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5D MK III : Anyone successfully balanced it in the tilt axis?

Discussion in '3 Axis Gimbal' started by Andy Johnson-Laird, Sep 19, 2012.

  1. Philip Ellerbroek

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    Katya,

    I feel your pain. I got my Mark 3 a few weeks ago and recognized that I had to move some weight around so that things were more balanced. What I did was move my lipo that powers my radians to one of the front legs from the rear leg of the axis. Then, I place my Mondo Extreme downlink on the remaining leg. It helped a little to move that weight from the rear leg. The pain involved having to rewire and solder everything.

    Andy - Did you ever try sliding the camerd forward or backward on the sear plate? I noticed this dramatically affects the overall positioning and balancing of the Mark 3 in regards to roll/tilt. I did notice that i had to position in parallel tilt bars to an aggressive upward position. When done, the top of the Mark 3 (where the external flash tower mounts) had approximately 1" of clearance from the piece of the 3 axis gibmal where the booms come together and meet (boom "hub")

    Phil
     
  2. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Hi Phil: Yeah, I definitely moved the camera back and forth. Balancing in tilt and roll was easier than in pan -- for that I had to move the clamp that holds the vertical down post to the gimbal back out away from the center of the gimbal to get the C of G of the whole gimbal plus camera to balance properly in pan. The hard part is that I need to shoot with both a 5DM3 and a CX760, so rather than futz around re-balancing, I just got a second gimbal -- after all, money really is a great labor saving device! I can just leave the cameras set up and I'm only eight metal bolts away from swapping cameras. :)

    Andy.
     
  3. Joe Azzarelli

    Joe Azzarelli Active Member

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    Oh you DO have a nice wife! A second gimbal with 3 additional Radians and video transmitter and...

    From the movie "Contact" : The first rule of government spending: Why buy 1 when you can have 2 at twice the price!?

    :)
     
  4. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Yeah, you got that right Joe. I've only been married to her for a few decades but I think she might be a "keeper." :)

    We have an understanding, arrived at without any actual discussion, that neither of us asks the other any question of the form: "Why do you need another <X>?" :)

    Andy.
     
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  5. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    On a related matter, what exactly does the "Metal Shaft Clamp" do?
    If one acquires and installs the ADJUSTABLE TILT BAR, does this widget make using it easier?

    And the tilt bar is listed as "V1". Does that mean that there's a "V2" lurking somewhere? ;)

    http://www.quadrocopter.com/Metal-Shaft-Clamps_p_807.html
    metal-shaft-clamp.jpg
     
  6. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    Steve the metal clamps, both for the tilt bar as well as the roll bar were developed because with the heavier cameras like the Red the plastic ones would slip in some configurations.
     
  7. Tabb Firchau

    Tabb Firchau Administrator
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    HI Steve, The normal shaped aluminum clamps were made to prevent slipping. The shaft clamp pictured above is to allow easier adjustment and less mechanical complexity when using the dual adjustable tilt bars. I have never had the carbon clamps slip on the shaft but the ALU ones are easier to work with, assemble etc. What I am trying to get at is that you don't need the alu shaft clamp unless you want it or are upgrading to the dual adjustable tilt bars where it is necessary.

    Tabb
     
  8. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    Tabb, thanks for your response. It's not clear from the photo of the alu shaft clamp how it works. Do you have a photo of how it's installed? I'm planning on getting extended tilt tubes and dual adjustable tilt bars to make a better fit for my 5D Mark III. It's a super tight fit with the standard parts on my 2-axis gimbal.

    Also, you alluded a little while ago to a new, more adjustable camera mounting plate. Is that actually shipping yet? I have the problem a lot of other folks have with the Sony CX760V where its COG is just about in the middle of the bar, making it awkward to get it attached to the CF mounting plate I have.

    Thanks!
    Steve
     
  9. Jason Smoker

    Jason Smoker Active Member

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    Andy can you post some photos of your full set-up with epic tilt bars etc? I wanna see it photos thanks!
     
  10. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    Steve here's the info on the Adjustable Camera Rail. 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.

    IMG_0909.JPG

    IMG_0910.JPG
     
  11. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    Where did you get it? i don't see it on quadrocopter.com.
     
  12. Jason Smoker

    Jason Smoker Active Member

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    yeah Gary where did you buy this? I have seen a forum on this but cant find anywhere that sells it?
     
  13. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    I would suggest contacting your FreeFly dealer and they can order one for you.
     
  14. Jason Smoker

    Jason Smoker Active Member

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    what Dealer did you go through?? just out of interest??
     
  15. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Hi Jason: Sorry for the late reply. I'm heads down on video editing right now. Did you see Message #10 on page 1 of this thread?

    Andy.
     
  16. Jason Smoker

    Jason Smoker Active Member

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    yeah Andy I did but that says to replace the side arms and tilt bar assembly. I am more interested in the bit and pieces on Garys camera plate of his! ;)

    IE- the slide plate and bits to connect to them!

    please post some links of where to buy them!!
     
  17. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    Jason and Steve they might not be shown on the QC website but they should have them available. Give them a call or do a chat session tomorrow.
     
  18. Jason Smoker

    Jason Smoker Active Member

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    thanks for the info Gary!!! :):)
     

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