After using the Ronin for the last couple days with my D810 and GH5, I am having some buyers remorse. I have used the Ronin and the Ronin M in the past and even though they had their own issues, I can't get used to the S.

TLDR: I think I will be selling/returning this next week. (San Diego Area)

The Weight:
I wonder if most people are not complaining about the weight only because of the ease of putting it down on the tripod. I never had a complaint about not having a tripod because whenever I used the Ronin or Ronin M, I attached the Gimbal Stand to a Light Stand. (this obviously is not a good solution if you are running and gunning on a larger location) I know this isn't supposed to be for 20 min clips, but it just doesn't feel comfortable to me. Having all the weight in one line compared to spread out with the original Ronins just isn't cutting it for me. If they come out with a two handle setup, then I basically have a Ronin S in Original Ronin's Clothing...

Camera Support (& shipping):
I have to believe after ordering the Mavic 2 (after a delay in release) and having it ship the same day, if DJI realized they rushed the Ronin S to market before all the kinks were worked out as well as before they had enough stock for demand. Pushing out the supported Camera list and then deleting cameras afterwards seemed very unprofessional and deceptive. How does DJI not have a testing department that double checked compatailbity and then paired with their marketing and communications department to put out correct literature for the Ronin S?? (they obviously do have these departments, but they failed miserably on this launch)

Engineering:
I will admit, I probably purchased this because it let's face it, its cool as hell; however, on use there are glaring issues. I first saw these while watching Tom's Tech Time review when he was not happy about the Gimbal basically running into itself & camera when powered off. Not having any time of brake on the motors, makes for a very floppy mess when powered down. Full disclosure, the other Ronins aren't immune to this, but having the Gimbal hang from the top rather than mount to the bottom alleviates this a bit. Additionally, this might just be user error, but when balancing/ moving the different areas of the gimbal, they can run into each other, why are there not stops along the rails to stop this?


Packaging/ Case:
As far as retail packaing, the Ronin S in my opinion is simple, efficient, and attractive. As far as a case for actual use, it is mildly infuriating. I know balancing the gimbal does not take that long; however you need to double that work because when trying to packing it up, all the adjustments you have made have to be undone. I do not have a solution for this other than more of a bag system; however, it seems like an oversight.

Focus Knob:
The incompatibility with my D810 is frustrating. On the Gh5 it is cool; however, it doesn't seem very smooth. I won't go on much further with this as, this feature is new to me because I have only had the GH5 for two days.

360 Flashlight:
This is a very cool feature**** WHEN the gimbal motors do not give out and stop balancing. When this happens we go back to my Engineering section and the gimbal parts and camera run into each other or the gimbal decides to freak out and have a seizure.

Learning Curve:
A seemingly less professional tool than the original seems harder to use to me?  Anyone else?

Another quick thought, I miss having the top handle of the original Ronins.

I do agree with you. The Ronin-S has been a bit disappointing in terms of firmware and support.
But there are a few places where I think you're being too harsh.
1. The weight
The weight, everybody complains about the weight, and me too! BUT! Why is it heavy? It's because the build quality is absolutely top notch. All metal, sturdy and hard - exactly what you WANT and NEED in a mechanical gimbal.
I would be angry if there's some unnecessary weight, but there isn't. It's heavy because it's thick metal. If DJI shaved the gimbal to be slimmer and lighter, there would be people complaining about a janky build quality...
Metal is heavy, get over it!

However, I wholeheartedly agree with this:
2. Camera support
Yes. Dear DJI, you lost every single drop of my respect. DON'T RELEASE A PRODUCT IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED DEVELOPING IT. Now I've been told, I will have to buy a SEPERATE cable to control my Sony cameras? AND wait a few more months to even be able to do so? Bye!

3. Engineering
This is where I once again disagree with you. I've never had any problem with that, and by your description...Are you balancing the camera correct? But nevertheless, the gimbal arms constantly colide into eachother during storage or transport, or even setup. But again, you can't have a stopper because...gimbals require 360 degrees of free movement. AND because of the aforementioned full-metal build, a couple klings and klangs between the arms won't do much (aside from scratching the paint).

The rest of your points are personal opinions, and I have no comment on that.

Haxorious Posted at 2018-8-24 09:53
I do agree with you. The Ronin-S has been a bit disappointing in terms of firmware and support.
But there are a few places where I think you're being too harsh.
1. The weight

Why does it have to be metal?  I read in another thread "I'll pay 200$ for Carbon Fiber"

I am not complaining about the weight, but rather the distribution of it because the weight is not spread out with dual handles. I still find it hard to understand the one handle design for a system designed for a larger payload. I WANT to love it, the build quality is almost flawless. The only real advantage I see, is for the "Inception" shot.  At what point does that shot type become super cliche after everyone with a Ronin S uses it? I don't have to get over it...lol.  I am going to return it and go back to the more traditional Ronin.

Something I didn't mention about the engineering, why does the handle to gimbal clip not lock all the way flush?  This is a sloppy mistake, that no doubt will get caught on something for an unlucky user, hopefully not causing their Gimbal to detach from the handle.

I would be willing to bet, whomever greenlit this release compared to the release of the Mavic 2 is not the same person:


Ronin S Release:
No accessories (or accessories that should have come with Ronin S - Sony Cable, Ability to charge Grip without Gimbal)
Garbage Documentation
Deceptive Compatibility
LONG shipping wait times
Shipping promises not kept (according to other users, I cancelled mine and got it in 3 days via BestBuy)

Mavic 2:
Full accessory line
1 day shipping ON launch day (I would assume the reason why they pushed back the unveiling - good idea)
Hopefully they have sorted out APP issues that plagued Android users lately with the Mavic Pro

I love it! Drones are DJI's main thing. It's like wanting McDonalds to be all out with breakfast burritos as if they were more important that their burgers. The Ronin-S is the best handheld gimbal out here. But come one, you did ask for creator opinions.

BTW: I don't mean MacDonald's are the hottest burgers in the market by any means!

And i ordered mine nearly 3 months ago.... Still no eta

I agreed with all your points for the first couple weeks of owning the Ronin-S. Add to it that I also purchased the Force Pro and getting that thing working was literally 4 days of prep due to ZERO documentation on how to get all the kinks worked out.

That said, after using it on a couple jobs now, I can say that all of your points can be mitigated.

The weight: get a strap and take the weight off your arms, add a second hand grip with a Crane accessory.
Camera support: buy a remote for your camera and affix it to the gimbal. Simple.
Engineering: sounds like improper balance, but yes the arms can hit each other. So what? You can back off their limits in the app so that never happens.
Case: have you ever used a cased that comes from a manufacturer?? Buy a properly-sized Pelican.
Focus knob: this thing was marketing BS from the beginning, would you ever consider trusting yourself to pull focus while operating a gimbal? Didn't think so. Get a remote FF and pass this off to an AC.
Flashlight: I've had this issue before, but it was mostly operator error. The flashlight mode is not intended to be as functional as right-side up (as I understand it).
Learning curve: Definitely a huge learning curve, but that doesn't make it less of a professional tool.

All in all, I absolutely hated this device and have since come around to learn its quirks, customize the rig to make it significantly more balanced and less cumbersome.