Hi,

I produce short hiking videos and would like to acquire a gimbal for my Fujifilm X-T3 camera.
What gimbal is the easiet/fastest to pull out (while hiking) ?
Is there a gimbal I can carry/store w the camera attached ?

Hello there, thanks for your interest on the Ronin gimbal.
You can select the Ronin-SC together with your Nikon X-T3, its foldable design enables you to easy unfold the gimbal and start shooting. However, due to the various camera size, we cannot guarantee all the cameras can be attached on the Gimbal when its on the storage mode(folded). You can take your camera to the nearest retailing store (https://www.dji.com/where-to-buy/retail-stores) to test of the gimbal size, the position when the camera is mounted on the gimbal meet your requirements on hiking.

Thanks!

Hi IvI,

I have an X-T3/ Ronin SC that I use to produce short videos for hiking and other projects.  While it is a terrific set-up, I think you will find it heavy to carry for 1 plus mile hikes. To reduce weight, I just purchased an Osmo 3 for use with my iPhone.

For projects that require long hikes, I plan to use videos from the iPhone and the X-T3.  I am looking forward to see how these two cameras and gimbal systems blend together in a completed video.

Hope this helps.

Don Barar

DGBarar Posted at 11-30 07:09
Hi IvI,

I have an X-T3/ Ronin SC that I use to produce short videos for hiking and other projects.  While it is a terrific set-up, I think you will find it heavy to carry for 1 plus mile hikes. To reduce weight, I just purchased an Osmo 3 for use with my iPhone.

Thanks for the elaborative response, the main thing I find appealing is the ActiveTrack feature, this IMO, can be used to produce interesting shots.

I am currently hesitative between the Ronin SC2 and the DJI Pocket 2, both have active track, the latter is way more compact and easy to operate, but, also less flexible as for Quality...

Having in mind the Fujifilm X-T3 + Ronin Gimbal, R U able to keep these two connected while in storage/walking? how cumbersome is it to start shooting while hiking? is it a pull and shoot thingy, or more of a unpack, mount, and then shoot (cumbersome)?

take a hike Posted at 11-30 07:59
Thanks for the elaborative response, the main thing I find appealing is the ActiveTrack feature, this IMO, can be used to produce interesting shots.

I am currently hesitative between the Ronin SC2 and the DJI Pocket 2, both have active track, the latter is way more compact and easy to operate, but, also less flexible as for Quality...

Hi IvI:

My experience with hiking with the X-T3/Ronin RSC:
1) Heavy.  But it is about as light of a combination available.
2) If you are planning on using ActiveTrack I am assuming you want to video yourself doing things.  Hence, you will need a tripod--more weight to carry.
3) It is possible to carry the camera connected to the Ronin SC.  When I have done this, the mounting block between the camera slide and the camera can come loose.  I always keep a screw driver handy to make the repair.
4) The above can be put in a backpack (more weight) and one has to re-assemble when you are ready to video.  It all goes to together rather quickly but eliminates the spontaneity.
5) The SC only has ActiveTrack 2.  There are no gestures to trigger recording.  All must be done manually.  But it does reliably work.
6) The weakest issue with the iPhone and Active Track is that the phone get's hot and may shut down.  I live in the Arizona desert where temperature can reach 120 degrees F in the summer.  If it is over 90 degrees F, the iPhone shuts down after a few minutes.  No more ActiveTrack.  I wonder how well RavenEye performs in the heat?

I mentioned in my previous post that I purchased a OM3 for my iPhone and have been experimenting with this set-up.  Most of my work is outdoors.  This presents a couple of problems for the iPhone.  If outdoors, you will need to use the auto exposure setting.  Hence the shutter speeds are going to be much faster that the 180 degree rule.  If you want to have the correct level of "filmic" motion blur then you will need to simulate it in post--easy to do if you have FCPX and Motion.  However, the bigger issue with auto exposure is that the exposure levels may jump around on you as you move around in front of the camera while you are being tracked.  This would be difficult to fix in post.

I know they make ND filters for the iPhone.  Not certain if they can be used in conjunction with the OM3.  They might be too heavy to be able to properly balance the OM3

The other issue with the OM3 is the OM3 itself.  If you are planning on using it with ActiveTrack 3.0 the gestures to trigger recording and stop recording are not reliable.  I should be able to get around this by manually select record and manually start Active Track (one push of trigger) but this too has proven to be unreliable.  Some times it works and some time it does not.

The DJI Pocket 2 will have the same exposure issues as an iPhone.  However, PolarPro makes a set of ND filters for the Pocket. I am not certain how reliable Active Track 3.0 gestures are for the Pocket 2.

Hope all of this helps you make a decision.

Don Barar

Hi there!

I use a similar setup while hiking (sony a6400 and a ronin SC), and I usually also carry a mavic 2 pro in the same backpack. How heavy this is for you really depends on what you're used to. I used to do a bit of overnight hiking, which meant having to carry a tent and food with me, and ronin+camera+mavic is much lighter by comparison. Also, I used to do day hiking with a phantom 3 advanced, and again, camera+gimbal+mavic is still much less cumbersome to hike with than just the old drone. Nonetheless, its not a supersmall setup, and you will need a good backpack to comfortably transport it around.

You can indeed combine everything together and lock it down for transport, but as Don said, the camera plate tends to get a bit lose, so it pays to have a screwdriver or a coin around, just in case. I think the situation with the SC2 is a bit different, though, as it looks like the plate is somewhat improved.

As for active track, if this is your main priority, I cannot stress it enough: DO NOT BUY THE ORIGINAL RONIN SC. It requires you to attach your phone on top of the camera, which is a balancing nightmare. Believe me, when I bought the SC, I anticipated that I'd use active track all the time, and after a couple of times, just decided it wasn't worth the hassle. On the other hand, the SC2+the raveneye system allows you to run active track directly in camera (i.e. its really the raveneye who's doing the job, but no phone or rebalancing is required), which should make it much better. If active track is important to you, go for the SC2.

I also have the osmo pocket (original one), and I have to say, I'm super happy with it. For normal shots I almost exclusively use the Ronin SC + a6400, but for slightly weirder stuff, like rock climbing, overnight time lapses, and so on, the osmo pocket works great. With the waterproof case, especially, it is unbeatable as a cheap camera for getting really good underwater video, much better than any kind of electronically stabilized action camera footage. However, the osmo pocket image quality should be mainly compared with an action camera. As such, it is great, but really it cannot compete against an APS-C sensor for low light performance, bokeh, etc.

To give you an idea, my camera story has been:
1. Gopro 4
2. Osmo Mobile 1 + Samsung Galaxy S8
3. Osmo Pocket
4. Ronin SC + a6400.
And now, with the ronin SC and a6400, I'm finally happy with the image quality, and don't feel like I'm fighting the footage when editing.

Hope this helps!

On more more thing!

The learning curve on how to use the Ronin SC compared to the Osmo pocket is much steeper. Basically, I took the Osmo Pocket out of the box, charged it, started filming and immediately got stable footage. With the Ronin SC I had to adjust a bit, and also adjust the settings in the app to get it working just the way I like it. It's nothing crazy, I mean, it took me perhaps an afternoon of testing, but the ronin SC is definitely a more professional piece of hardware, and expects you to engage with it in a more professional kind of way.

Rincewind Posted at 12-1 00:37
On more more thing!

The learning curve on how to use the Ronin SC compared to the Osmo pocket is much steeper. Basically, I took the Osmo Pocket out of the box, charged it, started filming and immediately got stable footage. With the Ronin SC I had to adjust a bit, and also adjust the settings in the app to get it working just the way I like it. It's nothing crazy, I mean, it took me perhaps an afternoon of testing, but the ronin SC is definitely a more professional piece of hardware, and expects you to engage with it in a more professional kind of way.

Rincewind, thanks for your detailed response, I appreciate your feedback, I think for start, Ill get the OSMO Pocket 2, mainly having in mind ease of use while hiking.

take a hike Posted at 12-1 00:55
Rincewind, thanks for your detailed response, I appreciate your feedback, I think for start, Ill get the OSMO Pocket 2, mainly having in mind ease of use while hiking.

I think you're making the right choice. The osmo pocket has been my favorite point and shoot camera from all the ones that I've used.

Rincewind Posted at 12-1 04:01
I think you're making the right choice. The osmo pocket has been my favorite point and shoot camera from all the ones that I've used.

Hi IvI:

I have done more experimenting with the OSMO and ActiveTrack 3.0 and have the following observations:

1) If your goal is to start/stop record of yourself in front of the out-facing camera you will need to rely on gestures.
2) Gestures consume consume additional battery resources on your mobile device.
3) Active track with a single push of the trigger and you are the subject in front of the out-facing camera is not a reliable way to launch active track.  The subject must be more than an arms lengths away from the out-facing camera.
4) Launching active track using the trigger for the in-facing camera is very reliable.
5) Making long videos with the mobile device requires lots of battery consumption on you mobile device and you are most likely to get less than 30 minutes on your mobile device before a recharge is required.  You will most certainly need a power bank of some kind.  The best will re-charge an iPhone to 50% in 30 minutes.

I have considered my experiment with an iPhone 8 and Osmo 3 to be a failure and have decided to use my X-T3/Ronin SC for longer hikes.  Why?  Mostly because the kind of videos that I shoot require me to be able to launch active track in front of the camera.  With the Active Track implementation on the Ronin SC this is very reliable.

As an aside.  As stated above, the Active Track implementation on the Ronin SC is very reliable.  If I were to move over to an SC2 I have the following questions:
- How long will RavenEye battery last?
- How much battery will be consumed in the mobile device to set-up active track?

Hope this helps.

Don Barar