Favorite Counterweight Methods?

[tkoham]

Hey, so it looks like, unless any of you want to sell me a set of those unobtanium ultra lightweight filters, I'm gonna have to go the jerry rigging route for ND.

Luckily my favored brand sells a 40.5 mm set, so my question is, how do you guys normally counterweight your gimbals? I want it to be reversible, but secure enough that I won't have washers falling out of the sky and ruining my framing during a shoot.

Makes me wish yuneec had built one into the system like they did on the Powervision Powereye tbh

 

[DCH]

Golf club weight tape is very popular, it sticks well and is removable. Though I use flattened fishing weights, shaped and trimmed to size & weight and mounted with double sided tape -because I'm cheap, and I have it already, and I'm not a golfer.

 

[Guido Cangelosi]

Hey, so it looks like, unless any of you want to sell me a set of those unobtanium ultra lightweight filters, I'm gonna have to go the jerry rigging route for ND.

Luckily my favored brand sells a 40.5 mm set, so my question is, how do you guys normally counterweight your gimbals? I want it to be reversible, but secure enough that I won't have washers falling out of the sky and ruining my framing during a shoot.

Makes me wish yuneec had built one into the system like they did on the Powervision Powereye tbh

You can use some sticky white tape from 3M - it looks like a small Velcro.
One piece of sticky tape placed at the back of the camera and another on a metallic coin.
if the coin is too large you can place it on top at the rear part of the C23 camera - you can play on the distance to the centre to add or remove weight and find the ideal position.
I have mounted up to 3 coins in that way as I had a heavy adapter ring + lens filter.

 

[Grumpy]

Golf club weight tape is very popular, it sticks well and is removable. Though I use flattened fishing weights, shaped and trimmed to size & weight and mounted with double sided tape -because I'm cheap, and I have it already, and I'm not a golfer.

Yup, the one you made is stuck to the back of the CGO3+ and works a treat.

 

[tkoham]

youd think by now someone woulda 3d printed a snap on shell for this or something, i'm really sketched out by taping dollar coins to expensive equipment if im taking it on a job

 

[DCH]

youd think by now someone woulda 3d printed a snap on shell for this or something, i'm really sketched out by taping dollar coins to expensive equipment if im taking it on a job

This is not a worry. If it makes you feel any better, 3M two sided mounting tape will never let go, they use it hold on automotive trim. You have to pry it off to remove it. I have been using it for over a year on a CGO3+ and now on a C23, and it has never let go, even though I have removed it several times.

The ribbed back of the C23 is a blessing because it makes it easier to pry the weight off than if the surface was smooth. Believe it or not, that ribbed surface is plenty of surface for the 3M tape to grip tenaciously.

 

[tkoham]

This is not a worry. If it makes you feel any better, 3M two sided mounting tape will never let go, they use it hold on automotive trim. You have to pry it off to remove it. I have been using it for over a year on a CGO3+ and now on a C23, and it has never let go, even though I have removed it several times.

The ribbed back of the C23 is a blessing because it makes it easier to pry the weight off than if the surface was smooth. Believe it or not, that ribbed surface is plenty of surface for the 3M tape to grip tenaciously.

does it leave residue

 

[Ty Pilot]

I use 3M VHB tape on some of the motorcycle parts we produce. They stay attached for years through all kinds of weather and as DCH mentioned, they can be removed when using the proper technique and if any residue is left it is easily cleaned up with 3M General Purpose adhesive cleaner.

 

[DCH]

does it leave residue

No, I have never noticed any. The same piece of tape can be used over an over. Eventually after many reuses it will loose its tack and need to be replaced.
If this is something you want to try, use only 3M VHB tape, accept no substitute. I would suggest the clear tape over the black tape, it has a slightly less tacky adhesive yet will be plenty strong. The black trim tape is a bit too sticky and can be very hard to remove, although on the ribs of a C23 it does work well and is not too difficult to remove.

 

[PatR]

Dollar coins? If it takes more than a penny or nickle weight you’ve got one very heavy filter.

 

[tkoham]

Dollar coins? If it takes more than a penny or nickle weight you’ve got one very heavy filter.

the 40.5mm ones i have are steel and thick glass

 

[PatR]

It would pay to search for something lighter. The gimbal drive motors are quite limited in the amount of force they can deliver and the speed at which they will deliver that force. They may work for awhile, but they will burn themselves out trying to do more than they were designed for.

 

[tkoham]

It would pay to search for something lighter. The gimbal drive motors are quite limited in the amount of force they can deliver and the speed at which they will deliver that force. They may work for awhile, but they will burn themselves out trying to do more than they were designed for.

thought as much, wish those e90 filters were still being made.

 

[PatR]

Indeed, that can be a considerable problem with consumer drone gimbals. We don’t know their design limits but we can be pretty sure it’s pretty close to just enough to serve the factory camera design hanging on it. The makers aren’t going to put a penny more into it than they have to for it to work. When we have a fixed focal length or factory fixed lens we know there’s very little weight latitude.