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MCR + GoPro Hero 4

Discussion in 'Movi Technical' started by John Adam Asuncion, Jun 6, 2018.

  1. John Adam Asuncion

    John Adam Asuncion New Member

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    I bought a GoPro adapter to use with smartphone stabilizers and tried it out on my MCR. I definitely had to play around with the set up but I was able to figure something out that was workable. Here’s how it looks and I took a video using the setup which worked well. I was shooting in 1080 Superview 24 FPS. Message me if you have any questions.



    5068B5B1-BB15-434B-9CF5-E859C3B59B3E.jpeg
     
    #1 John Adam Asuncion, Jun 6, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2018
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  2. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Hi John:

    Where did you the "Steady" mount from?

    Also, how did you manage to balance it without any apparent counterweights?

    Cheers
    Andy

    Forensic Software & sUAV / Drone Analyst : Photographer : Videographer : Pilot (Portland, Oregon, USA): Trees=2, Ground=1, Props=11. :(
    The Ground Is The Limit™
    ---------- Forensic Drone Analyst : Forensic sUAV Analyst : Forensic Unmanned Aircraft Analyst : Forensic Drone Expert
     
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  3. Rorick Edge

    Rorick Edge Active Member

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  4. John Adam Asuncion

    John Adam Asuncion New Member

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    To start, the GoPro doesn’t balance before you turn the MCR on and would most likely need the counterweight system Freefly sells for the Moment lenses. The adapter plate for the GoPro is weighted on the opposite side of where the GoPro sits (the part that’s seated in the clamp) which helps balance it a bit but not completely. Another thing is you’ll need to mount the GoPro in the opposite direction of how you normally use your MCR, so you’d be holding the grip with your left hand and the trigger/record button are facing you. The purpose is so the arm of the MCR isn’t in frame of the very wide view of the GoPro. Asides from the GoPro not being perfectly balanced, it works well. The only major downside I can see is draining your battery faster since the MCR is working harder to keep the GoPro balanced.
     
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  5. Rorick Edge

    Rorick Edge Active Member

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    Hi John,

    It’s really helpful that you have tried this and have explained the issues that you ran into.

    I’ve strapped a Sony RX0 to the Movi clamp. For anyone interested, my comments on doing that are at https://forum.freeflysystems.com/index.php?threads/using-the-movi-with-a-sony-rx0-or-a-gopro.12308/

    One point that your comments brought to my attention, and that I hadn’t thought of, is that an important difference between the GoPro and the RX0 is that the latter has a narrower, 24mm equivalent lens. That is only 4mm wider than the iPhone lens, and narrower than the wide angle Moment lens.

    For a Sony RX0, at least, this seems to come down to balancing the camera. I’d really like to see Freefly or someone else come up with a lightweight holder, probably plastic, that could be used to move the camera to the left in the same way that I move my iPhone to the left to balance.

    Then what’s needed is a weight for the holder to balance the forward tilt of the camera. This is the opposite problem to adding a Moment lens. I don’t have a Freefly counterweight, but the question would seem to be whether it can be used in a direction opposite to how it is used with a Moment lens.
     
    #5 Rorick Edge, Jun 6, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2018
  6. Steve Huether

    Steve Huether Member

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    Awesome John! I'm planing to do the same with my Hero6 when my MCR arrives(its pushing 4 weeks since order now, hoping it ships soon!! lol ). I added the counterweight to my order so hopefully I can shift the GoPro far enough left to keep the field of view clear when facing forward like normal. Great to see it works though.
     
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  7. Steve Huether

    Steve Huether Member

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    From watching the videos about balancing with the set, I think it should be able to balance forward or backward as needed. There is a lot of adjustability with those weights.
     
  8. Steve Huether

    Steve Huether Member

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    Did you take the video down? It won't load for me here in Canada.
     
  9. Rorick Edge

    Rorick Edge Active Member

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    Hi Steve, in case you’re interested, there are a good number of YouTube videos on the GoPro field of view issue, but with other smartphone gimbals (e.g. the Osmo). Just be aware that the makers of some of those videos don’t acknowledge that the issue exists, and for some the “solution” is linear view. There are a few videos that try to address the issue directly.
     
  10. Rorick Edge

    Rorick Edge Active Member

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    I’d love to hear someone who has the counterweight and can confirm this. That said, I’m convinced that there must be a simpler solution than a metal plate plus Movi counterweight that combined are quite liable to overwork the motors. There’s certainly no reason for the plate to be metal, which all of the current adapter plates apparently are, rather than plastic.
     
  11. Steve Huether

    Steve Huether Member

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    Oh yea I've used my Hero6 with the adapter on the Osmo Mobile a lot so I'm very familiar with the limitations. In flashlight orientation it works very well, the stability was awesome. I think the MCR will be even better
     
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  12. Steve Huether

    Steve Huether Member

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    As long as I can get it balanced well with the MCR off, I don't think there will be any extra workload on the motors. Total weight of Hero6 + plate + counterweight should be similar to iPhone X + Moment + counter weight I think.
     
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  13. Steve Huether

    Steve Huether Member

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    Well my MCR has arrived! Starting to figure it out and loving it so far. My GoPro adapter doesn't work too well due to the shape of the end in the clamp so I think I'm going to get my friend to design a better one and 3D Print it. I'd like to move the GoPro forward as well to help keep the tilt motor out of the shot. Haven't really tried to balance it yet with the GoPro but will mess with it more over the net few days.
     

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    #13 Steve Huether, Jun 14, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2018
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  14. Rorick Edge

    Rorick Edge Active Member

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    Hi Steve,

    Interesting that you want to mount the camera so that the lens faces the same direction as an iPhone lens, whereas the fellow who started this thread mounted it the opposite way in order to address the field of view problem (see the photo in post #1 and post #4).

    Because I’m interested in doing this with a Sony RX0, which has a 24mm equivalent lens, I’m hoping that field of view won’t be an issue.

    I look forward to any comments you have when you try to balance the GoPro.

    If your friend succeeds with making a GoPro mount, and if he’s interested, I’d be happy to pay him to make a Sony RX0 mount.
     
  15. Steve Huether

    Steve Huether Member

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    Hey @Rorick Edge yea I'm going to play with using it facing backwards to see how it works with reverse controls and such. I figured I'd attempt to make a forward facing mount for the long run simply to keep the setup as close to intended use style as possible. I'd also like to have the GoPro screen visible and buttons accessible while in use for simplicity.

    So far I have clamped the GoPro straight into the clamp sideways and then rotated to what would normally be portrait mode and it works well. The clamp doesn't hold very tight due to size of GoPro but it gives an idea of how it would work. It does work the motor more than I'd like in this style because it's not balanced at all lol.
    IMG_78532.jpg
     
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  16. Rorick Edge

    Rorick Edge Active Member

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    I was able to mount the Sony RX0 in the clamp in its standard orientation by adding a rectangular plastic piece (essentially a spacer) to make the camera taller. You may be able to do the same with the GoPro, although the fact that the RX0 has a standard 1/4” screw hole in the bottom makes it particularly easy.

    But yes, it definitely didn’t balance. Two reasons: the Sony (and GoPro) are thicker than a phone with much of their weight toward the operator when in the clamp, and the Movi apparently expects weight to the left of the clamp, as happens with a phone. As you discovered, the clamp’s hold is also kinda precarious, as in “this is an accident waiting to happen” :)
     
    #16 Rorick Edge, Jun 14, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2018
  17. Steve Huether

    Steve Huether Member

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    Along these lines, once I have the design of GoPro adapter finalized I may try to use the two holes that the counterweight attaches with. Maybe have the counterweight sandwich the gopro plate to hold it more securely...

    I have the GoPro tripod adapter so I may try a simple plate with a bolt through it to see how the balance and placement of gopro forward of clamp will work... I have a feeling I'm going to make use of my dad's shop a fair bit in the near future lol
     
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  18. Steve Huether

    Steve Huether Member

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    Well I finally got around to modifying my Osmo-GoPro adapter to use with Movi and it works pretty solid with a couple caveats. To get it to not see the pan arm in the frame I had to shift it far enough left that the clamp wasn't able to hold it steady without assistance. A couple zip ties did the trick. With the counterweight it wasn't tough to get it to balance and start testing. The only annoying thing, though not unexpected, was having to keep the phone handy with app running to use other modes. The Barrel worked surprisingly well just have to keep phone on in pocket/nearby. I'll upload a couple test videos in a bit. Let me know if you have any questions.
     

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  19. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Interesting solution, Steve. What would we do without zip ties....

    Andy

    Forensic Software & sUAV / Drone Analyst : Photographer : Videographer : Pilot (Portland, Oregon, USA): Trees=2, Ground=1, Props=11. :(
    The Ground Is The Limit™
    ---------- Forensic Drone Analyst : Forensic sUAV Analyst : Forensic Unmanned Aircraft Analyst : Forensic Drone Expert
     
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  20. Rorick Edge

    Rorick Edge Active Member

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    Hi Steve,

    I look forward to seeing your test videos.

    I ordered the counterweight yesterday on the chance that it might prove useful for balancing a Sony RX0. Happy now that I did. Given that the RX0 has a 24mm equivalent lens, the Movi arm shouldn’t be a problem. I guess the next step is to order an adapter.
     

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