Gopro4 black and a Feiyu g3

[Donald McPherson]

Looks like I need to save up another £90.

[Chris Harding]

Now, what does the G3 "consider to be panning" ... I was walking alongside the bride and groom yesterday with a hedge between us so the camera was essentially filming them walking with no harsh movements at all and I was getting a few jumps and jitters ... so does it consider that move panning? I can slowly walk around the couple in a big circle and get no jitters so I'm assuming that it can handle a circular motion but not regular "walking alongside" motion and would that be what the 3rd axis gimbal would control??

I didn't see any jittering at all in the example 2 axis demo video at the dog park?

Chris

[Noa Put]

With panning I mean if you turn left or right with the handle, with a 2 axis gimbal there is nothing to smooth that motion out so how smooth that motion will be depends how smooth you are able to change direction, even if you just walk forward or just try to hold the handle steady so there is no panning motion you can have very slight left to right movement as it is impossible to keep the handle 100% straight and without that 3rd gimbal that will translate in small jerky movements.

That dogpark video had some very clear jerky movements on the pan axis which is much less pronounced on my 3 axis gimbal, I get the same left to right movement but the 3rd gimbal slows that motion down so it doesn't show that much. That's why my examples show I"m able to make steadicam like moves in all directions.

Just try to do the same I did in that church with a 2 axis gimbal, based on what I have seen from 2 axis gimbals that will be impossible to get it that smooth.

[Noa Put]

This is quite ridiculous, I emailed the supplier saying my gopro is not level when I power on the gimbal, this was their reaction:

Initialize The FY-G3 Ultra Gimbal
The method of initializing the FY-G3 Ultra Gimbal:
Keep the gimbal in the still condition, then power on , it will initialize automatically.
After that the gimbal can work normally.

Do the initalization if you have the following problems:
1. After power on, the angle of pitch has a little angle difference with the horizon line.
2. After power on, the angle of roll has a little angle difference with the horizon line.
3. When the heading is in the till condition, the angle of heading amends frequently
in a small angle .

So with initialising they mean, hold the thing still and turn it on, did they think it was inclining because it was not powered on yet?? Or that I would be waving it around like an idiot during power up, jeez. I already explained his magic solution didn't work, let's see what comes next.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Noa

Mine is also slightly off horizontal from the roll motor and it seems to want to stay there too. Looking from behind the camera the camera is skewed slightly to the right.

I have an idea my instruction said put the gimbal on a table and let it initialise? One assumes that they don't mean lie it down but stand it on the end of the handle so it's sitting perfectly vertical?

Chris

[Chris Harding]

Just had a look at my footage for my second shoot over the weekend and seriously these gyros are still not as good as a stedicam at all. I was very careful using the device and yeah, it was easy to use but it still cannot really replicate my stedicam footage ... mine still looks a bit jerky following a bride which the stedicam is brilliant at doing ... going around the couple in a big circle does work but it still doesn't look nearly as good as my vest and dual arm footage!

I would honestly like to see how a little GoPro stedicam does when pitted against the gyro ..I reckon it would do a better job and you virtually have the same weight to carry. I think I need to find a vest/dual arm rig that isn't as heavy as my old one and is easy to jump into OR just but a little nano handheld sled and drop an action cam on it, I still think it would be more versatile than the gimbal rig!!

[Noa Put]

Based on what I have seen so far from 2 axis gimbals and compared to what my 3 axis gimbal can do I"m almost sure the jerky movement you experience is because it's missing the pan gimbal, my set up also can't do as smooth movement as my blackbird but it comes close + I can do moves that are impossible to do with my blackbird, like that first video I showed with that one continuous church shot.

Below is another short video I took inside that cinema, this time it's unedited footage so this is how it looked like straight from the card. I consider this pretty decent.and usable moves.

I have my last wedding this year next weekend and it looks I have to start at a hugh cathedral, not sure yet but if that is the case I"ll have time to use the feiyu and gopro to take some quick outside and inside shots before the ceremony starts, will post those if I"m able to use it.

Password: stil the same as the rest of the videos in this thread: test

Private Video on Vimeo

[Chris Harding]

That cool Noa!

I find that I get a shimmer left to right when I'm walking ahead in a straight line and the camera itself doesn't seem to budge at all. If I hold the camera sideways and walk alongside something it seems to have no jitters at all. Going around an object that should give the gimbal motors some work to do also yields pretty good footage.

Are you walking very slowly ...I found if I walk quite fast down the side of a garden path walking straight ahead it jitters left and right but the camera has no visible movement at all so it must be trying to make very small adjustments while you walk and it doesn't seem to have any dampening (like a stedicam does) One would assume that it should correct larger movements and make gradual corrections rather than detecting tiny sensor movements and making tiny corrections which end up as jitters.

Maybe my eyes are off but after initalising mine still tends to hold the camera tilted slightly right so it seems the roll motor is going just a fraction too much clockwise when viewing from the back of the camera?

Edit: Duh!! You can adjust the roll motor 8 degrees each way! Just discovered that!!

Chris

[Noa Put]

Had very little time today to do some quick shots at a cathedral during a wedding, also had a issue with my feiyu g3, I got some jerky motion on several shots when doing a tilt and pan combination, something which I didn't have during my very first test in a church (first video in this thread) I don't have to do any more weddings this year so will have more time to test it, if I continue having this issue the stabiliser is going back to the supplier for either a repair or a replacement.

There are quite some jitters in the footage and I had to do a stabilisation in AE but because it's 4K the footage remains detailed enough even when cropped.

Below a few shots I was able to make with the limited time I had, these are perfectly usable in the final film, they have not been color corrected and shot in protune, flat mode. : (password: test) - there is no sound.

Private Video on Vimeo

[Chris Harding]

Hi Noa

To be honest I'm not impressed with these gimbals at all. I know mine is only two axis but even doing moves that wouldn't use a 3rd motor it also has jitters. I think what is happening is that the motors are programmed to do any change from the sensor so even the tiny detections are translated into motor commands. You should be able to apply dampening levels to the firmware so corrections are done more smoothly and also tiny imperfections of adjustment are ignored.

It's actually doing it's job to the letter BUT it's correcting everything so you get jitters. You should have to correct the jitters they shouldn't be there in the first place

To be honest I'm going back to a stedicam which I can set for smooth dampened movement

Chris

[Leon Kolenda]

I have been doing some research on line and found this 3 axis gimbal, it looks pretty nice, I like that you can adjust the tilt with a up & down button. Here is a video review compared to the G3.

Looks like you get one here, www.copter-rc.com I think I'm going to get one, very soon.

Handheld GoPro 3-axis stabilizer (gimbal) shootout - YouTube

[Simon Denny]

I have ordered the FunnyGo last week based on that review so I'll come back with my thoughts soon.

[Leon Kolenda]

Cool that would be great! Where did you order yours from?

[Simon Denny]

Direct from Copter-RC

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Leon Kolenda

Here is a video review compared to the G3.

The bug he is referring to in that video is the same I have, that's why I had several ruined shots yesterday because at some point when you pan and tilt there is a twist in the gimbal that ruins the shot. The 3 shots I posted in the last video where the only ones that where twist free so in some occasions it does work. The g3 now also has a charger for 3 batteries so that's one improvement they made but based on that review the funnygo also looks like the better option. Now I know that the camera has a bug I"ll see what the manufacturer has to say about it, I am able to get good shots from but not always which can be annoying.

The gopro will get a permanent place in my camerabag but the g3 will only be taken with me when I know I have plenty of time to use it on paid assignments or more likely more on personal projects.