Apologies for what is "probably" a basic question (I am sadly sick atm and only had my M5 for 3 days). I can balance the M5 at home on the floor, table etc. Now, when I go on location, rural with no obvious flat/level surfaces around, what is the procedure? Am sure it is my newness to the system and my fogged head, but do you not need a steady/level/flat surface to set the stand and initialise the M5 when first arriving on location for work? Any help/tips etc. will be greatly appreciated folks.
Nick: Sorry to hear that you're having a "viral upgrade." Is your question how do you re-balance the M5 on location after you make a change to the camera configuration? If so, then yes, you can certainly use a flat surface (I use the tailgate of my vehicle), or any other way of supporting the M5 so that it's fairly close to level. Andy.
Cheers Andy. Basically, will re attach camera, then rebalance then. What was wondering though is how level does the surface need to be? I take it, if camera/lens combo have not changed. Then if you have marked the "sled" position prior, the Movi will be pretty well balanced from last time?
I find that marking the sled never quite gets it right. But to reinstall the camera I typically only need to adjust the tilt axis -- and balancing the tilt axis does not depend on the having the MōVI particularly level. The physics is such that even if the MōVI is tilted down or back in the tilt axis, it doesn't matter -- balanced is balanced, so to speak. With the clampy thingy (technical term) just loose enough to allow me to move the sled, I just use the fingers of my left hand to hold the camera loosely, and the fingers of the right hand to slide the sled -- you can feel the differential pressure on the fingers of your left hand as the camera slides through the balance point -- the pressure shifts too (you feel it want to tilt), then you can tighten the clamp all the way. Andy.
Cheers Andy. Being new to the Movi, professional photographer and lecturer, I wasn't sure how critical it all was. I will be doing much rural location shooting and therefore level ground for balancing would be difficult at times. I was unsure how much the Movi stored from last setting and how much rebalancing would be required. Sounds like I will be fine. Only thought I had, if need level platform, was to travel with a small beanbag (like dogs bed), board and bubble level. Glad such is not required. Run N gun is hard enough without more to carry
You'll find that the roll and pan axis don't seem to change much when you remove the camera -- and rebalancing the tilt because a matter of a few seconds using the technique I described -- and once tilt is back in balance, roll and pan come back into balance too. Andy.
Hi Nick. Just an idea but what about adding a small board to your kit that mounts to the top of a tri-pod. This would need a footprint large enough for the balancing stand, then attach a quick release plate to the bottom. Might not work if you don't have the room but it might fit in the top of your Movi case. Best of luck, J
Another idea J. I wonder if my beanbag idea might be safer though, hate tripod to topple and buck the Movi. Am sure Andy is right about settings being settled so just tilt needing adjustment. M5 case arrives Monday so will go practice in different environments then and see best practice.
I have just set it on the ground, be it grass or dirt on the stand that it came with. I then balance and haven't had any issues. If there is no flat piece of land at all it would be hard to even set the stand down. There's the cheap option of using the bike rack from Home Depot on a tripod as well. I have used that setup too and it works well.