Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
If you are following DJI, this will not come as a shock for you, and it is pretty much the obvious evolution in the company’s road-map. Today DJI announced that they are taking the camera off the drone and putting it in your hands. They announced the DJI Osmo.
The Osmo is an integrated device – a 4K camera permanently mounted on a 3-Axis Gimbal.
While GoPro supplies great footage it is often unusable without some sort of stabilization. Sometimes stabilization is made in post, with some cost in image quality, but we are seeing more and more options for stabilizing footage while shooting. This is what Aeon wants to do for your GoPro – “Create Smooth, Cinematic Videos“.
The Aeon has some very nice features under the hood and a very slick design as a the hood itself. Think Halo meets District 9 kind of look.
The Aeon is a 3-Axis gimbal so it provides all the stabilization you would expect from this kind of device (and the demo reel is quite impressive). But it also has some nice features to make it stand out.
The video pitch and some thoughts after the jump
With Gimbals becoming more common, it is not surprising that DIY versions emerge, and with the maturity of technology, they are usually pretty awesome. But this 2-Axis gimbal from Daniel Rhyoo stands out big time!
Aside the slick looks, light weight and carbon fiber finish, Daniel provides full instructions, as well as a full part-list on his site.
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.
This is what you get when you put a BBC wildlife cameraman (Rob Drewett) and a buggy racer/design engineer (Andy Nancollis) together in the same workspace: a really sweet looking 4WD buggy that can pack your camera over all sorts of terrain at speeds of up to 40mph. Collectively called Motion Impossible, the two based the BuggyCam design on a race proven remote controlled vehicle, and as though that wasn’t cool enough, Drewett and Nancollis made it even better by developing their V-CON camera mount system to pair with a Freefly Movi M15 stabilizer ($11,995), which means you can use it to get professional quality photos and smooth video.
It also means it’s sturdy enough to carry professional grade photography and cinematography equipment. In fact, in the two clips below, you can see the guys using it to tote around a RED while shooting on location in a forest and also capturing some great footage of a peregrine in flight.[Read More…]
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)[Read More…]
This is pretty unexpected, but it looks like DJI is starting to expand its range of products. If you’ve seen previous articles I’ve written, you’ll know how much I geek out over the DJI Phantom line. The Phantoms are what the company is primarily known for: high-altitude camera drones. And now they’re announcing their newest addition to the company’s line of products: a handheld stabilizer called the Ronin.[Read More…]
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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