Yesterday I purchased a brand new DJI Ronin-S and was absolutely thrilled to get my hands on one. Unfortunately, I have had a couple of issues with it...

First, I am unable to properly balance the roll axis on my gimbal. I followed the set-up instructions/tutorials on the DJI YouTube channel, plus multiple others, however, I was unable to successfully balance my roll axis. When I put my camera in a centre position (and at a 45-degree angle) the tilt/pan axis stays still, but unfortunately, no matter what adjustments I make the roll axis does not stay still at a 45-degree angle. I shot a quick clip of the issue I am having, which can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... Yt/view?usp=sharing

Please note: I have updated the firmware to the latest version, completed the "Auto Tune" in-app, balance test, calibration, etc.

Second, I am unable to successfully do the 360-degree roll. Upon following the YouTube tutorials and taking all the necessary steps, I was still unable to do the much-sought-after infinite roll. The gimbal rotated about halfway to three quarters and then started to violently shake and glitch out. I was worried the front of my lens was going to get smashed in the way it was shaking... despite having the bejeezus scared out of me, I tried to troubleshoot and tried doing it again. Sadly, the same thing happened again and I had no luck.

Third, the gimbal seems to move around (like it has a mind of its own) while walking with it. I'm not sure if this normal or not, but while walking around with my Ronin I've noticed that the gimbal seems to pan around at random. I tried doing the system calibration, but it still seems sketchy and not as stable as I had expected.

Overall, I have found it quite difficult to get my Ronin-S up and running like I've seen in the YouTube tutorials. I would really appreciate some feedback/tips on how to fix these issues as this has been quite stressful. Also, if anyone else has been having these issues, I hope this thread will answer your questions...

Thanks in advance!

you are shooting vertical video. this ain't snapchat or instagram. get it together bro. that's what the  problem is

1. First, you're roll axis being perfectly balanced isn't the problem. There's tiny deviations in tolerance levels so when you tighten the adjustment knob, it may offset the mechanics just a few microns. The weight of the camera mounted also has a little to do with it and being this is a non-orthogonal gimbal design (not perfectly 90 degrees on all axes), the roll axis may return to center when you set it at 45 degrees. You can feel the amount of force it takes to push down on the roll axis. It's very small.

2. You need to be sure to balance your pan axis. This may be what's causing your shaky footage. The motors on the Ronin-S are strong but they won't be able to power through if the system isn't balanced. This is very apparent when you try to perform a Roll360 and the motor seems to give up. Usually you'll get all the axes balanced and forget the pan axis as the entire gimbal is sitting on a flat surface. The pan axis will appear balanced because the gimbal isn't tilting or panning one particular way.

This is a typical setup a lot of users will have on the Ronin-S. This is a Sony A7RIII with a Sony G-Master 24-70mm lens. With this weight, you can see how far back the pan arm adjustment needs to be to achieve a perfect balance.



Now what we're seeing are some users balancing their cameras and forgetting to adjust the pan axis as seen in the image here. The gimbal may appear balanced because it's not swinging one way or the other but it's not. If you tilt the gimbal forward or backward or put it into flashlight mode, it will be extremely biased towards the rear of the camera. Just by looking at photos or videos of setups, we can tell the gimbal isn't balanced because of how far forward the pan axis arm sits.



After you've checked to be sure your pan axis is balanced, perform a Auto Tune. Also with your Canon lens, you should use the lens support. This will ensure you have a very solid setup.

Once this is setup, you can try switching to profile mode 3 on the gimbal if you want it to be slower responding. Don't look at the gimbal, but try shooting some footage and review that.


3. How do you set up Roll 360?

First you need to go to the Ronin App Channels setting page and re-map CH3 for Roll axis control (default is Pan axis) and also set CH1 as N/A to avoid any input on Tilt axis. Then hold the Ronin-S in Flashlight mode and double tap the front trigger to re-center the gimbal’s orientation. Simply push the joystick left or right to get the gimbal rolling continuously.

fans325bb763 Posted at 2018-8-1 23:20
you are shooting vertical video. this ain't snapchat or instagram. get it together bro. that's what the  problem is

You're right, shooting vertical video was the real travesty here

DJI-Paul Posted at 2018-8-2 01:53
1. First, you're roll axis being perfectly balanced isn't the problem. There's tiny deviations in tolerance levels so when you tighten the adjustment knob, it may offset the mechanics just a few microns. The weight of the camera mounted also has a little to do with it and being this is a non-orthogonal gimbal design (not perfectly 90 degrees on all axes), the roll axis may return to center when you set it at 45 degrees. You can feel the amount of force it takes to push down on the roll axis. It's very small.

2. You need to be sure to balance your pan axis. This may be what's causing your shaky footage. The motors on the Ronin-S are strong but they won't be able to power through if the system isn't balanced. This is very apparent when you try to perform a Roll360 and the motor seems to give up. Usually you'll get all the axes balanced and forget the pan axis as the entire gimbal is sitting on a flat surface. The pan axis will appear balanced because the gimbal isn't tilting or panning one particular way.

Paul, I cannot say how big of a help your response was! I tried out your recommended settings and got some favourable results on my shoot today, plus I was able to achieve the 360 roll with no problems. Thank you very much!