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Pilot - pricing

Discussion in 'MōVI Pro' started by Rory Hinds, Aug 15, 2017.

  1. Rory Hinds

    Rory Hinds Member

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    Is it only me or is the Pilot way over priced.
    Isn't it just a Mimic with a wheel and slider add on yet Its half the price of the whole Movi Pro with Mimic.
    Mimic it awful on battery life, so what are you supposed to do on production to keep it up and running?

    Love FreeFly but think they missed the mark on the pricing on this thing.
    It doesn't even come with motors at that price.

    I'd love to see the added value for the high price tag on this but can't make sense of it.
    Please enlighten me.
     
  2. Robbert van Weelderen

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    I also find the price a bit on the high side. And since I already have a Movi Controller I'm not sure if it's currently worth the investment for me personally.
    If somebody does get it I do have some user experience questions though:
    - How is the feel of the force joystick compared to the Movi Controller Joystick?
    - Is the Mimic unit exactly the same as the one that came with the Movi Pro package?
     
  3. SeBaStIaN BArrEtT

    SeBaStIaN BArrEtT Active Member

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    I power my mimic with vmount with usb on it. I use them for other things so no biggie, and one already mounted on bars for 1st/2 ac. I am bummed battery life and overall build quality have remained consistent.

    I think the price difference for wheel vs bush pilot is off. Slider is cool, and not too expensive imo.

    I'm not brave enough to be a test driver, but if an ac, or anyone, could give some feedback, much appreciated.
     
  4. SeBaStIaN BArrEtT

    SeBaStIaN BArrEtT Active Member

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    Sorry. The slider is the overpriced part. The knob seems worth it with dampening lights rings buttons I/z control etc.
    I think I'll get knob and use bush pilot for iris. Don't need zoom rack on fly very often. Can I switch between iris zoom and focus while recording with no issues?
     
  5. Tim Joy

    Tim Joy Active Member

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    Agreed that it's wicked $$$

    A USB backup battery is the easiest way I've found to keep the mimic powered.
     
  6. Robbert van Weelderen

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    I've decided to sort of take the plunge and ordered a Mimic backbone and the Focus unit. Probably later on getting the Iris/Zoom module and selling my Movi Controller.
     
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  7. SeBaStIaN BArrEtT

    SeBaStIaN BArrEtT Active Member

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    Nice. Please let me know how this goes, I am considering the same. Do you have the bush pilot already?
     
  8. Ryan Forte

    Ryan Forte Member

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    I'm right there with you Rory. I love the freefly but the Mimic was the biggest let down for me. They should have taken a note from the WCU4 if they could have designed something that was a stand alone Focus controller with camera settings like the WCU4 that took rechargeable batteries like any hand unit instead of the mimics design it would be much more desirable.

    They used the Mimic to save money and r&d time.

    I think they missed the boat for the pilot. I'm gonna keep rigging my Chrosziel Magnum system with their hand unit with a p tap splitter from the camera power for any AC I work with.

    I don't think the Mimic is a professional tool in my opinion. It has posed too many problems for me.
     
  9. Robbert van Weelderen

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    No, I don't have the bush pilot. I'm excited to see if I will like the Pilot system or not.
     
  10. SeBaStIaN BArrEtT

    SeBaStIaN BArrEtT Active Member

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    Me too! The bush pilot is cool, but I somewhat agree with Ryan; freefly Coulda spent more time making a separate unit. I get why they went with mimic, hopefully it gets a great redesign in near future.
     
  11. Rick Gerard

    Rick Gerard Active Member

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    I'm loving the Bush Pilot for focus. EZ and accurate. I also power the Mimic with a USB, but I'm using a lipstick sized phone charger thingie I got from Amazon for under $15 including shipping. They run the Mimic a long time and I just attach them to the handle bar with velcro tape. I bought 2 and have not had to go to the second one yet on a full day of production.

    https://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerC...4131914&sr=8-4&keywords=phone+charger+battery
     
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  12. SeBaStIaN BArrEtT

    SeBaStIaN BArrEtT Active Member

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    I use those for a lot of things, good suggestion. I typically have something requiring a vmount, but those usb battery packs are perfects for the mimic and other small usb powered devices. Get backups, $15 only gets you so far. ymmv
     
  13. SeBaStIaN BArrEtT

    SeBaStIaN BArrEtT Active Member

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    does the iris/zoom slider add a functionality a bush pilot does not? maybe ability to rack iris and zoom at same time without an extra mimic?
     
  14. Robbert van Weelderen

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    For the Iris/Zoom unit I would be most interested in the joystick controller that is on there.
    Does anybody have it and can compare it to the large joystick on the MOVI controller? They are of course two totally different beasts but I would like to know how they compare.
    I received the Focus unit and backbone yesterday and only had a little play with them. Feels nice and good. I've never used a separate FIZ unit so I cannot compare to other units but to me it feels good. Using the MIMIC function to control MOVI motion while controlling focus is a bit awkward though. In that case it might be nicer to use two mimic units and have a separate people for controlling focus and camera movement.
     
  15. Deniz Ozgoren

    Deniz Ozgoren Support Mage
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    Force joystick is amazing. I never thought I could do framing with it on my left hand better than the movi controller joystick. You can map joystick to be pan,tilt,roll,focus,iris,zoom, and have the slider be speed adjustment to the joystick.
     
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  16. SeBaStIaN BArrEtT

    SeBaStIaN BArrEtT Active Member

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    thats exciting. better than the movi controller? are both the movi controller and the mimic limited to the same range (600ft)?

    Robert, how is your focus unit performing for you?
     
  17. SeBaStIaN BArrEtT

    SeBaStIaN BArrEtT Active Member

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    is your biggest concern with mimic battery life? i just have not had any terrible screw ups with it yet, which is my measure of quality ;)
     
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  18. Deniz Ozgoren

    Deniz Ozgoren Support Mage
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    Joystick
    It is super sensitive and feels very controllable. Joystick component cost is the main reason why its in the same price range as the knob. Also I usually set pan/tilt trims to user knobs on movi controller to compensate for slight drift on its joystick. Pilot force joystick doesn't have this issue at all.

    Range
    Freefly advertises MIMIC and MōVI Pro range to be 600+, which is to be realistic. RT Motion uses the same radio module and they I believe advertise as 1.5km (~4900 feet?) on their website. From experience with both MIMIC and MōVI Controller (different radio module), I get 600-1000 feet. It of course varies a lot based antenna, environment, etc. I've seen an operator have no issues with ALTA+MIMIC on a mountain with 3000 feet.

    Also MIMIC is probably better than MōVI Controller indoors because its a frequency hopping radio (channels don't matter). For MōVI Controller I recommend using channels 4 or 9, as they are the least to get noised out by other wifi signals.
     
  19. Ryan Forte

    Ryan Forte Member

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    Battery life was just an annoyance, but even after sending my unit to repair for the mimic twitching issue. I was using it on a tabletop food shoot for a regional McDonalds commercial shooting tabletop where I probably should have just opted for a fixed mount fluid head like I have in the past, but was excited to try new things. While the Mimic was being used for remote operation on a tripod or via the Gamepad the unit disconnected multiple times while in use requiring the movi to be powered down and rebooted including the Red Epic-W and this would call for a total reset for the food we were shooting. The Stylists were not very happy.

    After switching to the Movi Controller I have never experienced these problems. Most likely my Mimic needs to be repaired by freefly or something can be fixed to give me the positive experiences I have seen all over the forums and amongst users. It didn't work for me and made me scared to implement in a professional scenario again
     
  20. Rick Gerard

    Rick Gerard Active Member

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