Hi I am figuring things out for my new M5 and one thing that I notice is that in the setup that I have with the 5DMIII to change batteries I would have to slide the plates and rebalance the rig again!!! Not Ideal!! Does anybody Knows a Ideal way to Power the 5D (preferable for longer that the default battery) and the DP4 and in the future a Paralinx? Maybe a Lipo in the top handle? I think using a Anton Bauer will make the rig to heavy!! Any ideas? Do anybody knows a good Canon 5D battery adapter or replacement?
I bought one of these to wire up to a lipo but haven't done it yet. Probably need to step down from 12 to 8V. Just a thought. We use them for AC based timelapse, but need to do in the field on a motion control rig that would pose similar problems. http://www.bestbatt.com/Canon-ACK-E...KE6&gpla=pla&gclid=COjioseYwr0CFZRr7Aod9GIANA
The M5 cage will not support a vertical grip on the camera. There is not very much space left vertically once mounted in the cage. I would agree it is a shame that the camera must be slid out to accommodate replacing the battery. I found though that if you mark the spot where the camera is before pulling it out with some Gaffer's tape it works ok. Its only one balance that gets changed when sliding it out.
Yes I tried the vertical but it is to high and also adds to much weight!! I found this battery adaptor that is probably the best solution.http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/730595-REG/IDX_C_EOSC_DC_DC_Cable_for_Canon.html Now I have to find how to mount a Lipo or some battery setup to use it in the top handle bar!! maybe this adapter will do the trick: http://forum.freeflysystems.com/index.php?threads/custom-movi-m10-battery-plates.3410/
Just mark the location of the camera on the sled, take it off, replace the battery, and put it back on. It’s the same issue with removing a memory card. Don’t overthink the problem.
I wish they had included etched markers (or a sticker even) on all of the axis's with a ruler so one can easily ballpark a known configuration. It would only require small tweaks to set it up after that.
Nicolas carbon fibre doesn't lend itself to etching. Not even with a laser according to many sources.
Hence the sticker option. Pencil will work but ideally I want markings for multiple configurations. i.e. different lens, different vocal length of same lense.
My initial impressions of the M5 are that balancing is going to be so fast that this is less of a concern. There are too many variables to assume that there are static configs that will work reliably.
And Steve is right on point. After you gain some experience with balancing you should find that it is very quick.
I'm also finding that changing between cameras and lenses becomes a bit of a no-brainer....it becomes a routine that you can do almost without thinking about it once you've learned the "ritual" and know where to hold the gimbal and how to exert just enough force to slip the camera forward/backwards or side to side a small amount. Your fingers also learn to sense the point where there is no pressure from the camera being out of balance. Andy.
After just 1 day of playing around with my M5 I found it fairly quick to change batteries and rebalance the rig. Only the fore / aft tilt axis needs to be rebalanced providing you don't mess with anything else when you remove the camera to change the battery. If you happen to buy a microRemote, RedRock Micro just announced a couple new adapter cables to power a Canon DSLR camera with a LP-E6 battery type adapter via their basestation in which that can be powered using one of Freefly's LiPo batteries! They also now have a run / stop cable for the Canon 5D mk3 as well! Not sure if the run / stop cable will work with any other camera though since buttons can be remapped on the mk3. 8:00 min in to the video shows their new adapters.