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The Three Axis Gimbal Thread

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David Didato

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We all know there's a great deal of activity in this product space right now, and it would be useful to keep track of new developments, reviews and experiences in one place.

The intent here is to discuss and link to *handheld* as opposed to multi-rotor gimbals. Some products are both.
Also many of these are not Epic ready, but some of them are planning a larger unit that can handle up to 10lbs, so "watch this space."

Here are all the products and pricing I am aware of at this time:
(It's possible some of these are two-axis gimbals)

Movi
M10 - $15,000
MR - $15,000
M5 - $5,000
freeflysystems.com


Colibri
Looks Epic ready, 6,000€
http://www.campilots.de/en/news-details/article/colibri-brushless-gimbal.html

Defy Gimbal
G2 - $2,300
G5 - $3,200
G10?
defygimbal.com

Besteady
One - about $2,999
Four - will carry Epic, approx. 12 lbs.
- 3850£ = around $6,000
Group buy announced for the Four:
http://reduser.net/forum/showthread....-BeSteady-FOUR
http://www.besteady.pro/?product=bes...user-pre-order

Rotorview
Stabilizer/Steadycam - about $3,950
Rotorview

Portahead
2.5kg model
5kg model
www.portahead.de

Monkey Gimbal
Lemur - $2,000
Gibbon - $2,500
Gorilla - $3,500
www.monkey-gimbal.com

Muvistar
kits range $2000 - $5000
maximus racing site (partly in French)

MotionLock
up to 4.5kg
Custom builds only, apparently
www.pyro.de/products/motionlock/

Ghost
$1,595 on KS only now
sicvisuals.com

Aegis
tppacks.com/store/

If any users have links, info, reviews or experiences with these and other gimbals, post here.
Makers/Manufacturers: please avoid promoting your OWN products here and check reduser's policies.

Thanks!

(I am not affiliated with any company listed here)
 
Nice
 
Last edited:
The hard part is, which one has the best price to performance of the bunch? That's a hard thing to quantify without testing them directly against one another. Personally I'm finding myself leaning towards the BeSteady Four. The Movi is most likely the leader, but it's price is much higher as well. So many options to choose from....
 
I just put a brushless gimbal on my multicopter and they are great. All of these above are more or less made with off the shelf parts and a board that can be had on ebay for a few bucks. If you really want one of these things to test -

This -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Axis-DSLR...Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item232dca2948

Plus This -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EvvGC-3-axi...Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20d4441021

= all that stuff up there. They are all using 25mm carbon tube, 25mm clamps, Iflight 5208 motors and some version of the Alexmos or Martinez boards. That's it.

Nick
 
Yes - @Curran, I wouldn't be opposed to arranging a group buy when/if there are a few solid options that fly an Epic, from which to choose.
I think it's premature for most people to plan on a $15K Movi when there are many cheaper options looming.

For me it's too soon to tell, so I'll be watching things develop.

Of course, I'll probably need/want to rent a Movi before it's even available!
 
Curran Giddens said:
We should all pick a good one and do a group buy. David?
Click to expand...

On it already :)

I'm working with a well known company on a brushless gimbal, but it will take some more months to finish the development. Right now, most systems are based on ALEXmos boards. Those unfortunately aren't as good as Freefly's MoVI (the MoVI is really well thought trough), also they have problems powering motors strong enough for an Epic. If you NEED a real good gimbal right now for an Epic, go with the MoVI. Otherwise, I would recommend everyone to wait some more months...
 
I would wait a couple of months, and not rush blindly into a groupbuy right now. Of all the rigs sofar, photohighers rigs seems to be the ones actually worth the money. I also havent seen how different companies handle secondary control yet (except freefly), nor has they shown another way of actually hold on to/work with the rig in a ergonomic way (whats the deal with holding the rig in worst possible way in front of you?). There is so much more than just looking at the price/weight capability, and there are other solutions on the way.
 
Matt Ryan said:
The hard part is, which one has the best price to performance of the bunch? That's a hard thing to quantify without testing them directly against one another. Personally I'm finding myself leaning towards the BeSteady Four. The Movi is most likely the leader, but it's price is much higher as well. So many options to choose from....
Click to expand...

BeSteady is nice as well as the G10 Defy.
Out of them all, Defy has my interest the most.
Last week VariZoom was showing off there FlowCam 5 not for the epic but yet more popping up.

Movi is really nice and works well I like it my self.
They would be the leader in my eyes if they would have planned out communication for people to be able to talk to them over the phone and have answers. Just like most professional companies have.

Dimitri Boschma said:
http://www.kkmulticopter.kr/index.html?modea=vieweng&id_no=161

This one looks nice. Especially the Android app.
Click to expand...
I contacted them about this one and they are in the works for one to hold the RED, just not any time soon. That could change at any time.
Looking at this and the VariZoom they both use Android app and might be the same rig or some of the same parts.

For the people as well as me that live in the USA if we need help or need to send it the unit most are not in the US. Or speak english well to help with problems.


(As well, I am not affiliated with any company listed here)
 
James Peach said:
BeSteady is nice as well as the G10 Defy.
Out of them all, Defy has my interest the most.
Last week VariZoom was showing off there FlowCam 5 not for the epic but yet more popping up.

Movi is really nice and works well I like it my self.
They would be the leader in my eyes if they would have planned out communication for people to be able to talk to them over the phone and have answers. Just like most professional companies have.


I contacted them about this one and they are in the works for one to hold the RED, just not any time soon. That could change at any time.
Looking at this and the VariZoom they both use Android app and might be the same rig or some of the same parts.

For the people as well as me that live in the USA if we need help or need to send it the unit most are not in the US. Or speak english well to help with problems.


(As well, I am not affiliated with any company listed here)
Click to expand...

Hi James, have you seen the Defy G10 in operation yet? If so how does it look? I've been following them closely and have spoken to them on email, to my understanding they haven't released any demo footage of the G10 (Epic rig) yet. I really like what they're doing and certainly their price point in comparison to Movi, however, from the demo footage (most of which does look very good) it does seem a little less smooth than Movi's Blackmagic CC and DSLR rigs.

On a side note I'd be very interested in a group buy on a well tested unit.

Cheers,
Omar
 
Omar Saad said:
Hi James, have you seen the Defy G10 in operation yet? If so how does it look? I've been following them closely and have spoken to them on email, to my understanding they haven't released any demo footage of the G10 (Epic rig) yet. I really like what they're doing and certainly their price point in comparison to Movi, however, from the demo footage (most of which does look very good) it does seem a little less smooth than Movi's Blackmagic CC and DSLR rigs.

On a side note I'd be very interested in a group buy on a well tested unit.

Cheers,
Omar
Click to expand...

I should have been more clear about Defy, as in I think the G2 & G5 look good and video shows it performance to be good for me for now.
I have not seen it nor have I used it.
For my Nikon DSLR's I just ordered the G5 from defy Im hopping for the best.
When I get it I will post up some links showing it and what I think about it.

Don't know if any one posted info about the phoenix from photoshipone.
http://photoshipone.com/phoenix-brushless-drive-gimbals/
They just show CAD images but they say its on the way released near the 1st week in Sept. 2013

I hope there will be a rig for the RED, thats priced right, has good communication, and can handle the Epic well in the real world, as well as come out ASAP.


 
My good friend Sean Haverstock of SkyPoint Visuals, an aerial and handheld stabilization cinematography company, has built one here in Tahoe and we took it for it 1st test drive a couple days ago.


Here are some images we produced with it, as well as some behind the scenes footage.

Even though this was our first time operating the gimbal we were able to produce some impressive shots. While not quite perfect yet, Sean is still dialing the gimbal in and figuring out how to get the most stable platform for us to run our cameras on. I'm really impressed with what he has done so far. The running shots with the swing bikes blew my mind. We didn't add any post-stabilization so that you could see just how good the gimbal is operating. With Warp Stabilizer the shots become rock solid.

What is really promising is since we were on foot we were putting it into about as tough of a situation as you can for the stabilization. We will using this off bikes, cars and Helicopters which will have less random vertical changes (the one direction these gimbals can not stabilize). I'm excited to really explore the possibilities with this new tool.

Waiting now for a new motor, that is supposedly coming soon, that is beefier and can run the EPIC.

-dane
 
Dane Henry said:
My good friend Sean Haverstock of SkyPoint Visuals, an aerial and handheld stabilization cinematography company, has built one here in Tahoe and we took it for it 1st test drive a couple days ago.


Here are some images we produced with it, as well as some behind the scenes footage.

Even though this was our first time operating the gimbal we were able to produce some impressive shots. While not quite perfect yet, Sean is still dialing the gimbal in and figuring out how to get the most stable platform for us to run our cameras on. I'm really impressed with what he has done so far. The running shots with the swing bikes blew my mind. We didn't add any post-stabilization so that you could see just how good the gimbal is operating. With Warp Stabilizer the shots become rock solid.

What is really promising is since we were on foot we were putting it into about as tough of a situation as you can for the stabilization. We will using this off bikes, cars and Helicopters which will have less random vertical changes (the one direction these gimbals can not stabilize). I'm excited to really explore the possibilities with this new tool.

Waiting now for a new motor, that is supposedly coming soon, that is beefier and can run the EPIC.

-dane
Click to expand...

Nice thanks for sharing!
Its crazy how quick all most any one can get adjusted quickly on how to use it right or real close to it.

I hope people buying or making (diy) a 3 axis gimbal understands about foot steps.
It will not be long there will be integrated in to stedicam vest/arm.
 
Thanks James

Agreed. It definitely isn't replacing a steadicam from what I have seen so far. I def could see it being used in conjunction with a Steadicam arm like you said.

For now, I think it is really important for the Pilot (what we are calling the guy with gimbal in hand) to find a cadence of walking with little to no up down movement in their upper body. I think the best pilots will be the guys who figure this out (as seen in the 1st running shot!). And adding the Camera Operator into the mix really raises The possibilities for some really complex blocked out shots. We even felt like we should have ear bud 2 way radios to relay instructions between the Pilot and Operator to better coordinate moves.

Psyched to get my EPIC on this thing at some point!

-dane
 
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