DSMC top mount, which includes all kinds of mounting holes and rod accommodation in addition to the swat rail functionality. Best of all worlds?

TopMount_Rod.png
 
Elizabeth Lowrey said:
So that means that if you elect to use a V-mount battery on the camera side itself, you can run a D/P tap to 2-pin lemo off of that and power the Helix and its motors? That is VERY cool and should alleviate Ned's concerns entirely. I was under the impression that you could only power the Helix from the back side, meaning that power for the camera would have to also come from that same battery (or from a REDvolt if you elect to power them separately).
Click to expand...

hienle said:
Yup, you can do that
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AWESOME!
 
Just to make sure for everyone...

You can put any battery/power on the backside running through the helix to your camera.
In case of A RED you can power without regulator direct to the camera (with the appropriate cable of course)

But with some cameras it has to be regulated! This depends on your cameras allowed input power..
 
Philip Lanyon said:
On another note. Could we not put the red brick flat on top of the Epic? this might remove some of the the "antenna" weights as it would bring the COG of the camera up. This may allow for the extra weight of the battery. just a thought.

P.
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Could be difficult without covering up the fan outlet.

Watching this product with interest, though!
 
One little stupid 'feature' request: print the HELIX logo on top of the 'antenna' weights... :) :)
 
Aaron Pinto said:
Hien can better answer the sizing questions with the Sony so I'll leave that to him. We are working with the F5/F55 in mind. I don't see why the current Helix wouldn't work in some form.
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Now that Patrick has reminded me of the concealed XLR socket on the camera body itself, I'm no longer concerned about the camera length. Personally I would like to see a small V-mount plate (like the reduced height one on the F55) on the Helix somewhere, but I interested in your LiPo system as well.
 
Wow, take a look at the video from the one minute mark. Mounting the Helix on an iso-elastic arm has got to be better (and lighter) than this MoVI/Steadicam rig! How long would it take to rig that setup and what would be weight be like? The Revolution-like rotation is very cool though.


 
Peter Corbett said:
Wow, take a look at the video from the one minute mark. Mounting the Helix on an iso-elastic arm has got to be better (and lighter) than this MoVI/Steadicam rig! How long would it take to rig that setup and what would be weight be like? The Revolution-like rotation is very cool though.


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The cool thing in this video is how he can make the shots go from low to high quickly. That would be tricky with a Helix mounted directly to an arm. Having a boom and balancing it would probably work, which I think is that I'm seeing in this video.
 
Aaron Pinto said:
For the battery, if you want to do hand off moves, my personal plan is to have a little 3 cell LiPo battery. I fly RC helicopters so I have a bunch laying around. Although most of the time I plan to use an AB battery on a belt, a "hand off" shot can easily be accomplished by simply attaching a small battery to the Helix itself for said shot. You aren't going to be locked into any one particular powering solution. Use what works for the shot you need.
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Simply slapping a LiPo onto the frame somewhere with velcro (which takes time) is not an acceptable solution to me. If a battery is on-board, it should snap/lock into the exact same position every time (a la Ronin), otherwise it's re-balance time (which takes even more time). Even if battery is on-board, any cables for motors and/or camera need to be invisible to the actions of the gimbal. They need to be buried and not flopping around getting in the way. If I'm wearing a battery belt, in addition to not being able to simply set it down and walk away for even a moment, I would definitely find that leash getting in my way while shooting (been there done that). And doing a hand-off for a trick shot while being leashed would certainly be clumsy in the least. I would rather lift a battery than be leashed to one. I think the gimbal really needs to be self-contained as standard configuration, with external battery belt as an option for people who really want to do that. Switching over to a battery belt on the fly if your arms are tired is easy to do. Switching over to an on-board system on the fly because the #@%?#* leash is getting in your way is not easy...not unless the system was designed to be that way as a standard configuration in the first place. Having many years experience as a Steadicam operator, I know that putting a Steadicam on a leash doesn't work. That's why Steadicams are self-contained. Just my 2 cents...
 
Is there anyone who has a redvolt XL module? Is it possible if the module is not connected to the camera to give power to the AUX power from the module.
You probably get where I am hinting at. Is sticking this module with a bracket onto the helix. I think this is would be a good form factor Battery.
Only for people with Epics and Scarlets ofcourse. (A bit expensive power option for non RED users.)
 
Dimitri Boschma said:
Is there anyone who has a redvolt XL module? Is it possible if the module is not connected to the camera to give power to the AUX power from the module.
You probably get where I am hinting at. Is sticking this module with a bracket onto the helix. I think this is would be a good form factor Battery.
Only for people with Epics and Scarlets ofcourse. (A bit expensive power option for non RED users.)
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The module cannot be used without attaching it to the camera.
 
Bob Gundu said:
The module cannot be used without attaching it to the camera.
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Hi Bob,
If the XL Module were attached to the camera with a battery in it, do you think there would there be enough clear room in the rear to balance and still be able to change batteries? Would the XL Module's 3.8A AUX port be enough to power the gimbal at the same time as the XL is powering the camera? Maybe Hienie or Aaron can jump in here and let us know what the maximum amperage draw is when performing mega-torque moves. I suspect it would be best to have separate batteries for motors and camera. I was thinking of using a volt in the Red Side Handle, and hopefully a light-weight Letus supplied on-board solution (LiPo?) for the motors.
 
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Paul Kalbach said:
Hi Bob,
If the XL Module were attached to the camera with a battery in it, do you think there would there be enough clear room in the rear to balance and still be able to change batteries? Would the XL Module's 3.8A AUX port be enough to power the gimbal at the same time as the XL is powering the camera? Maybe Hienie or Aaron can jump in here and let us know what the maximum amperage draw is when performing mega-torque moves. I suspect it would be best to have separate batteries for motors and camera. I was thinking of using a volt in the Red Side Handle, and hopefully a light-weight Letus supplied on-board solution (LiPo?) for the motors.
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Even if there isn't clearance with the battery on the unit, why not use a quick release and just detach for a battery change.
 
Paul Kalbach said:
Simply slapping a LiPo onto the frame somewhere with velcro (which takes time) is not an acceptable solution to me. If a battery is on-board, it should snap/lock into the exact same position every time (a la Ronin), otherwise it's re-balance time (which takes even more time).
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Just a minor correction/clarification here. Any battery mounted on the main trunk of the helix is not part of the camera payload that is balanced and therefore any differences in mounting will not affect balance.
 
Terry VerHaar said:
Even if there isn't clearance with the battery on the unit, why not use a quick release and just detach for a battery change.
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I'm not sure what you mean. The XL Module either screws onto the brain with four screws; or with an adaptor, it can mount by hooking in a tongue at the top and locking the bottom with a torx wrench like is done with other modules. But being mounted on the Helix would make that very difficult if not impossible. If there is a quick release for the XL Module that I'm not aware of, then that would just add more distance to the back as well as weight.
 
Elizabeth Lowrey said:
Just a minor correction/clarification here. Any battery mounted on the main trunk of the helix is not part of the camera payload that is balanced and therefore any differences in mounting will not affect balance.
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Of course, that's understood if mounted on the trunk. It's not readily apparent to me where the best place to mount an on-board battery is; which isn't necessarily the easiest place to mount. The easiest place to temporarily velcro on a battery for a "quickie" hand-off shot just might be a section that affects balance. My point is that if an on-board battery solution is designed (and I should have said PARTICULARLY if the only place to mount a battery will affect balance), then an exactly repeatable position is necessary. Wiring that doesn't interfere with gimbal action is necessary no matter where the battery is mounted..
 
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