I am ready to add a gimbal to my Cinestar 8, and looking for recommendations to fly 5D, 60D and 7D's. I'm looking at a two-axis Freefly gimbal for starters, and eventually growing it into the three axis model. I am not an electronics or programming whiz, so I like that the Freefly system is modular, parts are readily available, and that a lot of people here have experience with it. My concern, is that Freefly still uses servos instead of brushless motors, when servos are clearly passe for this application. What's the latest thinking here, concerning the kind of DSLR gimbals we're hanging under our Cinestar 8's?
I'm sure you've seen the Freefly MōVI, which is $15,000. But you may not be aware that they have a smaller model (the M5) that's been announced, and is expected to start shipping in January at $5,000. There are a lot of brushless systems out there, but most of them require a fair amount of hacking to get tuned. So you may be better off waiting for the M5, which should be more than capable of handling all those cameras.
$5,000 is too steep for me. However, an added benefit of the M5 release next month, may be a price drop in the Freefly 2 and 3 axis gimbals - and related paraphernalia. Or is that just wishful thinking? You have confirmed my fear, Steve, that currently available brushless gimbal systems for DSLR's are probably too fiddly for me.
I am on the list for an M5, plus I also have a fiddly DIY one I have been playing with. Plus my 2-axis with Radians. One will be jettisoned once the M5 arrives. I suspect others will do the same. There will be a lot of them available. There are a few now on the For Sale section here...take a look.