Is it going to be possible to shoot with this on the MCR without showing the backside of the gimbal? What I mean, is it going to be too wide?
You're right. I've found out that the person who actually did the shoot in the Apple Keynote had to slide the camera over so the Movi didn't come into frame on the wide, then had to add some minimal counterweights to balance it. As much as I love the form factor and the Movi I think it's time for me to sell it up and accept it's more of a pain in the ass than it should be. If I wanted to have this heavy, big gimbal for my phone I may as well sue a 'proper' camera on a gimbal. The very notion of mobile film making is pointless when the rig ends up being bigger than needed. These new iPhones will negate the use for external lenses - I mean sure - we can still use them and get ultra wide perhaps? or even more telephoto but now we're looking at literally a phone - and a gimbal and you're all set. No weights, no awkwardness and peeing around setting it up etc.. just unfold it and go - and if you drop the gimbal or it smashed in you bag it's not the end of the world for 100 quid
If that’s so, presumably someone at Freefly knows or can confirm, and can explain the situation here.
That was someone at Freefly - whoever is on their Instagram account I was Direct messaging them. I would take that as fact. They said they had a chat with the creator of the Apple film and he had to (quote) 'move the phone a tad to not capture the rig in the frame. By then he needed the counterweights. We'll have to do some testing but minimum amount of counterweights might be needed" I need to ask if he used the iPhone 11 pro or pro max. If he used the max then it would make sense and would also mean the 11 pro probably won't weights because it's obviously lighter and the small shift to the left to avoid rig capture would probably be ok. I have a feeling we'll be disappointed when it's properly tested.
There is one other aspect of the superwide lens to think about. Supposedly the super-wide gives a 13mm (35mm equivalent) field of view. (?) That's wider than the Moment Wide which is about 17mm-18mm (on a 35mm film camera)? There is a point in my humble opinion where it become too wide and all I notice is the lens (which is a cool effect at 13mm) and essentially becomes a trick lens. The standard 26mm (35mm equivalent) lens on iPhone isn't wide enough for me but thought the rumored lens on the iPhone would be equivalent to the Moment lens at around 17mm. I think 17mm looks GREAT on a moving Steadicam.
Hi John, There are several examples of the 13mm lens in use, for both photography and video, in Apple’s launch event. It is definitely not a “trick lens”. They seem to have done a good job on distortion. The launch video is widely available, maybe have a look at it. Haven’t checked, but there are probably more examples on Apple’s site and in post-launch videos.
Ok, I will not get any counterweights. I just want something simple and start filming. I sincerly hope that one of these phones will work with the MCR, without the weights for ultra wide.
The lightest and smallest of the phones is the iPhone 11 Pro, followed by the iPhone 11 and the Pro Max. You may find it useful to look at older threads here on balancing last year’s iPhones.
Probably perfect for filming "Ben Hur" or recently the crazy and trippy use of ultra wide lenses in "Knight of Cups" (though it was just cropped to widescreen for the latter). Moondog Labs (which introduced the first anamorphic lens for the iPhone) says the super wide lens is incompatible with add on lenses. (They sent out a info letter about compatibility with the iPhone 11) But with such a wide lens--- adding a etterbox or matte should offer all kinds of creative possibilities.
True. I’m just wondering if there’s any value in adding lenses anymore. The wife was great add on but now with the super wide on the camera - not needed. The anamorphic is fun and in my initial test with my iPhoneX on the Osmo mobile 3 there’s no additional weight needed to balance. I foresee this being the case with the iPhone 11 pro. Thinking that unless you need a telephoto lens then these lens companies are going to struggle to sell additional glass for future iPhones.
I have tried a lot of other gimbals, before the MCR and after. The problem I have found especially with the new recently released low priced fold up gimbals is their phone holder is not made for large phones or phones in cases. I recently tried out the Feiyu Tech fold up gimbal and my iPhone XS Max in a slim case wouldn’t really fit in the holder. It was half way out and not safe. The gimbal didn’t work smoothly either, I figured because of the weight. If you don’t have a large phone or you’re willing to go caseless, I’m not after spending over a grand, you’ll be fine. I also tried out a Zhiyun Crane M2 and for me balancing my phone was totally frustrating, even with prior experience with gimbals and cameras. After an hour or so I gave up. It wouldn’t work slightly unbalanced. Long story short, I keep coming back to my MCR.
So far, the MCR has worked really well for me because I’ve never used a phone on it that requires counterweights and I’ve never had a cable running to the phone because I record audio separately. Keeps life simple. Looking forward to finding out from people who have the phone this weekend what the iPhone 11 series means for counterweights and inbuilt vs MCR stabilisation.
ok, so I have bought the iphone 11 and you guys can forget using the ultra wide without counter weights. I'm gonna use the standard lens.
Same here, I can confirm that the ultra-wide lenses cannot be used with the MCR and its standard setup. See pic: https://ibb.co/P4hzY2b
Yes I get the same. Well gonna do my ultra wide shooting hand held I guess, and keep on going standard wide with the MCR.