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Scarlet Dragon - Ronin M: Fitness shoot

jake southard

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Heres a fitness short I put together in Santa Monica. Shot on the Ronin M / Scarlet Dragon the whole time, as much as I hate being a single operator with the Ronin.

PASSWORD IS " fitness "

https://vimeo.com/138102462
 
Did you post a pic of this on instagram?

What method of control did you use for the RoninM? The follow mode (or is the single-op joystick out yet)? I'd love to see a pic of the rig, if you have it. Also how wide was the lens; you seemed to have gotten focus fairly well considering how quickly things seemed to be moving.
 
Great video! And props to those people in it.
 
Nice work. how did you go with the Ronin ?

I've used 3 different Ronin systems so far in the last 12 months and I have to say I hated every shoot I've done with them. I found that they work well for the first few shoots while the motors are still new and a bit stiff, but after a while the Ronin just struggles with a camera as heavy as the RED...small DSLR systems are great. But every shoot Ive done with the RED and the Ronin, I gave up after 15 minutes because the rig just couldn't keep up.
 
Did you post a pic of this on instagram?

What method of control did you use for the RoninM? The follow mode (or is the single-op joystick out yet)? I'd love to see a pic of the rig, if you have it. Also how wide was the lens; you seemed to have gotten focus fairly well considering how quickly things seemed to be moving.

Yes I sure did!
I just shoot in regular follow mode.
I havent had any problems with shooting with the Ronin-M and not having it work properly with a fairly large load. The only problem I REALLY face, is focus. Constantly worrying if the image is in focus or not while i'm moving. I was using my trusty 16mm Rokinon for most. A few shots had the 35mm Rokinon.

Having worked a lot with both the Ronin, and Ronin-M, With the Ronin-M, it's all about stiffness. You have to have the stiffness as stiff as it will go without making grinding noises. Gotta treat it like a baby and be careful not to bump it around much. Otherwise you gotta turn it off and back on again to reset the motors.
 
Thanks for the info Jake (gonna find you again on insta, too). Honestly, I didn't notice any real focus issues in the vid; with a 16mm (even at 2.8), when downscaled to 1080p/web-compression, I find you get a lot more wiggle room than you'd think. Plus, that girl's abs draw a lot of attention away from everything else (granted that's no excuse to get lazy... but still...)

Where is the camera power/battery on the Ronin-M in that pic? And what'd you use for a monitor/framing/composition (wireless)? Also did you use a easy-rig or anything to help carry it? Going with a Ronin-M could end with limited weight capacity, but if you opted for a regular Ronin, you'd need to pay double as you'd have to get secondary support (easy-rig, exo, etc.)...
 
The battery is running to the backpack through a 2.5 meter dtap power cable. Just toss that thing in the backpack and go.
no easy-rig, those are for the weak ;)
my back took a toll using my old ronin with no easy rig, that's why I bought the M. To be able to grab it and go with no other rig.
All I use for monitoring is that DP4 mounted on the handlebars. By far the worst thing to judge focus off of. Makes it even harder
 
Haha, which D-tap cable is flexible enough not to put strain on the motors? Haha, and how do you control the camera settings, start/stop, etc?

Sorry for the 50 questions, I'm just really intrigued/interested in this particular set-up.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251709780194?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I bought this one, however, I need to buy a RIGHT angle power connector, to D-tap cable. Because right now, the power connection sticks back and doesnt allow me to tilt down without hitting the back of the gimbal. big pain, but still works. If i bought a right angle one, this problem would be solved.

If you notice in the picture, I also have my Redmote mounted to the handlebars. Doesnt have to be mounted to the gimbal like this, I've seen people use a lanyard around their necks for the Redmote, or just stick it in your pocket.
 
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