Hi All,

We have just received our Ronin-M today and have spent countless hours trying to balance it with our set-up.
We are using the SmallRig Extension Rods with our set-up to help compensate for our camera which is:

- Canon 5D Mark III (with Battery Grip)
- 24-105mm f/4 Lens
- Manfrotto Quick Release Mount

The issue we're having is obtaining vertical tilt axis balance, we just can't seem to achieve a suitable balance where the camera remains still no matter how we position it on its tilt axis.

If we lay it horizontal, we can get it to remain in position after we release. However if we then tilt the camera forwards to be facing straight ahead, it falls straight forward (we're assuming this would be front heavy). A few minutes later, we adjust so that it's able to remain still whilst facing straight forward, but then tilting it horizontal causes it to fall backwards this time (and this is with very minimal movement).

Note: The camera is too high for us to utilise the lens mount support - so we suppose the question is: will our set-up work with the Ronin-M? It would surprise if not to say that a 1DX can balance on the system. Of course removing the battery grip would work just fine, however, we shoot weddings which we require extended battery life for - so we don't want to waste much time removing battery grips just to use the Ronin-M.

Sorry for the lengthy post, it's just a little frustrating and if we're honest has us dumbfounded.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in Advance!

Hey! The Ronin-M requires really fine-tuned positioning of the balance sliders (to the point where I've had to move it fractions of a millimeter at a time). I use a Canon 60D with a 24-105 zoom lens as well and I'm able to get it balanced pretty well, but I don't know how the weight between a 60D and a 5D III differs. Also, my advice would be to follow the balancing instructions in the Ronin-M quick start guide to the letter.That means starting by balancing the vertical tilt, then moving on to the roll axis, then the tilt axis (which will set the vertical/roll axes off again for some reason and you'll need to readjust). I really don't think the 5D should be a problem with balancing for the Ronin. Hope this helps!

TimekeeperFilms Posted at 2017-7-25 17:36
Hey! The Ronin-M requires really fine-tuned positioning of the balance sliders (to the point where I've had to move it fractions of a millimeter at a time). I use a Canon 60D with a 24-105 zoom lens as well and I'm able to get it balanced pretty well, but I don't know how the weight between a 60D and a 5D III differs. Also, my advice would be to follow the balancing instructions in the Ronin-M quick start guide to the letter.That means starting by balancing the vertical tilt, then moving on to the roll axis, then the tilt axis (which will set the vertical/roll axes off again for some reason and you'll need to readjust). I really don't think the 5D should be a problem with balancing for the Ronin. Hope this helps!

Hey Timekeeper Films,

Thanks for your reply and sorry for not responding sooner. We took your advice on following the Balancing Instructions for the Ronin-M precisely, we were even up at 2am (the night before a wedding shoot) still trying to correct the balance for our gripped 5D III with the 24-105mm. We managed to roughly get the Roll and Pan axis balanced well, however the tilt was still rattling our brains.

Nevertheless, we still decided to try our luck and brought the unit to the wedding the next day, set it up, and started from scratch with the balancing (following your advice) - low and behold we managed to get it balanced pretty much perfectly under all the pressure! Guess it was just us being too vast with the adjustments. But now we realise just how minimal the adjustments need to be. Had to retighten the knob for the dovetail mount, which was loose from the camera sliding out of position when it wasn't balanced - but all is good now!

Thanks for your help and advice, Timekeeper Films! It's very much appreciated

Photo of our Set-Up: http://bit.ly/2vapotY
(Going to replace the HDMI cable with one that doesn't catch the Ronin's arm when tilting).

@sd15 dang thats a heavy setup!!! haha are you shooting at small aperture? id love to see some of your work.

kareemcram Posted at 2017-8-28 14:35
@sd15 dang thats a heavy setup!!! haha are you shooting at small aperture? id love to see some of your work.

It's a pretty hefty setup indeed... just ask our arms and shoulders haha! We're generally shooting between f/8 - f/11 most times, only used it on a few occasions.

We'll post some examples when we've got to grips with it

Hi,

one more thought: If you use the zoom on the glass you might need to rebalance since the zoom slides weight fore and backwards in the glass. Might lead to hot motors or vibs.

Regards :-)

SD15 Posted at 2017-8-29 03:08
It's a pretty hefty setup indeed... just ask our arms and shoulders haha! We're generally shooting between f/8 - f/11 most times, only used it on a few occasions.

We'll post some examples when we've got to grips with it

A good tip I learned is to balance a zoom lens in the middle of the zoom range and then the motors on the Ronin will adjust for the slight weight change and you won't't have to rebalance.