I know that there has to be some irritation when a company does this. I would assume that FreeFly was the original company to come up with the solutions for the Movi Pro (unless there is some parallel thought since the problems might be there for both systems). I can't imagine what it feels like for a company to work hard to be the pioneers and then for imitators to pick-up from where they left off. I wouldn't doubt that FreeFly might feel security because of the quality that they deliver. But still...what do you guys think about competition like this? Is is good to have cheaper alternatives (I would assume that DJI's product is cheaper)? Do you get concerned that the barrier of entry is being lowered in your profession? The purpose of this post is to understand what you guys feel about things like this, would love to hear you out.
there are people who think carbon fiber being used to make gimbals, whole mountain bikes, cars etc. is over-exploitation of natural resources, and we should just relax a little on all. . . that. So, "good to have cheaper alternatives" is a pretty difficult question to answer. The "barrier of entry" is constantly being lowered. Its part of the bleeding edge. Seems like freefly is pretty geared-towards quality at a fair price-point. Ronins weights have always been heavier. blah blah blah, many reasons why DJI wins, FreeFly wins. There will always be cheaper knock-offs. Do the research, if you take stock in "pioneering" as a product quality that increases inherent value. Then, vote with your dollar.
My first reaction is another blatant and complete rip-off of Freefly. Even the video release feels like they watched Freefly's video on the MoVI Pro and copied it as best they could. Here's the best analogy I can come up with with choosing the MoVI Pro or the Ronin 2. You're reputation is on the line for a very important delivery you have to make from Los Angeles to New York. You can save a couple bucks and use a Chevy Vega or you can spend a couple extra bucks and get a 2016 Lexus CT200h. Which would you choose? If you chose the Lexus, then you chose the MoVI Pro. Anything DJI is consumer. It's not designed for professional applications.
I think it looks great and a lot of things they integrated are interesting. They copied a bunch of stuff but who cares. It's not like Freefly invented the wheel! Hot swap existed before, camera ring also, and so on. The extendable arms and precision balancing are interesting features that were introduced on the Tilta Gravity. I'm curious if they are going to make them more practical and who knows maybe the Movi Pro 2 will have them because it will be considered standard in the future. For me the R2 is in-between the Movi Pro and the Movi XL. It's interesting to know there is a bigger option that is still usable handheld in case a DP wants to use a bigger setup. But the API Freefly made is still making them more interesting as we might see more and more accessories compatible with it. And DJI as also the reputation of not following on their products and just jumping on something else letting things rot. Remember the DJI Focus that was supposed to be daisy chained to become a 3 channel? That's what worries me the most.
I love my Movi Pro and Alta 6, but man, I'd love to see Freefly return the favor and knock off the M600 Pro: a drone that tightly integrates the camera, gimbal, data link, and drone; uses smart Lipo tech; provides better situational awareness to the pilot with a screen interface with FPV, camera feed, & flight controller settings & telemetry..
I think the R2 has a couple really great features such as the ability to lock the pan motor for crazy fast whip pans and the +-220 degrees of travel on the roll axis. Pedro from Cinemilled showed off the R2 with his Steadicam and was able to go from upright to underslung and the R2 remain stabilized! That being said, I'm perfectly happy with my Movi Pro and can't imagine adding another 5 lbs for the same type setup.
I think that in this context one has to think the discontinued tilta GR-T03 gravity glimbal, almost all features of Ronin 2