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Here is an address you would probably never visit unless you saw it in a DJI official tweet: dji.com/teaser. Aside from a small play of light and a black and red handle we don’t get so see much of the Gimbal.
September 9 is the date for the announcements (it may be the 10th if you live in Australia though). This date falls inside IBC’s original date, or the new online IBC showcase, so I hope its something big.
DJI’s line of Ronin camera stabilisers, however, is very well regarded, and they work pretty flawlessly. So, when DJI announced a handheld 3-axis stabilised gimbal for DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, a lot of people got excited. But the big concern was the price. DJI’s gimbals haven’t exactly known for being low budget. Now, though, we learn that the Ronin-S is actually less expensive than its closest competitor, the Zhiyun Crane 2.
DJI have just announced the “World’s First 100-Megapixel Integrated Aerial Photography Platform”. And it’s a beast of a rig. Made with a DJI Matrice 600 with Ronin-MX gimbal and Hasselblad H6D-100c, it’s definitely a force to be reckoned with. But it’s not really a “World’s First” anything, or even all that new. It uses a drone that you can already buy, a gimbal you can already buy, and a camera you can already buy.
It’s essentially a 100MP upgrade to their previous medium format drone which houses the Hasselblad A5D. I am a little surprised it’s using the same Ronin-MX as the previous drone, given the recent Ronin 2 announcement. Although the Ronin-MX is no slouch, either.
Ever since the motorized gimbal made it into the industry about two years ago, that market segment has been getting more accessible to low budget shooters. From the $15,000 MoVI through the $2,499 DJI Ronin and now DJI announces a smaller sub $2,000 Ronin M.
But it is not only the price that matters, DJI made a huge change where it has been getting the most feedback – the weight of the system. The Ronin M is down to 5 lbs while the previous bigger brother weighs 9.3 lb. This is almost a 50% weight decrease. Of course that with a mounted camera that difference will shrink, but it is still 4.3 lb off the load.
Ever since the MoVI made it’s first appearance, we’ve seen many new players enter the market. From established companies like DJI to emerging Kickstarter campaigns. But this build by Oscar Liang takes small form factor and hack-from-scratch to an entirely new level.
The gimbal, which can work both hand held or on a drone, is made entirely from scrap wood and some metal brackets.
If you are using a motorized gimbal (like the DJI Ronin or the more expensive MoVI) you’ve probably noticed that setting them up on location can be a drag. In Getting all the cables set up, attaching the camera to the plate and balancing take up precious time and are pretty much simply inconvenient. In the studio, or van you probably have a rack where you can place the Gimbal and set it up, but on location…. usually not.
Videographer Eric Stemen came up with a few clever tips on getting the gimbal up and running pretty quickly while going on location.
Sometimes product ads pull some of the more impressive footage just to show you how cool their product is. This is indeed the case with the latest sub $5,000 DJI Ronin 3-Axis Gimbal system.
This short flick designed to demonstrate the performance of the Ronin under various conditions shows some impressive transitions between operating modes. See if you can watch the flick and understand how they pulled it off before hitting the jump and watching the BTS. (be warned, your cheesyness radar may explode, yet the shots are completely awesome)
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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