Coalmine on a Feiyu G4 and a gopro4 black on Vimeo

Finally managed to get out today and do some testing with feiyu G4 and my gopro4 black. I had to send my feiyu G3 back to the supplier in HK because the start up button broke and I had some issues with a sideways twitch that occurred during a tiltmotion. I had asked them to send me back a G4 which just came out which did cost me extra but thought it was worth it because of some improvements on the latest model.

I used my gopro 4 black and shot in 2.7k 50p so I could slow down the motion in post by 50% and that I would have some stabilization room by editing in a 1080p project. You will see a bit of ghosting in some clips which is some artifact created by edius because it's slowed down and played backwards, also you might see a bit of frame distortion which again is caused by Edius stabilisator. I could have used a after effects stabilizer which is more effective but takes a hugh amount of time to do it's thing, that's ok for a occasional clip but not for as many as now, Edius own stabilisation is very fast.

I shot flat but with the gopro color, then added some saturation in post, shooting with the gopro is a bit difficult as the exposure can't be locked, wished I could because the exposure changes (depending on what comes into it's frame when you are moving) are graduate but can mess up your image.

I used a smartphone in one hand to controll my gopro and see what I"m shooting and just held the feiyu in the other hand. All gopro functions I managed from my smartphone which worked very well.
One thing I noticed is that the gopro battery drains very fast, just after a few shots it allready starts complaining the battery needs ot be replaced but I was able to continue shooting quite some footage after that and the battery was still not empty, it only gave a annoying message several times while recording and I each time had to click ok to remove it as it was blocking the cameraview. Now it is freezing right now but don't know what's up with the battery life, need to check a bit more to see how long I exactly have after it starts warning me.

The vimeo sample is not as detailed as the raw files straight out of the camera, first it still is "only" 2.7k and the stabilizer plugin has done some damage as well but I think it's good enough for 1080p viewing, next time I"ll do some 4K shots.

Is it a steadicam replacements? No, it's not, but it is possible to make some moves that are not possible with my blackbird, I have to slow down my shots and apply a stabilizer plugin to make it look good, something I don't need to do with my blackbird, but for some quick eyecandy shots of a church and during a photoshoot at a wedding I certainly see some use for it.

Looking good. I have the FunnyGo with a GoPro, it's a great unit for those quick shots.

I think they all are more or less the same in parts, just different manufacturers that each build their own and as far I can see, price is also about the same. They are not perfect but they do serve a purpose for me, I think even with the quality hit I get with stabilizing it still matches up well enough with my 1080p camera's, must say I do like those gopro colours right out of the box. Today was more a trial to see how the different movements work on the gimbal and the g4 is a bit better then the g3, I do get a little less jitter in the image.

That is classic Noa footage. Except I was disappointed that you did not break into any of the abandoned buildings this time! If anyone can make a cheap lightweight kit like that work it is you Noa. I'm sorry your back is hurting so much you can't wield the Black Bird like you used too.

God Luck with your recovery.

Steve

I was testing the gimbal more but had enough footage to put something online, it was also way too cold to hold that metal handle for a long time and I didn't bring any gloves :)
I actually got this stabilizer, not to replace my blackbird (I can still easily handle that one) but to have a mini steadicam in my backpack that I can have with me for the first part of the wedding day, until now I start using my blackbird at the reception, it's just too large to drag along before that as then I have to move from one to another location with little setup time, having the blackbird with me as well then will just slow me down a lot + for outside shots even the slightest breeze will trow it out of balance because it's such a light setup. Once I"m in the venue I don't have that issue anymore.

That mini stabilizer however fits in my backpack with he gopro premounted on it and I can use it even when there is a storm outside as it will remain perfectly level, my intention is to especially use it during the photoshoot more and if time allows to get some quick shots in or outside a church. Something similar as below shots I took at the last wedding with the G3 just before I send that one back to the supplier. So it's just eyecandy stuff this will be used for and it has the right size and wheight for someone that likes to travel as light as possible.

https://vimeo.com/118426204

I have updated my video, went back today to another coalmine, I live in an area with several of these closed coalmines, the one I did some testshooting today I even have worked in in the 80's! Today I shot in 4k 25p and took all shots from my bicycle, it was just too nice weather to sit inside, I still needed to apply some post stabilization but in general I"m very pleased with the result, the first 30 seconds are all the new ones I shot today from the bicycle at 100% speed, all the rest that moves really slow is 2.7k at 50p and shot handheld and slowed down by 50%.

Noa, Great stuff, and from a bicycle! I am curious about exposure? For an auto only camera you put it through some very difficult scenarios, ie, gray sky, direct sun in frame, high contrast scenes etc. Is the Go Pro that good or did you do a lot of correction in post? Even the latitude impressed in a couple of the shots.

I loved the train follow, and wile you were riding a bike over a bridge! You are in a league I will never attain.


I don't own or "need" a Go Pro but I want one. Seeing this ups the..... maybe I do need one factor.

Thanks for sharing.

Steve

That little box does surprise me, the shots you see are all further stabilized in post but the image itself is hardly touched, I did add some saturation and made some very minor adjustments in exposure with a YUV adjustment in Edius on a few clips but in general what you see is what comes out. It is quite sensitive to exposure changes, if I pass objects closer to the camera the exposure adjusts fast to that which makes the image unusable, if only the exposure could be locked that would have been perfect, now I need to take more care what I shoot and in which way to make sure the exposure doesn't correct too much.

I also learned now you can correct the distortion from the fisheye in goprostudio and just export the parts you need from there for further editing and I applied that to some shots from the first 30 seconds, I prefer to shoot 2.7k at 50fps so I at least can slow my shots down and I have a choice between wide and medium view. The gopro app also works well, I adjust all settings and operate the gopro from my smartphone.

I loved the train follow, and wile you were riding a bike over a bridge! You are in a league I will never attain.

Actually, that shot was very simple, you hold the steering wheel of your bicycle with your left hand and just hold the handle of the stabilizer with your right and point the gopro to whatever you want to follow and the 3 axis stabilization does the rest. That doesn't require any skill :) I had my smartphone attached to the handle so I could see what my gopro was seeing which makes it much easier to follow action.