Hi all, I originally flew a canon 5d mkii on my cinestar 3 axis gimbal, balanced a treat. But I've recently bought a panasonic Lumix GH3, with a 20mm F1.7mm 'pancake' lens, which I'd like to try in the air. I'm having a few issues trying to balance the tilt axis. It''s such a lightweight lens that I'm having trouble getting the camera body far enough forward on the camera plate to balance it. Whereever I try to position it, it's tail heavy and just flops backwards when the tilt servo belt is removed. If I try and spin the camera plate around its now too far forward and nose heavy, flopping forward. I'm probably missing something obvious, but would appreciate any tips. Thanks in advance.
Stick a weight on the mount - move it forward until it balances. You can afford to add a little weight by the sounds of it.
My GH3 has to be elevated in the saddle, so to speak. It is so light and small that even cranked up as high as the adjustable tilt bars go, it’s still not high enough. So I put 20mm spacers under the camera plate, and it balances great. But it’s a pain to switch cameras.
Yeah, I've had to use Steve's "elevate and conquer" approach with some small cameras so that the 1/4"x20 mount sits right above the transverse front boom. Andy.
thanks fellas, used some standoffs to raise the camera and they worked well, great tip! Much appreciated
I found that with my Gh2 and the Pancake I needed the new freefly slider mount. I could never get the camera screw in a good position. I found with the GH2 at least eith the origional mounting plate that the camera was in a lose lose situation. I needed the camera to almost rest in the middle of the tube. The slider bar is the only way to get it right on. I added the spacers as well since the CG need to be raised to be closer in line with the tilt axis.
Thanks for your reply shaun, I've not heard of the freefly slider mount and am struggling to find references to it on the web. Any chance you have a link you could post so I could see if it's worth investing in? thanks again. Dave
Shaun’s referring to the combination of these two, I think. These are what I use, although I still had to jack up the camera by 20mm or so. http://www.quadrocopter.com/Dual-Adjustable-Tilt-Bar_p_848.html http://www.quadrocopter.com/Adjustable-Camera-Rail_p_847.html
Hi guys, i've just buyed a gh2 and i have the same problem, the camera just fit on the horizontal boom to well balanced results. My solution has been put carbon plates (2mm) as spacers and drill the boom to have access with an Screwdriver to the camera screw. I'm waitting for the pankake but i'm just installing now. Its seems to work fine.