Just took the day to balance a manfroto quick release plate to my gimbal. wondering f any one else has done this and what results you have had. I did it for the ease up changing settings and to change the battery. Havent flown it yet 35 mph winds today.
Here's the info on the Adjustable Camera Rail from FreeFly. I've flown this with both the Sony that is shown and my Nikon D800. It makes balancing the gimbal much easier. Here is an example with the NEX7. The center balance point was on the back edge of the tilt cross bar. And that is a position that unless you do something like putting spacers under the mounting plate, add a smaller 1/4x20 screw, you can get closer but not dead on. I did all of that and the camera would not maintain tilt angle. So here's the answer. FreeFly has an Adjustable Camera Rail. The rail itself is machined aluminum. Very light but very strong. Very easy to install. Take off the old mount, put the new mount on and adjust for level. Mount the rail to the camera. Slide it into the mount. To lock it down there are 4 screw bolts on the bottom side, two for each side of the rail. Tighten them down after you find the balance sweet spot and it isn't going to move. Besides giving a perfect balance you have the added benefit of being able to quickly mount or remove the camera for battery changes, card changes, etc. Put a small mark on the bottom of the rail next to the front edge of the mounting and you can easily slide it in with quick indexing of the original spot. And much less weight than flying a standard camera quick release, like a Manfroto. And the delta weight between the Adj Rail vs the standard mount is only a few grams.
Before I posted my query I hunted around their website and didnt see it. I checked again just now in the obvious places e.g. under camera mount and stll dont see it - only the std FF Camera Mount. I will ping them tomorrow and post a link if they have it up.
Pavlos, yes it is with 4 screws. Personal opinion is that it only take a few seconds to release them. Looking at the complexity and weight of a true 'quick' release and the way it clamps (typically a dovetail clamping from the side) this rail system from FreeFly does the same thing in a much lighter, simpler package. Colin I don't think they have it on their website yet. Did you call or chat them online?
Hi Guys, We developed this part to be a quick release alternative but much much ligther and a more secure (IMO) clamping method. Best, Tabb
Thanks, Tabb. On a related matter, do the adjustable tilt bars (V2) provide more up and down adjustment than the standard bars? My Sony CX760V wants to sit higher up in the saddle (so to speak) than I can easily do with the standard bars on my 2-axis gimbal. If o, then that plus the new camera mount will be a Very Good Thing.
Hi Steve, I think the dual adjustable tilt bars don't allow for any more UP adjustment then the stock bars but like you say you get a bit more height by using the adjustable camera rail so I think the CX balances perfectly with the adjustable camera plate. Thanks! Tabb
Thank you, Tabb. Are the plates available anywhere now? QC says it's another week or so before they have them.
This is available now at QC. Link: http://www.quadrocopter.com/Adjustable-Camera-Rail_p_847.html Colin
Here's a pic of the FF Adjustable Camera Rail mount with my Sony CX760. This is a good product. It solves a problem I had with the standard FF mount for this camera. Because the tripod receptacle is in the center (left) bottom of the camera the mount screw 'interfered' with gimbal cross bar. Now I can balance the camera per Jeff's video below. I note one caveat: there is only one hole and it is at the end of the slider. So, as you can see, it extends way out front of this camera. Because of that I could not use any other lens hood other than stock, otherwise the slider interferes with it. A suggestion for v2 of this product is to put another hole in the center.
Colin hard to tell but would it mount ok if you reversed the direction of the rail, pointing it to the back?