Can anyone please confirm whether the Ronin SC definitely has the capability for the servo motor to be used as a mechanical zoom control instead of focus?
The DJI manuals and videos don't appear to mention any functionality for this.

I am aware that any extensive zoom range can result in some imbalance for the gimbal, but I'm hoping to be able to apply a fairly minimal amount of zoom at the very least.
I see that the Zhiyun Weebill S clearly documents that the motor can be used for mechanical zoom so would really hope that the Ronin SC is as capable.

If anyone can confirm this capability and perhaps their own experience in controlling the camera's zoom via the focus wheel then that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Yes it does,I use it with an Eos M and 18-55 lens.

djiuser_MZw8IjBcqZzb Posted at 12-16 13:12
Yes it does,I use it with an Eos M and 18-55 lens.

Thanks - that's good to know :-)

Is that the original EOS M or the more recent M6? The original EOS M is incredibly lightweight at only 262 grams, while the M6 is about 390 grams.
Either way, you are fortunate to have a fairly light body and lens so the gimbal isn't pushed too hard.
My Fuji X-T3 + 16-80 is close to double the weight at 992 grams so I'd expect a bit less tolerance from the Ronin SC when altering the zoom.

Anyone else using the servo motor to zoom with heavier setups?   

I use it too with a Fuji X-T3 and XF-16/55 2.8 WR LM : It's ok

Medline2c Posted at 12-28 11:05
I use it too with a Fuji X-T3 and XF-16/55 2.8 WR LM : It's ok

The 16/55 has the same short and long lengths as the 16-80 which I have so that’s very good to hear of your experience. Even more so as the 16/55 weighs about 170g more than the 16/80.

I’ve been worried that the Ronin SC just wouldn’t cope with the lens being too unbalanced when changing focal lengths. I wasn’t even expecting to be able to zoom the whole way with my lens but would be happy even if it managed to work ok at just the 50 to 80mm range if I balanced the lens halfway in between.
I only received the gimbal 2 days ago so have only just worked out the balancing aspects. When I balanced the lens at about the 60mm focal length, I have noticed that the lens dips down a bit if I manually zoom out to 80mm, and tilts up if zoom back under 50mm. So this got me worried that I’d be putting undue pressure on the motors if I connected the focus wheel to apply zoom.

Are you able to zoom with the focus wheel all the way from 16mm to 55mm, and at what focal length point did you balance your lens at?
How long have you been using the Ronin SC and applying zoom with this lens - I assume you’re not seeing any signs of the Ronin motors struggling to balance the camera when you’re zooming in and out?

Many thanks

Just to give an update to my original post. I’m glad to report that using the focus motor to zoom on the X-T3 and 16-80 lens works rather well.

My requirements were really just to be able to zoom between 50mm and 80mm and I balanced the camera at the midpoint of 65mm, however the Ronin SC seems quite comfortable zooming across the full range- not that I really expect to use it in that way.

A couple aspects I discovered were:
1.        The Y support for the front of lens nestles in ok between the zoom and focus rings when balanced at 65mm, but ends up touching the zoom ring if I balance at 50mm. In that case I leave the support off. I do wonder if it really is even needed for this size lens amyway?

2.        With the lens naturally not being parfocal, there are moments where focus can be lost when zooming while filming. Switching to manual focus and a high aperture to get a deep depth of field sorts that out though.

Overall though I’m very happy with the performance of the gimbal with the X-T3.
:-)

"The DJI manuals and videos don't appear to mention any functionality for this."

I stumbled upon this thread after actually noticing that the official DJI tutorial for the focus motor shows that they actually placed it on the zoom ring instead.
Check it out from 2:41 :