Nebula 4000 lite

[Noa Put]

The vertical bounce when you walk is not being filtered by the 3 axis gimbals, they only smooth out motion on the pitch, roll and pan axis. The up and down movement is something you as user have to prevent by taking smaller steps and bending your knees a bit while you walk. If you are working with a real steadicam, the arm that's attached to your vest takes out that bounce for the most part and you don't have that on this mini stabilisers.

[Dave Patterson]

Noa - Thanks for the clarification. I thought the Nebula was a 3 axis gimbal, but apparently not.

[Noa Put]

It is a 3 axis gimbal, it works on the pitch, roll and pan axis.

[Charles W. Hull]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

It is a 3 axis gimbal, it works on the pitch, roll and pan axis.

I have the new Sony A7II with 5 axis stabilization, and it does such a good job with hand held video that I've wondered what it would take to add X and Y stabilization to my Nebula 4000. It would probably take an inch or two of X and Y to smooth out walking (my walking anyway), but it could make for spectacular video.

[Rich Greb]

Charles -- I doubt the A7II will do much to reduce vertical bobbing from walking.

Well designed steadicam stabilizers, like the venerable dual arm systems invented by Garret Brown, do that quite well. But with handheld stabilizers, you might be surprised at how effective just bending your knees while walking, can help to reduce the vertical bobbing.

We put up a short video demonstration of this on our Nebula web page (near the bottom, just above the Youtube sample videos) Nebula 4000 .

The clip is from the original Blackbird Instructional Video we did years ago, but the technique applies to any handheld stabilizer.

Rich Greb
CMR

[Charles W. Hull]

Originally Posted by Rich Greb

Charles -- I doubt the A7II will do much to reduce vertical bobbing from walking.

Well designed steadicam stabilizers, like the venerable dual arm systems invented by Garret Brown, do that quite well. But with handheld stabilizers, you might be surprised at how effective just bending your knees while walking, can help to reduce the vertical bobbing.

We put up a short video demonstration of this on our Nebula web page (near the bottom, just above the Youtube sample videos) Nebula 4000 .

The clip is from the original Blackbird Instructional Video we did years ago, but the technique applies to any handheld stabilizer.

Rich Greb
CMR

Rich, I agree, the A7II only stabilizes when you're not walking, plus it isn't an especially good video camera; it has quite a bit of aliasing, and reminds me of the original 5DII. But it does show that a 5 axis stabilizer with enough correction in X and Y could do wonders, and could help us who are bending knee challenged. I don't know if it's technically possible, but probably could be with the right counterbalancing. I've met Garret; maybe I should challenge him with handheld 5 axis stabilization.

[Iris Zhang]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

The vertical bounce when you walk is not being filtered by the 3 axis gimbals, they only smooth out motion on the pitch, roll and pan axis. The up and down movement is something you as user have to prevent by taking smaller steps and bending your knees a bit while you walk. If you are working with a real steadicam, the arm that's attached to your vest takes out that bounce for the most part and you don't have that on this mini stabilisers.

I agree with you, a lot of people think a gimbal is a shock absorber. Actually it is just through three axis of rotation to keep the direction of the lens. A gimbal couldn't offset the vertical vibration when you walk.

[Iris Zhang]

The footage on the ground was shot by Nebula 4000.

YouTube (Short URL)

[Noa Put]

That's very smooth footage, I wonder how he manages to keep it that fluid since there is virtually no bounce to see that you usually get while walking.

Originally Posted by Iris Zhang

a lot of people think a gimbal is a shock absorber. Actually it is just through three axis of rotation to keep the direction of the lens. A gimbal couldn't offset the vertical vibration when you walk.

One trick I learned to get walking motion out of my footage was to ride a bicycle while holding a 3 axis gimbal. :) Another advantage of these little 3 axis gimbals, don't see myself doing that with a vest/arm/steadycam combo.

[Iris Zhang]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

One trick I learned to get walking motion out of my footage was to ride a bicycle while holding a 3 axis gimbal. :) Another advantage of these little 3 axis gimbals, don't see myself doing that with a vest/arm/steadycam combo.

Yes, riding a bicycle is a method by which to keep the 3 axis gimbal smooth. Step practice is also very important. You could see this vidio.

Nebula 4000 Lite real shooting_Downtown - YouTube

[Iris Zhang]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

That's very smooth footage, I wonder how he manages to keep it that fluid since there is virtually no bounce to see that you usually get while walking.

The video was shot by Pano Verino. He said in some scenes he did some post stabilization because the ground was not flat.

[Jon Robertson]

I just received one of these today. Switched it on straight away to test it and nothing. Gave it a complete charge and still nothing. I'm I doing something stupid?

[Noa Put]

Normally it should work after the batteries have been charged, I would contact the supplier. Not saying that your version is like that but I have read a few stories lately about where such a Gimbal arrived DOA, it did not concern a Nebula only, other Gimbals can suffer the same problem, maybe the electronics suffer too much from rough handling during transport?

[Jon Robertson]

Cheers Noa

Yeah, it appears dead to me. Not overly upset. More of an inconvenience than anything else as I'm sure the return and refund process will set me back a few weeks.

[Iris Zhang]

Originally Posted by Jon Robertson

I just received one of these today. Switched it on straight away to test it and nothing. Gave it a complete charge and still nothing. I'm I doing something stupid?

Where did you buy? Could you offer the SN of gimbal?