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Convince Me To Buy M5 Rather than Ronin M

Discussion in 'MōVI M5' started by Matt Doebler, Dec 8, 2015.

  1. Matt Doebler

    Matt Doebler New Member

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    I teach a high school film studies course...It's a two year course open to Juniors and Seniors. Focus is on narrative filmmaking. We are stepping up our production capabilities and investing in a c100 (dual pixel upgrade) and c100 mark ii (with various EF and EF-s lenses).

    Convince me that an M5 would serve us better than the much less expensive Ronin M. Whichever one we go with, we plan on flying the c100 and using a Zacuto Grip extender to mount the side grip to the rig, thus maintaining full functionality.
     
  2. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Hi Matt:
    It's a valid question, but I'm not sure you'll necessarily get a completely unbiased answer to here -- it is the Freefly Support forum, after all.

    However, I did a Google search with the query: Which is better, Movi or Ronin
    and there are quite a few discussion threads around the net that address that question.

    My only comment would be to state the Fourth Law of Thermodynamics: You almost always gets whats yous pays for. :)
    The one exception is when it comes to national governments... :rolleyes:

    Joking apart, the questions to ponder are not just the cost of the unit -- but the total costs of owning the unit spread out across its useful service life, and that includes the "costs" of whether or not you get good support. I did say this would not be an unbiased opinion. :)

    Andy.
     
  3. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    One word: support.
     
  4. Matt Doebler

    Matt Doebler New Member

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    So am I to understand that DJI support is so terrible/Freefly so good that it makes purchasing an M5 worth it? What are some specific "support" experiences that would make this case?

    The thing is, I can buy 2 Ronin Ms for the cost of 1 M5, so if the primary difference is support, then I don't know if that's enough to convince me when I can buy 2 for 1.
     
  5. Matthew Justin

    Matthew Justin New Member

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    The M5 comes (basically) fully setup and ready to shoot right out of the box. It is my understanding that the Ronin M requires much more initial setup. Also, I have heard that rebalancing a Ronin M is tedious every time you remove a camera package. I picked up my M5, unpacked it, configured it, balanced my camera package, and tuned it in under an hour. Starting to shoot was a breeze with all of the detailed video tutorials / forum posts that Freefly provides. The M5 even ships with its batteries half-charged and Freefly includes custom screwdrivers for easy assembly. If you want to setup quickly (and not waste time in class!), the M5 is the way to go.
     
  6. Matt Doebler

    Matt Doebler New Member

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    I've read that the M5 batteries are complicated and potentially hazardous to charge and that they don't power the unit for more than an hour or so. True?
     
  7. Matthew Justin

    Matthew Justin New Member

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    Completely false. M5 batteries are standard LiPo batteries... used commonly in mobile phones, RC cars... etc. As long as you aren't damaging the batteries / over charging them, everything should be fine. Two fully charged batteries - yes, the M5 ships with two batteries! - have lasted for me, about a full day of shooting. There are also detailed video tutorials by Freefly about batteries, on YouTube.
     
  8. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    The MōVI batteries are just ordinary LiPo batteries -- with all the disadvantages and advantages that Lithium Polymer batteries present. There is nothing special about them beyond that. I believe the Ronin and all the other MōVI knock-offs (the MōVI was the first, hence the use of "knock-offs"), also use LiPo's, so the battery chemistry is not a defining trait for any of them.

    If the camera is properly balanced on the M5, I've been seeing two to three hours use from the battery, but it obviously varies. It also has a "sleep" mode where, when you put the M5 on a bench or on the ground it detects that condition a basically goes to sleep.

    You do need to put a LiPo monitor on the battery to prevent it overdischarging, but that's standard operating procedure for a LiPo.

    As to support experiences, try doing Google searches for:

    DJI customer support problems
    Freefly customer support problems

    Hope that helps.
    Andy.
     
    Matthew Justin likes this.
  9. Howard Dapp

    Howard Dapp Active Member

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    Ronin M stabilizers use smart lipos with built in protection against over-charge, over-discharge with built in balancing and maintenance. The Movi uses standard "dumb" lipos like we all use in our copters... if you are not careful and are new to using lipos you can easily damage a brand new battery. Product support for DJI equipment sucks also research horizon drift...I believe at some point it was an issue for RM.
     
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  10. Michael McVay

    Michael McVay Active Member

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    Matt: Have you confirmed that your weight will be OK with how you plan to rig the C100 and C100 MII? I don't use that camera but do recall a friend of mine wondering if he could get away with an M5 or needed to go to an M10 to support that camera and the lenses, etc he was thinking about. I have never used a Ronin M but can say for sure I love the M5...its been a very good performer both on the ground and in the air.
     
  11. Talha Gursoy

    Talha Gursoy New Member

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    My friend has a Ronin M, and I have an M5. We never compared these gimbals ( because he does not want to :) ) but I hear a lot of noise from Ronin's motors. He always has some problems with that. Somehow he solves them but gimbal was shut down 4 times in 1 hour shooting. Motors get too hot in Ronin sounds like if you shoot over couple hours they will get burned. And build material looks and feels so cheap in Ronin. Well, nobody expect a good quality for that price tho. Anyways I never had a issue with my Movi even though I do not balance it very carefully. I vote for Yes Movi no Headache
     
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  12. Adam Hubalovsky

    Adam Hubalovsky New Member

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    Comparison would be great!!
    Movi M5 is more sympathetic for me. But the Ronin M's price is great!
     
  13. Angus Benson-Blair

    Angus Benson-Blair Active Member

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    If you intend to fly it then there is no choice between the two. It is the M5. The simple reason being that the M5 having GPS can work out when it is accelerating. Bearing in mind that acceleration and gravity are to all intents and purposes the same thing. This means that the RONIN will drift well off track if you make anything other than a very soft acceleration. Also, we have just been working on a massive drama here in the UK were they bought a Ronin to use on a daily basis for ground shots. The Ronin earnt the name of 'the schedule wrecker' is all I need to say about how well it performed. When I turned up with my Movi M15, it worked first time every time (although we flew with it rather than used it in the ground roll but you get my drift).
     
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  14. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    Ouch.
     
  15. Gavin Morrisson

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    Maybe you've already resolved this, but I own an M5 and a DJI Inspire 1. I was tempted for the Ronin due to cost. The one time my Inspire went down (due to my own error) it was "in repair" for two full months. That means that all the shoots that were supposed to occur in that time period did not occur. It's also recently developed horrible horizon drift as spoken about earlier. I went MoVi due to all that. I could not be happier. That being said, I would still suggest an Inspire because it's incredible, but a Ronin doesn't fly and I wouldn't pay money for it...
     
  16. Matt Beardsley

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    For a while, I owned the original big Ronin and have an M5 now (mostly for use on an Alta). The Ronin had some advantages, I love that it has built in power distribution for things like a wireless transmitter (which has to be run with its own battery or via a splitter on the Movi). Also, the Ronin worked with iOS for tuning, while the Movi doesn't work with iOS without an added module. Ronin is a cleaner build, too, fewer zip ties and exposed wiring.

    Movi has some very real advantages though (compared to the original Ronin, at least). The camera cage can be inverted so the camera is upright in both orientations. "Toad in the Hole" quick release is an awesome way to move the gimbal from handheld to crane to drone, etc. Mimic is a revolution for 2-person control. Both really need near-perfect balancing, but the Movi is less picky about being perfectly tuned. Overall, Movi feels more customizable.

    Big warning though, I use a C100 on an M5 and it doesn't fit without a little extra length on the side tubes of the camera cage. I'm not sure if Freefly have changed their stance, but the C100 used to be considered non-compatible with the M5.
     

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