Lens upgrade opinion

Eagle's Eye Video · Jan 11, 2017

PatR had mentioned that you can buy specifically designed lead weight strips
that have an adhesive side for using to balance the gimbal. I have not done
that yet myself... they may do that for me @ Carolina Dronz. Or I may have
to wait for both cameras to come back from the lens upgrades.

Right now, while waiting for that to happen I'm balancing all 18 spare props
I have... (should be covered for now).

Mizamook · Jan 11, 2017

Lead strips would be great .. but the problem is I can't figure out where to put the weight to make this phenomenon stop happening ... (using putty for now) ... I'll exercise my brain some more and work on it. Lead will take less space than the putty, so I'll go there after I figure it out.

REPORT! (preliminary)

Two flights today, both with balanced props.

Flight #1 (I'll post a preview later) Stiff breeze, 18 degrees F, mist island glow radness, shot with stock lens, non-balanced gimbal : Noticed twitching, but very happy I bothered to stop, as I think I got some really cool clips.

Flight #2 (preview later, with #1) Same breeze, but slightly gusting, more then yesterday, colder than flight #1, shot with Peau 8.2 on semi-balanced gimbal: IMPROVEMENT, but not perfect. Encouraging, as I did get some shots especially closer subject (water/submerged ice), noticed distant mountains still twitching, but now in micro vibration range, which is interesting, as it basically makes the mountain edges softer, which is natural - the foreground seems fine .... at least the big twitches seem to be fixed.

More later .. it was a great few hours out on the windy ice .. froze my (everything) but ended up with 4 SD cards and an OSMO SSD to transfer ...

Mizamook · Jan 12, 2017

Got a call from a friend, so didn't get to work on this, so this is the stock lens, of course the Peau lens is used in different location (I hate that!) but I'll get that up tomorrow
FUNNY ... I am seeing lots of twitching and jiggles now in the Stock lens, where I never did before .. it is true, it is windy, but I've flown in worse, and had steadier footage BEFORE I balanced the props ...

I just slapped this together ... sorry not very good but just to share the nice day

yuneec53 · Jan 12, 2017

Peau Lens 8.25 arrived today. (UK NOTE) Customs charge is $40. Off to the installer tomorrow for fitting.

PatR · Jan 12, 2017

Question to ponder. When something is balanced will something always achieve the same position after being disturbed or should it be able to remain in any position once motion stops?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mizamook · Jan 12, 2017

A perfectly balanced thing (gimbal/prop) will stay in ANY position you leave it.

PatR said:
Question to ponder. When something is balanced will something always achieve the same position after being disturbed or should it be able to remain in any position once motion stops?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mark Davini · Jan 12, 2017

Hi, folks! I feel really good that I might be able to add a small bit of assistance, here. I just got my 8.25mm lens back from having Peau install and focus it. They are REALLY similar in size, and I thought Joe told me that there was not much - if any - difference in weight, so the gimbal shouldn't need to be adjusted. We'll see about that, since you folks catch even the SLIGHTEST movements! Amazing! And I'm very happy to be part of this team. Anyway, here is a still,

and you can see the 4k video I did here:

Mark Davini · Jan 12, 2017

Mark Davini said:
Hi, folks! I feel really good that I might be able to add a small bit of assistance, here. I just got my 8.25mm lens back from having Peau install and focus it. They are REALLY similar in size, and I thought Joe told me that there was not much - if any - difference in weight, so the gimbal shouldn't need to be adjusted. We'll see about that, since you folks catch even the SLIGHTEST movements! Amazing! And I'm very happy to be part of this team. Anyway, here is a still,

and you can see the 4k video I did here:

Now I DID have a ND 8 filter on the camera while I was shooting, but other than that, I didn't alter it at all.

PatR · Jan 12, 2017

Mizamook said:
A perfectly balanced thing (gimbal/prop) will stay in ANY position you leave it.

Just wanting to make sure you knew that too

Sometimes I ask very leading questions

As for where you would start with working with balance weight, since you're only dealing with a single axis, try directly opposite the low point.

I like your clay idea. It's a good way to establish the amount of weight needed. Unfortunately it won't stick very well in the long term. Duplicate that weight with silicone? Tough but not impossible.

Mizamook · Jan 12, 2017

Haha ... perfect. No, I appreciate it. Especially now, as I just had to scrap a really neat shot that would not stabilize (one of the fist shots in my mist video) becasue there is too much mist and water ... and the jiggles were nasty. Warp Stablizer made it worse. Here's the thing: That was with the stock lens gimbal which I know is worse balanced than the Peau lens gimbal, especially after using my "clay" ... but after balancing the props, I'm seeing worse jiggles on the STOCk lens than I ever did on the Peau lens ... yes, I will try to balance the gimbal, but I find that really weird. Especially since the Peau lens is much much better now.

Hey .. that duct seal putty doesn't fall off ANYTHING. We had some at a recording studio, and the jokers I worked with stuck a little figurine made from that stuff and a coupel resistors and caps (very cute) on the hood of my 280Z. I drove with it like that in the rainy windy winter (fast) for a month ...

But yeah, lead strips would be good.

Any clues on how to balance these gimbals on the tilt axis?

PatR said:
Just wanting to make sure you knew that too Sometimes I ask very leading questions As for where you would start with working with balance weight, since you're only dealing with a single axis, try directly opposite the low point.

I like your clay idea. It's a good way to establish the amount of weight needed. Unfortunately it won't stick very well in the long term. Duplicate that weight with silicone? Tough but not impossible.

PatR · Jan 12, 2017

I like the duct seal concept even better after your description. You mention the tilt axis but I'm not sure you are referencing that relative to vertical movement of the lens. If you are then I would assume the lens to be the "indicator" for a starting reference. Does it roll to the low or the high, every time, when powered down?

Mizamook · Jan 12, 2017

It's fun stuff, that. Would not be caught without it. I use it for lots of things.

Anyway, to clarify my definitions tilt=camera up/down, and roll=horizon side to side. I don't worry about yaw for this cam.

But here's the thing, and ANYONE reading this, PLEASE NOTE!!!

I screwed up big time. I'm not sure how, but I did. I'm usually a little more attentive. But this explains things, and I only just noticed since I picked up the cameras to look at how they act when powered off to better answer the question posed regarding balancing.

Since I only labeled which cam is which with a sharpie, and left the ND filters on during the course of my last posts (balancing, then flying) I actually had my cam ID reversed.

You may write me off as a nincompoop, and yeah, I'm kicking myself, but please note: Alaska is really really big .. everything is big. So just looking at footage does not necessarily tell you what lens you have on. Only by comparing the same scene one to the other can I tell ...

Now that I think back, this DOES explain why my shots of the island were so strange to me ... sure, I was flying in disorienting mist, but I thought it weird that I could not get the whole island in the shot unless I was fairly far away.

But it certainly explains why I see jiggles, and sadly, completely reverses my report: With the putty balancing the gimbal on the roll axis, and partially on the tilt axis, and with the props balanced, flying in windy conditions, the stock lens actually jiggles more than before. But ... just balanced props and NO putty on Peau lens made jiggles really bad (when flying fast(ish) in wind. There actually may be some significant improvement due to the props balancing ... there does not seem to be jiggles when hovering, as evidenced in my shots looking down at the mist wraiths over the water (I hovered and moved very slowly for those shots, each lasting about 30 seconds or so)

I need to reset my brain. New firmware or something. I just confused the **** outa myself. In fact, now that I think back, I had the Peau lens on for the first flight on purpose for testing, but mistakenly added the putty to the stock lens.

PatR said:
I like the duct seal concept even better after your description. You mention the tilt axis but I'm not sure you are referencing that relative to vertical movement of the lens. If you are then I would assume the lens to be the "indicator" for a starting reference. Does it roll to the low or the high, every time, when powered down?

PatR · Jan 12, 2017

I need to ask, just how cold is it where you are shooting? The reason I ask is because I saw some things in Mark's video that I see in mine, but it only happens when it is very cold. Essentially some "sticking" in pan motion. Almost like something in the gimbal drive congeals in cold temperatures. I never see it when shooting in warm weather.

Mizamook · Jan 12, 2017

Of late it's been reported to be as low as 6F in that area ... I'd guesstimate it was likely around 10-15 yesterday based on the way my fingers and toes felt. Wind chill is significant. Haven't watched Mark's video yet ... in a little bit the internet here will speed back up ...

PatR said:
I need to ask, just how cold is it where you are shooting? The reason I ask is because I saw some things in Mark's video that I see in mine, but it only happens when it is very cold. Essentially some "sticking" in pan motion. Almost like something in the gimbal drive congeals in cold temperatures. I never see it when shooting in warm weather.

PatR · Jan 12, 2017

Mizamook said:
. in a little bit the internet here will speed back up ...

Know how that works...

Mizamook · Jan 12, 2017

I see Marks' jiggles! Same thing, yep.

Could it be they are exacerbated by cold? Mebbe.

Mizamook · Jan 13, 2017

OK, this is the WORST video ever. Forgot to render it with audio so you could laugh. After doing this I worked with the putty some more, on both gimbals. I did manage to balance yaw pretty decent .. both gimbals are front heavy, so a dab of putty covered with gaffer's tape (as all of the putty is after I'm done) on the back axis helped.

But here's the thing .. I suspect almost that it might be better the these gimbals are better MORE off balance ... but time will tell. If it's not raining or snowing tomorrow, I fly up to test.

This is really bad. Don't watch it.