We just received Freefly's cage upgrade kit for the M10 (MR). Having installed it as per the instructions I've encountered several design flaws and I'm wondering if perhaps I've missed something. I've installed a Canon Mkiii with a 24mm prime and have found balancing extremely difficult. With the 5D mounted the tilt axis is quite bottom heavy but sliding the cage up only causes binding issues in the roll axis - When the tilt is correctly balanced the top corner of the cage hits the pan motor once roll exceeds 25-30 degrees (most of our aerial maneuvers take roll beyond 20 degrees). I can't slide the cage lower either as the cage hits the roll bar when tilting the camera down towards the vertical. Is it just me or was this upgrade over priced and poorly conceived? As an early M10 adopter I truly hope I've missed something as I'm not really feeling the love right now. Has anyone else experienced the same issues with this upgrade?
Do you have a Toad in the Hole attachment? That might buy you some extra range for the roll. Bit concerning that you can't tilt down to 90 degrees. Sounds like the M10 needs to get the extended arms to complement the cage.
Thanks for letting us know...I was thinking of upgrading it but I will wait until that problem is solved...I find it strange as the length of the cage booms should be the same....
Yes I use toad in the hole, but that only provides separation between the Movi and the copter. It has no effect on the camera cage and clearance below the pan motor. I paid the inflated upgrade fee because I assumed this had been tested and proven. Clearly it has not and I'm sick of paying to be a beta tester.
Of course re:toad in hole. So is the dimension of the cage greater than the arms? Could you post the measurements?
You will probably have to use a quick release plate underneath the camera and attached to Movi baseplate so it shifts the weight up whithin the cage. Then the cage will not move so much.
Hey Andrew, We haven't seen any support ticket come into Freefly from you yet. We haven't heard of any issues with the cage, so we are wondering if you could please provide us with more detailed information so we can pass that information along to our engineers if necessary. Please contact us at support@freeflysystems.com Best regards, Chris HarrisonFreefly/MoVI Technical Support
Perhaps supplying a set of varying vertical tubes would do the trick. If you look at the pictures in the store of the M5 and 15 in comparison to the 10, the ratio of cage size to pan drop tube is less.
Thanks Chris, I don't know why my request didn't come through. It bounced back yesterday morning. I've resent. It's clear that the vertical pole is too short. I have to tear the bloody thing down so that we can get jobs done. I'll reinstall and post pics later today.
Andrew, We just received your support ticket. If you could please send the images and video we requested via the support ticket, we can help narrow down what the issue may be, if any. Thanks, Chris HarrisonFreefly/MoVI Technical Support
Do tell James! Freefly have just informed me that the roll configuration is normal and that it is unlikely anyone would ever fly a camera move that would require the camera to roll beyond 20-30 degrees... hmmm. Give me a standard camera track left, accelerating into a crosswind and I'll show you 20-30 degrees. If the Movi can't handle this then I'm sorry but it's clearly not the product described in Freefly marketing. Have decided to ditch the $500 CF tubes and build my own camera cage.
I would recommend purchasing several 15mm carbon booms with different lengths to use with different cameras, especially with smaller cameras. Andrew, can you post a photo of your setup?
Well that pretty much confirms my theory that Freefly are no longer interested in developing things for the MR side of life. All development seems to have gone into the ground part of the Movi almost from the moment they realised that their aerial gimbal had perhaps a greater market in hand held roles. Understandable to a point but perhaps they should make it clear that certain accessories are only suitable for ground mounted use only.