Nebula 4000 lite

[Paul Mailath]

anybody own or seen one of these?

Nebula 3-Axis Gyroscope Stablilzer Nebula4000 lite Gyroscope Gimbal stabilizer BMPCC GH4 NEX EOS-M A7S mirror less cameras

The bad spelling on the site makes me nervous but they do accept Paypal - at that price I'm tempted to try one out.

[Paul Mailath]

well I did....and it's on it's way back.

To be fair the postage was quick and the unit itself seems to be reasonably well made but there are no instructions and it's virtually in kit form rather than ready made & balanced.

I attempted to put it together but with no instructions or even videos on assembly it's too much or a risk for me.

On the positive side they have responded to my concerns quickly and explained that the unit was indeed a kit they send by mistake - they have asked me to return the kit and they will send me a fully assembled unit to replace it.

let's see what happens......

[Clive McLaughlin]

I attempted to order at the weekend actually. But they had paypal issues and then it was out of stock. New stock expected on 28th.

I'd rather you took this thread down and stopped drawing attention to it ;-)

I've been looking for a long time for a smaller handle underneath version to fly a Sony RX100 or SOny a6000.

I'm hopeful this will do what I want - and apparently it can even cope with my Sony A7s (although probably only with a lightweight sony lens).

Was it really so bad Paul, or did you just not want to be bothered trying to figure out the assembly?

At under £500 I'm definitely going to take a look at one. I'll return it if it doesn't meet my expectations.

[Leon Kolenda]

I too, am pretty interested in this stabilizer, I frequent a video blog called Cheesy Cam, The Owner is Emm, very nice guy, pretty up on Stabilizers, He liked the way it looked, but questioned it's price. If it works as decribed, I think it's a fair price due to it's diversity.He also mentioned that he thinks, that there is No way to balance the Pan Axis. Here is a quote from his blog.

November 18th, 2014 at 8:48 am
@Kiri – Hard to tell from the videos and photos, but without a proper way to balance the ‘pan’ axis you will always get jerky movements. This was a problem with their other nebula gimbal (no YAW adjustment).

Hopefully we’ll see a better review of one, but right now it looks like every axis is pretty much fixed which is a problem when trying to support different cameras and lenses. The GoPro gimbals on the other hand can be fixed since the GoPro only comes in one weight and dimension.

Paul, It would be great to get a good report back on it. Where are they shipping from?.

[Leon Kolenda]

Ok,I sent an email 2 days ago to Nebula,(Film Power) Just got a reply today, they sent me a link to a new video that just about covers the whole Nebula 4000 lite, It's a little on the long side so you may want to jump around. I saw some good things, Bluetooth calibration and Alexmos adjustments. They show how to completely balance it to what looks like some kind of Canon, a GoPro, and an Iphone.

It looks like you can balance the yaw, but sure looks like a real PITA! If I had to go through that every time I switch cameras, That would get old fast, All Hex Allen Screws, No Tooless. It might be worth the hassle of slow balancing, if it really works well, with out having to constantly make adjustments.

Things are really happening in the gimbal world, Exciting times.

Nebula4000 Lite User Manual [3-Axis Gyroscope Stabilizer] - YouTube

[Paul Mailath]

well this just proves I'm old and decrepit - I've been watching the gimbals for so long now I got confused as to which I ordered.

The Nebula 4000 lite is certainly an interesting design but the website site and their response to my questions put me off so I ended up finding this:

SteadyGim15 3 axis Camera Stablizer - Brushless Gimbals

This was the unit I ordered and then returned - and yes Clive it wasn't that bad, it's just that I didn't want to attempt the wiring and get it wrong so I send it back - even a simple diagram would have been enough for me to continue.

I still like the simplicity of the Nebula and will keep an eye on proceedings - sorry if I caused any confusion but I'm confused so why shouldn't everyone else be!

[Clive McLaughlin]

Ha Paul,

I think we are on a very similar quest as I was also looking at either the Nebula 4000 Lite or the Steadygim15.

I like that the Steadyjim 15 has feet so it can be set down easily but I just ordered the Nebula 4000 due to how compact it is.

I will give an update when it arrives!

[Paul Mailath]

great! - I'll be interested to hear what you think

The feet on the SteadyGim seem to do the job as a stand and a handle, unfortunately I didn't get much further with it.

If and when they deliver the right one I'll try to knock up a quick video review.

For a wedding situation I still like the build of the Nebula, though it does look as if the battery is permanently in the handle so once it's low you have to stop and recharge.

[Galen Rath]

They said they will have a better external battery system in a month or so. Probably can come up with your own external battery system.

[Paul Mailath]

I certainly hope so - it now looks like I'll be guying the Nebula - After sending numerous emails asking for a tracking number on the unit they had "already posted" and getting no response, I submitted a dispute through paypal.

Within a couple of hours I received a credit note for the majority (not all) the funds I had paid. They haven't given my money back - just sent the credit note!!!

Paying via PayPal may be the best thing about this whole transaction. Hopefully I'll be able to get some funds back.

[Paul Mailath]

well - it arrived!!

it may have been mostly a matter of miscommunication or lack of organisation but I have the SteadyGim 15 sitting on my table ready for opening - give me a couple of hours and I'll get it out and test the beast.

.... yes well, maybe we need to make that a couple of days. The unit assembles reasonable easy, it's mostly competed but there's still an amount of guesswork in balancing running cables etc. I just haven't got time right now.

[Paul Mailath]

Well I've effectively given up on the Steadygim 15. a number of the small hex bolts are now not turning at all - the metal is so soft that they don't take much adjustment. I've spent 6 hours over the last couple of days trying to get the unit balanced but the frame is twisting because some bolts are loose and can't be adjusted, I'll need to remove them and buy some good quality hex bolts.

Even if I can get it balanced I'm concerned about quality, I don't think it's viable for paid work and at that price what did I expect.

You get what you pay for and I paid bugger all and that's exactly what I got.

I'm still tempted by the Nebula lite just because of the design but someone else can take the risk and report on the result... Clive?????

[Clive McLaughlin]

Still waiting Paul! Ordered it a week ago today. Hopefully it will come soon!

[Todd Mizomi]

Placed my order today for the Nebula 4000 as well. Hoping they'll be able to get it back in stock soon.

[Paul Mailath]

Well I'm still trying to get this thing to work and it looks like I'm on my own - I emailed BeStableCam (yet again) and asked for some details on the controller board, their reply was that I didn't need the PID software, it should work - I said that I'd certainly advice people to avoid dealing with them and here is their reply:
---------------------------
from: Sales - BeStableCam
23:58 (8 hours ago)

to: paul
ok, go for it.Don’t care

I certainly hope you guys have a better experience with the Nebula - they certainly seem to be responsive to customers unlike BeStableCam.