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Gimbal for a compact camera (such as the LX100)?
  • A fellow Panasonic LX100 owner asked me if I could recommend any hand-held video stabilizer for use with this camera. Unluckily, I have no experience or market oversight of such stabilizers.

    Can you recommend a certain product? I'm not sure which additional information would be required to choose one, here's what preferences I can relay:

    • should be holdable with one hand (not meant for quad-copter use or such)
    • price should be < 1000 €, the less expensive the better, of course

    (Could something like this (Gazer MD1) be suitable? I really don't have any clue yet what makes the difference between the astonishing number of very differently priced stabilizers...)

  • 24 Replies sorted by
  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev: What coincidence, you posted your comment in the very minute I was adding the one thing that Google brought up to my initial posting :-)

    I found a German web shop that claims to have a Gazer MD1 on stock. Any pro's and con's that I should relay on that model?

  • I noticed that some products (like FeiYuTech FY-G3Ultra, which unluckily seems to be made for GoPros, only) advertise different "modes" that allow switching between "fixed horizontal" or "allowing to roll somewhat". Are such features really relevant?

  • Are such features really relevant?

    The more the better :-) But as I said, market is empty now. Wait.

  • I also found statements from people claiming that simple, inexpensive, non-electronic stabilizers such as this one (DNA1000), could well be enough. Hmm... would those work for someone not at all trained? I would imagine that the processor controlled ones are much more "beginner friendly", right?

  • Light camera and small stabilizer require skills and good hand, and still won't be as stable as big rig.

    As for DNA1000, looks like some indian thing. Get Laing from deals, if you really want steadicam. At least they have very reliable quality and easy to balance.

  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev : And whats wrong with it being Indian, who made you the judge on quality of an Indian product you haven't even used.

  • And whats wrong with it being Indian, who made you the judge on quality of an Indian product you haven't even used.

    Well, many things, like very bad top plate, frequent issues with gimbals (cheap bearing, alignment).

    I made myself, as I owned few of them personally and know other ex owners.

  • OK, But i have had good experiences with Indian equipment, tend to use a lot of it as i'm from Mumbai. Anyways you are talking from the experiences you've had so fair enough. Cheers

  • Payload up to 800 grams, can't see how this could fly an A7s or GH4 like it.claims

  • I was looking at the Infinity L gimbal -very lightweight. http://www.infinitygimbal.com/infnityl-gimbal/

    Still reviewing the performance.

  • It is almost empty market for now. But it will change soon.

    What do you mean by this, Vitaliy? It seems like everywhere I look, someone is coming out with a new gimbal these days.

  • What do you mean by this, Vitaliy? It seems like everywhere I look, someone is coming out with a new gimbal these days.

    I mean exactly that I said, actual working gimbals of such type is not really available widely. Market is empty. But manufacturers are working on such things.

  • @zcream

    I like that it can convert from aerial to handheld modes as that seems ideal.

    @QuickHitRecord

    Vitaliy is right, while there seems to be lots of options there are very few for sale that actually work for compact size. Tons for Gopro sized and then bigger rigs but very little for LX100 sized. I have been watching and waiting hoping to find something to fly my GM1 on for a year now.

  • Also my favorite thing about that BigBalance photo is that he has the lens hood on vertically with that 12mm.

  • Walkera is launching the new "G-3S" for the RX100 series. I imagine they could also adapt the same platform for other compacts such as the LX100. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/251708167112?lpid=82 http://www.ehirobo.com/walkera-g-3s-3-axis-brushless-camera-gimbal-for-sony-rx100-ii.html

  • @Tron: The G-3S seems to be meant for mounting on a quadcopter, only. Do they offer a model for hand-held use, too?

  • This Gibbon GN1 looks very similar to the Gazer MD1 - except that the Gibbon is not actually sold by now. Is there a reason why to prefer the GN1 over the MD1?

  • @karl I'm not sure if the gimbal is slaved to the copters' flight system or is capable of running autonomously with some bolt-on handles. I can say if Walkera released this with some compact handles to create a sort of 3-axis "mini-Ronin," I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

  • I grabbed the Beholder DS1 for it, & I can't fault the thing. I went for the DS1, not the MS1, as I'd like to use it for heavier cameras too, but it works very well with the LX100 (using the 'light camera' profile). I'm waiting on an ebay (manfrottoesque) 323 QR. plate to lift the camera up a bit (it's at the lighter end for the DS1's capacity, and the included adapter plate doesn't lift the LX100 enough IMHO), but it works very well & is quite tweakable in software. You could save yourself $300 AU or so going for the MS1 but then you're not going to have much luck with anything much heavier, and I'd rather have too much power in the servos than not enough. Got it in about 4 days from Aliexpress...

    Cheers Mark