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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 :)

Ronin 2 or Movi Pro Fly

Rodrigo Violante

Rodrigo Violante

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I'm about to buy a new gimbal and I'm clueless of which one to get. Or should I wait for a new Movi version, since I'm sure it wont take them long to launch a new product.
 
I make a living as a gimbal operator, and I've used Movi's and Ronin's interchangeably at client's preference for years. The 3 or so times I've had a serious problem with a gimbal on set I've ALWAYS been able to get a Freefly tech on the phone within 5 minutes, and I've never failed to get it up and running after their help. I've had a Ronin break, and the soonest I could get an estimate on the problem would be 6 weeks (if you're lucky...) So in my opinion, while they do the same thing, if you want the gear to work go with the company that works for you.

Just to be clear, DJI does have a concierge option... for $4,700 https://store.dji.com/guides/dji-circle/
Disgraceful.
 
So now that there is no great update to the moví, what do you guys recommend??
 
I've not used the Movi pro, but I do have one of the original M10's from the very first batch... Worked fine for about a year, then one day wouldn't boot up.. I was super busy and got involved in a ton of projects so I just stuck it in it's case and TOTALLY forgot about it for over three years... until last week.

I opened it up, charged up the batteries.... then emailed customer support.. Within minutes they were helping me walk through the problems... We make robots, so they basically gave me the go ahead to take it apart and provided a ton of photos of the order of operations... and as soon as I popped off one of the actuator covers... BAM.. there was the unplugged cord..

As soon as I plugged it in, it booted up like magic... Put a red on it, and ran out the door...

I can promise you this... I will be a lifelong customer of FreeFly... That experience cemented it.
 
I've just done 4 months with the R2 on a large production, and before this I've used M10-15-Pro on countless adverts large and small, and a feature film with the M15.

The R2 is something I wouldn't want to do without for wheels control and certain kinds of single op shots where you really need to throw around the gimbal. This is all due to the power of the motors, which allow you to throw around a camera like a larger remote head would allow for - or the MXL for that matter. Great for going high-to-low with heavy pro cameras on a Steadicam sled for example.

There are other advantages: the cabling is internalised, and very professionally done, much like a Steadicam sled. Including HDSDI, which is routed to the mount point and independant of the gimbal. So cool. Locking motors means it's easy to handle for the ACs and grips.

The pan motor/mount point is distant from the lens for certain things, but this is a height advantage for high-mode shots if you invert it, which is my preferred operating style with this gimbal in single op mode.

It's heavy. Partly due to the battery pack, which can be tethered elsewhere with a nice strong cable. You can use only half of the ring which goes great with the ReadyRig (add surgical tube for better isolation). The ring is perhaps 2.5 times heavier than the MoVI Pro one. So you will grow some new muscle mass working with this but if you work smart not hard it comes out pretty good.

I am sure that Freefly are soon to release a version of soon, that is some hybrid between the Pro and the XL - I hope they match the cabling setup (which has a fantastic power distro system, and more power output for all your pro accessories).

I've been a huge 'brand champion' as they put it, of Freefly products and I still think that the main advantage is the software control - it still feels more organic and higher-res. But the MPro feels very weak now when I use it. I can imagine a Freefly gimbal that has the advantages of the R2 with perhaps 1-2 kgs less weight. I would have to say I currently prefer the single op mode for it's power and can put up with a slight precision hit. For wheels, the R2 is a dream.

Mostly I am glad that DJI have focused on professional features for on-set, the cabling being the main one, the power being another, to satisfy the expectations of camera operators for response and precision.

There are still some things that are not professional, like the D-Bus connection that is quite breakable - but I am sure there will be a good after-market solution for that.

The main issue is the inability to tilt up past 45 degrees in 3-axis mode. You have to disable one axis to get past 45, and you can't roll more than 30 deg in either direction. In practice this only rules out a small percentage of shots.

I definitely want one! - And I am so glad to see some actual competition in this space now. Gimbals are still focused on the 'prosumer' market but it's slowly inching towards a robust tool for on-set rigor that is as hardy and as indispensable as an O'connor fluid head.
 
We really really wanted to buy from freefly.. took a demo and realised it just wasn't quite enough for a red package as we wanted to have them. If , the pan motor was a bit beefier, the power distro had an extra output OR the lcs was more useful we would have been in for sure... freefly seems like the company we should be supporting.

It does feel to me the Movi pro (for us) is either too big or slightly too small ...

So we took a punt on the Ronin2... one thing we did was not buy from the reduser group buy but rather from a dealer who are happy to support us... (and gave us amazing support on our ronin 1) ... It will be interesting to see if this strategy works in the end.

There isn't a question of better, without qualification by specific needs, but my recommend is buy from freefly if they have the product you want but they may not..

Ps DJI is quite exciting with their new in x7 camera .. I wish they would offer it up in a tiny super light gimbal!... this would be a great companion offering to the ronin 2 (which is too heavy for many shots)
 
The reality is that I want something that can Handle Matte Box, ND filters, and 6 lbs lenses. In the Ronin Version 1, I could sometimes be able to mount that much. But since Im single operator usually I don't know which option I should go. I have no rush so I don't care to wait for a new Movi Gimbal, but I think it might take more time for them o release a new version,.
 
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