A light but effective steadycam for GH5?

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Adriano Moroni

But could the video annoy those watching the video, when they see all those movements used so often with the gimbal? I have no idea how to use a gimbal. Can you give me some advices please?

You say you don't have a idea how to use it then my question would be why have you bought it? Do you feel the possibility to move around while recording will be beneficial to the story you want to tell? What does the gimbal do for you that you cannot do handheld or on a tripod?

This probably won't interest you because you don't do weddings but I"m going to tell it anyway, I use my gimbal quite a lot at the weddings I shoot, I know exactly when to use it and when not and I only use it when the motion of the camera adds something to a shot that I cannot achieve on a tripod, some moments are the couple first entrance, the first dance, the dancing, when the bring out the cake, sometimes I follow a waiter when he puts food on the table or to get some moving shots of the venue, inside or outside, sometimes they hand out gifts and with a gimbal I can follow the action without having to cut out anything in post, sometimes my camera on a tripod might get blocked and the gimbal allows me to quickly take position where ever I want and while I hold it still it almost looks like I"m shooting from a tripod.

The most important part is not to overuse it, I make sure I have enough tripod shots or handheld shots with minimal motion and I use my gimbal to fill in the blanks.

[Adriano Moroni]

I understand, you use the gimbal about 30% of your shots. Right? What I like to know is if you remove the camera when you won't want the motions of the camera. I other words, do you shoots many moments with the fixed gimbal or do you remove your camera from the gimbal? I ask this question because I know you can shoot without flickering even with fixed gimbal.

[Noa Put]

I have a quick release plate on my gimbal so I can take the camera off if I want to use it on a tripod or handheld and when necessary quickly attach it to the gimbal without having to rebalance it again.

[Paul Mailath]

There is no gimbal that is a magic fix for moving footage, out of the box it will do some things really well and others not so good. Nothing will replace practice with the gimbal to get smooth shots. There is are steadicam exercises that will help - one I remember is drawing a large square (1 to 2 metre across) and add diagonal lines - it is best done on a far wall or the side of a shed. there is plenty of info online but the point is to practice till you get it right. I remember seeing a showreel of Charles P and you would swear some of the shots were done on a jib and others on a slider - that's wasn't anything but practice & talent and I'm sure he'd say mostly practice.

[Adriano Moroni]

Hello, I have the gimbal from 2 days and it is the first time I will use a gimbal. Can anyone tell me why my smartpone fails to connect with the Zhiyun Crane Plus through the Bluetoot? I downloaded Zy Play. Yet the Bluetoot is enabled. But it even fails to connect to the PC with the cable. I downloaded the windows program from the official website. The file is called CH341SER_Setup.exe. But I believe it is not a program but only the driver. I installed it in my PC and then I connected the gimbal to the PC via the cable but nothing happens. Why? What should I do? I hope someone helps me because I can not even understand / see how to choose the GH5 in the Zhiyun Crane. Thanks for some info.

[Charles Papert]

Originally Posted by Paul Mailath

There is no gimbal that is a magic fix for moving footage, out of the box it will do some things really well and others not so good. Nothing will replace practice with the gimbal to get smooth shots. There is are steadicam exercises that will help - one I remember is drawing a large square (1 to 2 metre across) and add diagonal lines - it is best done on a far wall or the side of a shed. there is plenty of info online but the point is to practice till you get it right. I remember seeing a showreel of Charles P and you would swear some of the shots were done on a jib and others on a slider - that's wasn't anything but practice & talent and I'm sure he'd say mostly practice.

That is very kind Paul and yes, practice with Steadicam is definitely the most important factor in getting down the basics. Really, it's almost two sets of skills: the mechanical aspect of managing the various forces on the rig so that the shots appear glassy smooth is a function of drilling, practice and repetition, while the compositional side is all instinct and taste. These days the mechanical side of Steadicam is being assisted with various bolt-ons (using gimbal tech) that make it much easier for new operators to get good results.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Adriano Moroni

it even fails to connect

maybe this one will help? Start to watch from 03:57

YouTube (Short URL)