Gimbals

HaydenB

HaydenB

Active member
Anyone have some recommended electric or manual gimbals or stabilizers for smaller compact cameras?
 
Feiyu Tech makes some good electronic gimbals. I don’t know how compact your camera is, but I use their MG V2 Gimbal with a Sony a6300 and it works great. It has some cool features like a joystick to control movements, a ton of different stabilization modes, and mobile connectivity.
 
13971630:eth430 said:
Feiyu Tech makes some good electronic gimbals. I don’t know how compact your camera is, but I use their MG V2 Gimbal with a Sony a6300 and it works great. It has some cool features like a joystick to control movements, a ton of different stabilization modes, and mobile connectivity.
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I have an a6000 so I’ll look into that one, thanks for the help
 
13974926:Peterkrekorian said:
Glidecams are good from what I have seen. Definitely wouldn't go with anything thats electronic.
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Why? I mean gimbals can be rough/annoying to take on chairlifts but the ronin-s and similar gimbals have tripod legs so you can rest it between your legs like a glidecam. I have both and the ronin-s is definitely more consistent, but the glidecam gives more of a natural feel/look (also takes more skill to use)
 
13974934:LukasSchroeder said:
Why? I mean gimbals can be rough/annoying to take on chairlifts but the ronin-s and similar gimbals have tripod legs so you can rest it between your legs like a glidecam. I have both and the ronin-s is definitely more consistent, but the glidecam gives more of a natural feel/look (also takes more skill to use)
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All preference man whatever works for you.
 
I have a Zhynu crane gimbal and really like it. I will say the electronic aspect is sketchy especially when its snowing but honestly the results are way way better than a glidecam. Given I haven't spent alot of time filming park with the thing. I like the consistency of it much more than the glidecam.

Shooting pow with it is way fun!

check the first few shots, woulda been so hard with a glidecam

[video]https://vimeo.com/277895933[/video]
 
13975616:chris.goodhue said:
I have a Zhynu crane gimbal and really like it. I will say the electronic aspect is sketchy especially when its snowing but honestly the results are way way better than a glidecam. Given I haven't spent alot of time filming park with the thing. I like the consistency of it much more than the glidecam.

Shooting pow with it is way fun!

check the first few shots, woulda been so hard with a glidecam

[video]https://vimeo.com/277895933[/video]
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Holy shit dude... I think you just sold me. That was a really quality edit
 
13975624:HadinoB said:
Holy shit dude... I think you just sold me. That was a really quality edit
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Thanks man. I would say do your research though...when I originally bought mine it was close to $600 and I've looked now and it's like $350. The technology is getting crazy and doesn't have to be the most expensive investment.
 
There is a certain stability to electronic gimbals that is really nice and smooth... But it also takes a LOT of practice to be even remotely good at it. I swear by the mechanical gimbal/glidecam for shooting skiing. You also have to put a lot of practice into getting good at it, but it has such a beautiful natural sway and controlling the shot movement is infinitely more precise than electronic gimbals. Although the electronic ones can hold the camera super steady in one direction, most operators can't pan the camera and perfectly match the movement of the skier - the camera turns too fast or too slow and there's a lot of clipping of the subject on the edges of the frame. Not ripping on Chris at all because that video was dank, but the subject in-outs are all 5 seconds or fewer and it doesn't necessarily look intentional. I just feel like there is a lot more movement control with a glidecam even though it is definitely less stable overall. So, depends what you're looking for.

Here are two shots from last summer on a glidecam, I'm not sure that you could get as close with that much up/down/side-side movement with an electronic gimbal.

 
13975987:toast said:
There is a certain stability to electronic gimbals that is really nice and smooth... But it also takes a LOT of practice to be even remotely good at it. I swear by the mechanical gimbal/glidecam for shooting skiing. You also have to put a lot of practice into getting good at it, but it has such a beautiful natural sway and controlling the shot movement is infinitely more precise than electronic gimbals. Although the electronic ones can hold the camera super steady in one direction, most operators can't pan the camera and perfectly match the movement of the skier - the camera turns too fast or too slow and there's a lot of clipping of the subject on the edges of the frame. Not ripping on Chris at all because that video was dank, but the subject in-outs are all 5 seconds or fewer and it doesn't necessarily look intentional. I just feel like there is a lot more movement control with a glidecam even though it is definitely less stable overall. So, depends what you're looking for.

Here are two shots from last summer on a glidecam, I'm not sure that you could get as close with that much up/down/side-side movement with an electronic gimbal.

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Maybe I should stick with manual and just take my time learning how to keep it really smooth rather than having an electronic one break on me. Are there a lot of different weight options for glide cams, or does that depend on your camera size?
 
13976199:HadinoB said:
Maybe I should stick with manual and just take my time learning how to keep it really smooth rather than having an electronic one break on me. Are there a lot of different weight options for glide cams, or does that depend on your camera size?
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Quite up to you. If you take good care of an electronic one it should not break on you. I think ultimately you will have to decide personally if you like the extremely steady and controlled style/look of electronic gimbals or the more natural flowy looseness of a glidecam. Each one has their advantage but I personally prefer (for skiing) the mechanical.

As far as weight, there are different models. I use a glidecam hd-2000 which I bought used about 6 years ago and it's still as good as the day I bought it. One advantage of the mech one is it's so easy to service, the bearings are not too difficult to take apart, clean, and grease if it ever gets mucky, though the seals are good on glidecams so I haven't cleaned mine in 3 years or so.

That said, there are some reservations I didn't think about with my last post. Mechanical stabilizers are more steady when the equipment is heavier. I shoot typically with a Canon 7d2, lens, and shotgun mic, so my entire camera setup is usually 3-4lbs, making it like 5 times heavier than your a6000. Your camera, by itself, would belong on an hd-1000 instead of hd-2000, and I bet a setup that lightweight would lend to the camera being pushed around too much by wind and small bumps. I used to have the hd-1000 and I don't really recommend it. On the other hand, you can definitely get around this using an hd-2000 and loading up the mounting plate with extra weights to "simulate" like there's a much heavier camera than your a6000. It might actually be more stable with 3lb of extra weights and an a6000 compared with just my 7d2 because that Sony is so much smaller in profile and doesn't get blasted by wind quite as much.

So, at the end of the day it might even just be easier to get a handheld electronic gimbal for a camera the size of yours... You'd probably have less control but it would be more stable and would work pretty well with a camera as compact as yours.
 
13976213:toast said:
Quite up to you. If you take good care of an electronic one it should not break on you. I think ultimately you will have to decide personally if you like the extremely steady and controlled style/look of electronic gimbals or the more natural flowy looseness of a glidecam. Each one has their advantage but I personally prefer (for skiing) the mechanical.

As far as weight, there are different models. I use a glidecam hd-2000 which I bought used about 6 years ago and it's still as good as the day I bought it. One advantage of the mech one is it's so easy to service, the bearings are not too difficult to take apart, clean, and grease if it ever gets mucky, though the seals are good on glidecams so I haven't cleaned mine in 3 years or so.

That said, there are some reservations I didn't think about with my last post. Mechanical stabilizers are more steady when the equipment is heavier. I shoot typically with a Canon 7d2, lens, and shotgun mic, so my entire camera setup is usually 3-4lbs, making it like 5 times heavier than your a6000. Your camera, by itself, would belong on an hd-1000 instead of hd-2000, and I bet a setup that lightweight would lend to the camera being pushed around too much by wind and small bumps. I used to have the hd-1000 and I don't really recommend it. On the other hand, you can definitely get around this using an hd-2000 and loading up the mounting plate with extra weights to "simulate" like there's a much heavier camera than your a6000. It might actually be more stable with 3lb of extra weights and an a6000 compared with just my 7d2 because that Sony is so much smaller in profile and doesn't get blasted by wind quite as much.

So, at the end of the day it might even just be easier to get a handheld electronic gimbal for a camera the size of yours... You'd probably have less control but it would be more stable and would work pretty well with a camera as compact as yours.
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Thanks for all the info guys, it helped alot
 
13975987:toast said:
There is a certain stability to electronic gimbals that is really nice and smooth... But it also takes a LOT of practice to be even remotely good at it. I swear by the mechanical gimbal/glidecam for shooting skiing. You also have to put a lot of practice into getting good at it, but it has such a beautiful natural sway and controlling the shot movement is infinitely more precise than electronic gimbals. Although the electronic ones can hold the camera super steady in one direction, most operators can't pan the camera and perfectly match the movement of the skier - the camera turns too fast or too slow and there's a lot of clipping of the subject on the edges of the frame. Not ripping on Chris at all because that video was dank, but the subject in-outs are all 5 seconds or fewer and it doesn't necessarily look intentional. I just feel like there is a lot more movement control with a glidecam even though it is definitely less stable overall. So, depends what you're looking for.
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Definitely some truth to this. I was hinting at not filming park with a gimbal because the glidecam definitely has an advantage when doing really fast tracking shots like Toast's video. I personally like the really crisp smooth feel and always wanted to create that skiing but as you could see through that video I had a tough time following skiers for a long time. That was in turn because its hard with the gimbal, it was my first season and we were skiing through the trees. I'm hyped to try and film park with it this season to get a full idea of how it would work. I used a glidecam for a long time filming park and never felt like my results were what I was looking for (could be because I didn't practice enough, but I did it for like 3 winters straight). Although the glidecam, when setup correctly is an awesome stabilizer.

The gimbal is better for the all around shooting I do IMO. I use it to recreate slider movements (which are an absolute pain in the ass to lug around) and can even be used for tripod like shots.

Good points all around though and it totally depends on what your looking to create!
 
13976286:chris.goodhue said:
Definitely some truth to this. I was hinting at not filming park with a gimbal because the glidecam definitely has an advantage when doing really fast tracking shots like Toast's video. I personally like the really crisp smooth feel and always wanted to create that skiing but as you could see through that video I had a tough time following skiers for a long time. That was in turn because its hard with the gimbal, it was my first season and we were skiing through the trees. I'm hyped to try and film park with it this season to get a full idea of how it would work. I used a glidecam for a long time filming park and never felt like my results were what I was looking for (could be because I didn't practice enough, but I did it for like 3 winters straight). Although the glidecam, when setup correctly is an awesome stabilizer.

The gimbal is better for the all around shooting I do IMO. I use it to recreate slider movements (which are an absolute pain in the ass to lug around) and can even be used for tripod like shots.

Good points all around though and it totally depends on what your looking to create!
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Yes, so true though! I bet if you film more with the electronic gimbal in the park and figure out the motion you'll get practiced enough that your follows in pow will be soooo good. Great point about recreating other movements like a slider, the glidecam definitely can't come near that stuff like an electric gimbal can. Also might be better for using longer lenses. I agree with you too, I think that electronic gimbals are probably better stabilizers for all around shooting, which I maybe emphasized in my last posts referencing using glidecam specifically for skiing. Cheers g
 
13975987:toast said:
it also takes a LOT of practice to be even remotely good at it. I swear by the mechanical gimbal/glidecam for shooting skiing. most operators can't pan the camera and perfectly match the movement of the skier - the camera turns too fast or too slow and there's a lot of clipping of the subject on the edges of the frame.
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Can confirm. Love my gimbal for everything non-skiing, but I tried it skiing for the first time today and it was so hard to use. Was shooting pretty wide too, 20mm on full frame. Shit was tough - switched to glidecam after a few laps
 
imo electronic gimbal motion looks like shit if it's not a movi. Glidecams are fantastic. You have more control over where the camera goes when you get the feel for it, and unless you're trying to put your cam on a jib or a drone there isn't anything you can't do with a glidecam that you can with an electronic gimbal. Also, if you end up wanting to get more serious and get a big boy sled, the transition will be more natural coming from a glidecam.
 
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