I purchased a Panasomic Lumix 14-42mm zoom for my x5s.  I waited another couple weeks for the balancing ring to arrive and (clunk!) not even CLOSE to being balanced. The back end of the lens immediate drops all the way back.
The outer side of the ring is not threaded so it does not appear that I can simply add rings.


Am I missing something?

It is balanced when the lens is extended. When you zoom in and out the overall length of the lens will move. So you don't look at it while it is off. You should it turn it on and move the zoom around. If it is overload, the gimbal motor will make its noise and the app will soon let you know that the motor is overloaded.

That is right.

To prove it to myself, I extended the lens on my GH4 and disconnected it from the camera while extended. I then put it on the X5S and it balanced just fine. When turning off the X5S, and the lens closes, it drops to the rear because the length of the lens changes.
If you use a filter, remove the smaller ring and put filter in its place.

Please mount the balancing rings tightly and there will be error message in APP if there is something wrong, no worries.

Thank you, all. That all makes sense. I didn't even want to turn it on without first hearing from someone experienced with this lens.

When you turn it on, you will probably get a warning message reminding you to balance the lens. It is a reminder and normal to see.

Well, I flew the lens and got mucho jello effect. I shot four short videos  today with the zoom lens and I'm seeing serious jello in all but one. I saw none of this with the stock lens. I did a number of comparisons in order to be sure. If I cannot resolve this issue I won't be able to use the lens anyway.

That 's weird  Lumix 14-42mm no need balancing ring , i have one and i dont have problem without balancing ring

DS924 Posted at 2017-9-8 18:42
Well, I flew the lens and got mucho jello effect. I shot four short videos  today with the zoom lens and I'm seeing serious jello in all but one. I saw none of this with the stock lens. I did a number of comparisons in order to be sure. If I cannot resolve this issue I won't be able to use the lens anyway.

Is there any reminder popping up in the APP? Did you purchase the balancing ring from DJI Online Store?
Please post a short video in Dropbox or Goggles driver and post the link here, thanks.

I have also bought one of these lens. Could someone tell what part no is the balance ring for the lens.

Something else to try is to put your finger on the upper part of the gimbal and compare the vibration off it to the one near the camera while on the ground primed to go.  For some odd reason, the upper plate on mine is smooth, but the gimbal has a lot of vibration.   I suspect the stepper motor action in the firmware driving the gimbal isn't smooth and why some of the jello and jerkiness of the cameras is occurring.  Could be if the lens balance is too far off, it will buzz trying to correct itself.  I've had far smooth steppers in other devices, but the Inspire seems very buzzy around the lower gimbal area, imho.

Mine is fitted to I1 after upgrading the X5 vibration plate. Surprisingly, I don't have to update any firmware, probably because X5 has the compatible firmware when use with Osmo. I still think the FW on X5 is the latest, anyway as long as it is compatible with my AC FW 1.10. Now I have to test fly it during this weekend. However, I have some queries already:
1. Is there ND filter for this pancake lens with balancing ring in place
2. Other than using the on screen slider to change from T to W, can RC be customised to do so.

DTK, for your first question, please search the website of Panasonic and see if there are proper ND filters for your pancake lens.
Next, you can not change from T to W by RC.

Thanks for your reply, Elektra. There is no thread on the balancing ring to take on anything. Does it mean that balance ring will always be the last and thread on top of a ND filter.

DTK Posted at 2017-9-12 02:21
Thanks for your reply, Elektra. There is no thread on the balancing ring to take on anything. Does it mean that balance ring will always be the last and thread on top of a ND filter.

DTK，please note that you just need to install the balancing ring or ND filter on your lens.
You can replace the balancing ring with the same weight ND filter.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2017-9-9 22:52
Is there any reminder popping up in the APP? Did you purchase the balancing ring from DJI Online Store?
Please post a short video in Dropbox or Goggles driver and post the link here, thanks.

[url]http:///volumes/KINGSTON/N Prospect 2%5B/url%5D

Still trying to figure out how to deliver the video. Please excuse the errors.

I set it up last night. So far so good, no warning at all. Will test fly this weekend. From X3 upgraded to X5, I am bit nervous to fly an extra 3000 dollar worth of equipment in the sky.

One more question. Since X5 is so much heavier than X3 configuration. The Centre of Gravity must have changed after installation. Does one need to recalibrate IMU?

DS924 Posted at 2017-9-12 17:33
/volumes/KINGSTON/N Prospect 2%5B/url%5D

Sorry that the link cannot be visited, can you please upload the video to Dropbox or Google Driver?

DTK Posted at 2017-9-12 23:26
One more question. Since X5 is so much heavier than X3 configuration. The Centre of Gravity must have changed after installation. Does one need to recalibrate IMU?

It would be better to calibrate IMU and compass before flight.
Could you please help us to clarify which lens you mount to X5? Panasonic Lumix G 14-42mm is not in our compatible list, we cannot guarantee the compatibility, here is the compatible lens for X5:
Besides, the T and W can be changed by RC, please keep pressing C2, then slide the Gimbal Dial to zoom in and out.

It is Oly 14-42mm EZ pancake lens. In addition, does it need to recalibrate every time lens is changed say to stock DJI 15mm lens

DTK Posted at 2017-9-12 23:53
It is Oly 14-42mm EZ pancake lens. In addition, does it need to recalibrate every time lens is changed say to stock DJI 15mm lens

That is not so necessary. There are gyroscope, barometer, accelerometer and compass in IMU, they will not affect gimbal very much.
When you change X3 to X5, you may need to calibrate lens if the image is blurry.

HI,

Can the Olympus 14-42m pancake  lens be used on the zenmuse X5s?

Regards

You can certainly used 14-42mm lens on X5s

DTK Posted at 2017-9-14 13:48
You can certainly used 14-42mm lens on X5s

DTK, it is not in our compatible list, have you tested this lens with Inspire 2?

Brogan23 Posted at 2017-9-14 10:24
HI,

Can the Olympus 14-42m pancake  lens be used on the zenmuse X5s?

Please check my reply in your own thread.

Went out for test flight. Did the IMU, camera calibration. The bird was in the air. I was playing with zoom function and suddenly either the RC or the app crashed. Close and restart the app did not help. RC still has control and so brought it back, luckily it was in Los. Don't know what to do if it wasn't. Reboot the Android tablet did not seem to help. The same happened again once at home and tried to replicate the circumstances. Anyone has any idea?

DTK Posted at 2017-9-16 02:42
Went out for test flight. Did the IMU, camera calibration. The bird was in the air. I was playing with zoom function and suddenly either the RC or the app crashed. Close and restart the app did not help. RC still has control and so brought it back, luckily it was in Los. Don't know what to do if it wasn't. Reboot the Android tablet did not seem to help. The same happened again once at home and tried to replicate the circumstances. Anyone has any idea?

Any error message from your app when the crash happened?
What model of device did you use at that time?

No error message. The screen just went dark. Rebooted the app and app was not connected to the RC. Unplug and repugnant usb cable did not do the trick.

fans8ee6128f Posted at 2017-9-9 21:51
That 's weird  Lumix 14-42mm no need balancing ring , i have one and i dont have problem without balancing ring

OK. It's seems strange to me that a balancing ring is available for it if isn't needed or recommended. Before I was aware that the lens barrel extends when the aircraft is activated I was shocked at how unbalanced it was before being extended. I assumed right then that a balancing ring was necessary so I bought one and attached it before I flew it.

Now i have taken the balancing ring off and activated the I2/zoom lens and I get no error messages and the lens/gimbal apparatus seems quite stable.  Maybe the balancing ring was unnecessary.

I'll fly it tomorrow without the balancing ring and see how it does.

You will need to do a test on the ground by not attaching the balancing ring. It will put load on gimbal motor and you leave there for the period of testing. You can monitor any abnormal noise and temperature rise from the gimbal. If it alright for 20 minutes then you really don't need a balancing ring.

DS924 Posted at 2017-9-8 18:42
Well, I flew the lens and got mucho jello effect. I shot four short videos  today with the zoom lens and I'm seeing serious jello in all but one. I saw none of this with the stock lens. I did a number of comparisons in order to be sure. If I cannot resolve this issue I won't be able to use the lens anyway.

I tried flying without a balancing ring on the lens - the worst jello ever!

I replaced the balancing ring marketed for this lens (Spare Part No. 3) - jello.  

Then I tried the balancing ring marketed for the Zenmuse X5 and the Olympus 14-42 f3.5-5.6 (Spare Part No. 05), which I had bought by mistake AND THE JELLO ALL BUT DISAPPEARED.  This latter balancing ring is heavier and it more closely balanced my lens.

Unbelievable!

I was testing the 14-42mm Oly lens yesterday as well. I find it hard to focus properly and every zoom will need to refocus as well. It does not suit 1 crew operator. Any suggestion?

DTK Posted at 2017-9-17 22:55
I was testing the 14-42mm Oly lens yesterday as well. I find it hard to focus properly and every zoom will need to refocus as well. It does not suit 1 crew operator. Any suggestion?

I have the Panaaonic Lumix G and I've also noticed that the focus goes soft when changing the focal length.  These lenses, clearly, are not manufactured to the performance standards of high-end lenses for traditional cameras. As it is, their functional apertures don't remain "fixed" with changes in focal length either - just like their lower-budget counterparts in the traditional camera world.

As far as the aperture goes, it may be that manufactures figure the average UAV operator is just making auto-exposures anyway - and they're probably right, but it sure would be nice to bank on your zoom holding focus when you're trying to fly.

I don't know enough about the construction of lenses to even appear knowledgable but I can't help but wonder if the necessary improvements would result in heavier lenses, a limiting factor right there for UAVs.

I suppose we'd be paying quite a bit more for the improvements, too - but I, for one, would pay. I hope the manufacturers take the bait and make those improvements.

I don't know what to suggest, off hand, other than getting the absolute best monitor you can so that any necessary focus adjustment will be immediately apparent.

Yeah, the holy grill is getting a bright and high resolution monitor in order to pull manual focus. Samsung S8+ and note 8 seem to provide a solution other than crystal sky monitor or inferno monitor. S8+ has 1000nits and note 8 has 1240nits brightness and they also have wqhd resolution. Has anyone tested these handsets out in the field?