Yeah the burning man video left me confused as to how they balanced it. I've seen people on instagram that seem to not have that much of an issue balancing. I'll take a crack at balancing mine tonight since doing slow mo movi shots is high on my list of wanted shots.
With the original Cinestar Gimbal with servos, people were changing the side booms with the longer ones. That was doing the trick. http://forum.freeflysystems.com/index.php?threads/sony-fs700.174/#post-1360 I am not sure if this works on Movi.
I'm thinking of something like this to add counter balance to front heavy cameras: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-WWDC1-W.../ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER You can screw it in with a 1/4 20 bolt, and stack as needed. I just spent 10 hours balancing a Phantom Miro today and figured out something that works. I had to counter balance with 2 freefly lipos "Dual Locked" to the bottom and some metal weights on top to allow clearance for the rear cables. I had my RR FF Receiver slid back, and chose a lens with the closest focus wheel (Zeiss Super Speeds) to avoid slinging my FF motor too far forwards. I also allign the motor so that the bulk of it is behind the gear wheel. Total camera length was 10.5 Inches, and around 8-9 Lbs. Dual Lock: http://tinyurl.com/ku3dfkf
Chris, we are also huge fans of Dual Lock. I took it out on our first Epic job months ago, and now it is expected kit. On the original issue, I cannot see a way a standard FS700 could mount in a standard way. This is due to the camcorder basically having no real weight in its stupid long body, and all of the weight resting in your optics. The only way to balance it in my mind is: A.) Longer side booms to move the cradle forward so that when properly balanced it's ass end still sits off from the roll arm. B.) Adding a stupid amount of weight to the back most lower edge of the camcorder body. Neither are good, or free. That being said, there is no "Silver Bullet" tool that will work with every camera. I'm fine with that. I can live with the need to use a custom solution. Though I risk a silly looking set up or spending more money, at least I CAN do it. Now if anyone has determined some amazing way to work this out with standard equipment, please speak up!
Myself and a FS700 were also trying to work it out yesterday, but to no avail. Seems like it would need a lot of weight added to the back since there isn't much horizontal room to get addl weight behind center of gravity. Our thoughts also went to longer boom arms.
Hi all, I'm interested in using a FS700 with MOVI M10, so I was curious if anyone figured out a good solution to the balance issues. Has any one figured out something that works well? Thanks
Hi Esteban, Justin and others following/having issues with this. Firstly, my apologies for disappearing off the radar for some time in relation to this issue. I had some overseas projects to attend to before gettng to this. **Our Sony FS700 Balance Solution for Movi M10** (Or any large camera for that matter) *Required items to complete fix: -Movi M10 -Stand -Freefly supplied tools -25mm Carbon Fibre pipe (1mm thickness of pipe - 0.5mm thickness would be optimal)) - purchase online for about $40 - see here http://www.carbonfiber.com.au/prod91.htm -Soldering Iron -6 x 5cm length electrical wire (comparative thickness to power/data cable that run to brushless motor on Movi) -Heat Shrink wraps (small and large - see images at bottom of post) -Fine toothed hack saw (for cutting carbon fibre pipe) 1. Place Movi on the supplied stand 2. Using the supplied tool, we completely removed the horizontal forward facing arms (that allows you to slide the camera mount forwards and backwards). We needed to clip the cable ties off and unplug/unthread the power/data cables that run down/through the arms to the motors. 3. Freefly have permanently attached a bearing and metal end to one of the ends of the arms. This needed to be removed however it was glued in place. To remove the carbon firbre from its metal housing we had to heat the carbon fibre. We did it with a small gas burner gun. We gently rolled the join of the carbon fibre to the metal on the heat for about 10-15 seconds, allowing the carbon fibre to become soft. We then pulled gently on the carbon fibre and it easily broke from the glue and slid out of the metal housing without any damage sustained. (*Be sensitive and alert with your heating. If you over heat the carbon fibre will melt and become ultra soft. You don't need to heat it that much - just enough to loosen it from its glued housing). 4. We cut our new length arms out of 25mm carbon fibre pipe. The arm that was to go into the metal bearing jacket was cut to 220mm and the other arm was cut to 200mm. 5. We then glued the 220mm arm into the metal sleeve and allowed to set. 6. Reinstalled both arms to the Movi rethreading the data/power cables to the motors using cable ties. The cables on these arms were long enough to reach to the motors using cable ties as per before. That is the first part of the fix. Very important to note now that the centre of gravity has now moved forward due to the longer arms, and is now sitting well forward from under the brushless motor at the top of the Movi. Moving the unit back as far as it will go on the top rear arm will not solve the problem, a new longer carbon fibre piece needs to be cut and inserted here. 7. Remove the top rear arm that joins the Movi to the brushless motor at the top. We needed to clip the cable ties off and unplug/unthread the power/data cable that runs up/through the arm to the top motor. 8. Cut a new length arm from the 25mm carbon fibre pipe. We cut a 240mm piece. 9. Reinstalled the new length rear arm to the Movi. 10. Note that now the power/data cable IS NOT LONG ENOUGH to reach to the top motor. This is where it will be important to to get an electrician involved or someone who is qualified to solder wires really well. the connections on the ends of the power/data cables were removed and an additional 5cm of wire was added by soldering and then heat shrunk for protection. (Electrician was also consulted on any changes/effects on power/data loss for this process and the answer I recieved was the distance is so small that we have added it will make no difference) 11. Rethreaded the new length power/data cable to the top motor and secured with cable ties. After this process has taken place we then put the Sony FS-700 on board. Found centre of balance as per normal Freefly procedure. It took some time to find the COG as everything is bigger - but it was achievable. Movi was turned on and seems to operate as per normal. We have not yet reinserted the supplied Movi carbon fibre pipe plug ends as the carbon fibre used with the original Movi is 0.5mm thinner. To use these original ends we will need to take a little carbon fibre off the inside of each of the 3 ends. Image below. First time we have done anything like this and much thanks to my cinematograher Dean for his technical expertise and guidance. Welcome feedback on the above procedure. Thanks for your time all, Rowan Bestmann New arm with metal attachment glued and setting (old arm below it) Electrician photo of wire extensions added and about to be shrink heat wrapped Electrician photo of wire extensions added and about to be shrink heat wrapped Finished product working well. Need to add a few more zip tie and arrange wires a bit neater.
Hi, I just wanted to give everyone a friendly reminder about your MoVI warranty and what it states about Warranty Limitations in regards to modifications and how it will void your warranty. Please see our Terms and Conditions of Sale here... http://store.freeflysystems.com/pages/terms-and-conditions-of-sale If you have any questions please contact us at support@freeflysystems.com Thanks, Chris
Nice job! Just wish there would be an easier way to extend the cabling - without permanently altering the set-up. Also seems the whole the MoVI gets really long - how is it operating it handheld?
So I was able to get the FS700 balanced with clearance in the back without extending the arms. I had a friend make a weight plate that gave me a few different screw holes to mount a weight to. Then I attempted to mount as many of the accessories on the back as possible. Using a lightweight Zeiss ZF lens I had about 3lbs of counterbalance in the back. The only issue with this current configuration (other than my cable management) is the fact that its a real pain to put together. I am working on making some new weights for it at the moment and I need a better way to lock the weight on there (the knob that was holding the weight up broke off), but its definitely a usable rig. I am using this configuration to shoot a music video over the weekend and I will let you know how it holds up. The Movi seemed to perform well with this setup, I was flying it around the office for about 30 minutes or so yesterday with no jitters from it, which is a good indication. The total weight of the camera and weight plate is 11ish lbs (old fashioned scales aren't that accurate), so it should be good in the long term once we refine it a bit. The weight plate was custom made, and right now its only made out of plastic, my friend is working on one made out of a heavier weight material today, so we shall see how that turns out. Sorry about the fuzzy pictures, my phones camera is broken and my friend snapped these in a hurry before he ran off to save a shoot.
Hey guys Great to see this info as I am getting ready to buy my M10 with an FS700 I was able to get the following info by messaging the Facebook Freefly page 21 Feb 14 "The FS700 currently does not fit the M10 very well. Being a fairly long camera, it can not be moved back far enough when it has a lens on it to balance it. Making it very front heavy. That being said we do have in development a large camera dimension kit that will extend the carbon tubes to allow the FS700 and similarly sized cameras to be balance in the M10 camera tray. We have a couple prototypes with the FS700 running around the engineering department that are in the final stages of development that are working perfect." So hopefully this solution will be ready soon. I noticed Rowan that you got your tubing from an Australian supplier - are you in Australia? - I am in Sydney. These guys have some good carbon fiber tube connectors http://www.dragonplate.com/ecart/categories.asp?cID=187 With kind regards creativeteam@ultimateproductionsinternational.com +61 408 405 455+61 408 405 455
Its really not beautiful, but it works. We added some old steadicam weights that we had, on the back of the FS700. The weights are modular, so we can easily add more or remove some. Might not be the best placement, but it worked for our shoot.
I realize this is only a few days after the last post, but is there any update on a fix from FreeFly? I've balanced my FS700 without any additional weight settings because I'm flying it, but was able to use the Convergent 7Q 4k recorder as a counter weight. It's mounted on top, making it top heavy, but it's able to add enough weight to the back. Problem is, I'm using a less-than-desireable Sony lens when my goal is to mount a Canon 24mm, or heavier. Thanks!
James, Sorry about the delay in my reply again - forum time is rare at best at the moment. I have been using it extensively in the field on mining sites around large machinery and it has been performing fine. That being said, I have never used a Movi without the modification so don't really have anything to compare it to 3 axis movemnt = smooth = nice camerawork = yes. I am happy with my product. Just spoke with Barry and he's waiting for the M15. I would strongly caution anyone buying a Movi to make sure their camera is on the 'approved' list before going ahead. Lesson learnt!
Sorry I don't have any picture of it, but here was my setup that I used with the fs700 for a 10 day job in Turks and Caicos a couple weeks back. On the camera I had the following kit: FS700 w/ large NP-F970 installed Metabones speedbooster sony E to Canon EF mount Croziel MagNum 2 axis follow focus Teradek Bolt Transmitter TV Logic 5.6" monitor w/ Bolt receiver on top bar (both powered by an NP-F970 battery) IDX H9s battery w/ v mount plate (to provide dtap power for the FF, Bolt and TV Logic) Starting from the front of the camera I had the focus motor mounted to a Zacuto ZUG and ZUD (yes, they are real products) combo with an 8" rod. I mounted this to the 1/4 20 spigot that was closest to the lens under the camera. I had the IDX battery and plate velcroed to the right side of the camera and had a dtap splitter to run my three accessories. The MDR for the FF was mounted to the left side of the camera, cables sticking forward and antenna pointing up. The Bolt was mounted to the side of the croziel. I had the camera plate mounted as far back as I could and secured it a bit more by putting some NO MORE NAILS tape onto it. The plate just made it to the two 1/4 20 holes that are offset to each side underneath the camera towards the rear. I put a couple of 1/4 20 bolts with some tape wrapped around them to add a third bit of stabilization to the plate (it wasn't really necessary, but it was left over from my following trick to use bigger lenses) I mainly used the canon 24mm 2.8 IS and the 50mm 2.5 macro. If I wanted to use a bigger lens I would take off my stabilizing bolts from the bottom and put 10-20 large washers onto each one. They were a snug fit to prevent weight from moving around and changing the balance. I had this kit built up in about 15 minutes after landing on the island, so it was pretty easy to balance. The MDR did cover some of the control buttons on the left side, but I did have full access to the flip up screen, so it wan't too bad. So, it can be done, and it can look good as well. If you have a loval shop like www.imagegearinc.com in Toronto, stop by there and see what kind of options they have to help you out, and if you are in Toronto, go see Mike Wilder there and he will help you out.