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M15 First Impressions

Discussion in 'MōVI M15' started by Austin Glass, Sep 19, 2014.

  1. Austin Glass

    Austin Glass Active Member

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    This is barely more than an unboxing-style walkthrough, since I won't really have a chance to fly anything heavy on this thing for a few days at the least, but I at least wanted to leave some thoughts about the M15 after first opening up the box.

    There are some new features that haven't quite got the limelight they deserve, so maybe this will be a little hint at that while we wait for official descriptions to come from Freefly.

    First of all, the box…

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    Look! It's black! Oooo, ahhh! It's actually pretty sleek, but let's get to the good stuff…

    [​IMG]

    First, we have some printed materials inside a nicely branded box/sleeve thingy. You can tell a little more attention was paid to the packaging. It's a nice touch, but those papers don't stabilize cameras, so off to the side they go!

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    Astute viewers will notice something new: the crossbar is not attached to the gimbal…

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    …which is where a fully-integrated Toad in the Hole stud comes in handy. This super-lightweight bracket/clamp lets you spin the handles up in under 5 seconds, and has a TITH stud built in. The receiving end is on the gimbal, as you would expect.

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    Just turn the knobs on the front, and you can flip both handles up simultaneously. Additionally, the top handle can now be removed tool-free.

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    Showing the handles flipped up.

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    New top handle design is the same size as before, but much more of an ultra-light design.

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    The dual battery brackets have gotten a huge upgrade over the M10. No more o-ring latch!

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    The drop-tube is now a drop… spine? Very rigid, very lightweight machined aluminum!

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    The IMU is well protected from the elements.


    Further thoughts:

    It's great to get a new product that integrates some of the new designs the M5 introduced. The M15 has even brought its own new features to the table, and I'm excited to put it through its paces. It has become clear to me that a retrofit-upgrade option wouldn't have worked very well, as the retrofitted M10's would basically have been stripped down to raw parts and built back up. It's not very sensible.

    I hope that in the coming weeks I get a chance to get out and shoot with this thing. Recently I've been cooped up inside doing post production, and I need to shoot! As I discover more, I will update this thread. I'd encourage anyone with questions, or other M15 owners to chime in here.

    One more thing…

    [​IMG]

    SD card slot! Let's blindly speculate about what that could be for! (even though I'm sure it's just for boring ol' firmware updates, or something :()
     
  2. Charles Lim

    Charles Lim Member

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    :) My M15 just arrived and rigged it up to a cooke 100mm minis4.
    [​IMG]image by makanmachine, on Flickr
    Balancing the rig no problem, however the Pan adjustment quite difficult to move it.I had to take the rig off the crossbar and rest it on surface to relieve enough pressure on it to move it around . I haven't got thew pan tuned up right just yet.​
     
  3. Jonathan Stevenson

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    Obviously it slides forward and aft, but how do you do the rotational adjustment on the pan axis if there's 2 pan tubes?

    EDIT: Nvm, Brett explained in another thread.
     
  4. Ozkan Erden

    Ozkan Erden Distributor

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    Austin, what about the motor sizes? Are they bigger than M10's motors?
     
  5. Austin Glass

    Austin Glass Active Member

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    From the outside they appear to be the same size, but they do have the plastic covers that were first used on the M5
     
  6. Cameron Michael

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    Hey Austin!

    do you use the Cinema Oxide case? does the M15 fit in it?
     
  7. Austin Glass

    Austin Glass Active Member

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    I knew someone would ask before too long… heheh…

    Not in the slightest bit will the M15 fit… I think it was wishful thinking that we could modify our cases, but I think if you'd tried you would be wasting your time.
     
  8. Austin Glass

    Austin Glass Active Member

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    Although, Freefly made the foam packaging for the MōVI controller to fit inside a Pelican 1500, so I suspect the foam for the M15 might fit into something. I will look into the dimensions later on and see if I can figure that out.
     
  9. Eric De Fino

    Eric De Fino Member

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    Curious about the dual battery. Do they both plug in at the same time, or is the second simply used to distribute the weight? Thanks.
     
  10. Austin Glass

    Austin Glass Active Member

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    I think it's because so many people use the lipo batteries for powering accessories. The second battery doesn't have its own JST lead to plug into, but you could easily unplug the lead from battery A and plug it into battery B for a fast swap. Or you could simply leave the battery off altogether.
     
    Eric De Fino likes this.
  11. Charles Lim

    Charles Lim Member

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    The addition of the toad, makes the packing of a m15 or m10 much easier.
     
  12. Ben Ruffell

    Ben Ruffell Active Member

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    Can you show a shot of the new stand that was talked about? Thanks.
     
  13. Austin Glass

    Austin Glass Active Member

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    Sure Ben, I'll post one later tonight. Although if Charles or someone else could do so sooner that would be best. I don't have a C-stand handy and it requires one (or anything with a baby stud). I can clamp my mafer clamp onto something, though.
     
  14. Charles Lim

    Charles Lim Member

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  15. Cameron Michael

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    I'm being told he m15 does not have a right left adjustment ? Meaning to make it 100 you pretty much have to use accessories to get it fully balanced? Anyone care to enlighten me on this? I hope it's false info, or I'm misunderstanding it.
     
  16. Cameron Michael

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    Make it 100% balanced '
     
  17. Austin Glass

    Austin Glass Active Member

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    The pan adjustment is now a single-stage process. You don't have to make the side to side adjustment. Of course the roll still moves side to side. I don't think it will ever be necessary to use weights or accessories to get a normal camera package balanced.
     
  18. Ben Ruffell

    Ben Ruffell Active Member

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    Finally a proper stand! Just ordered the M15. Thanks guys.
     
  19. Sam Windell

    Sam Windell Member

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    Exciting stuff guys. Hoping Jason rolls out the m15 case soon. What are you using to store your M15's for the time being? Was hoping the c-stand holder would lock down like Cinemaoxide's. Wishful thinking I guess.
     
  20. Austin Glass

    Austin Glass Active Member

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    For now it lives in the box it came in, but I hope to have a better solution soon.
     
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