DJI Ronin - who has one? thoughts?!

[SleepyC]

Ok, so I have a Movi M5 and I LOVE IT. But I like flying it as much as I like handheld. And although you can swap it back and forth, I would almost just like to leave my M5 attached to my rig as seen here...

View attachment 21772

SO... anyone have a Ronin? Using it for handheld stuff? Hows the “autotune” Hows the GUI, hows the performance? I am seeing them on Ebay for around $2200 sometimes and with the case and all it’s hard to pass up (even when I’m broke)

So any real world experience out there?!?

Again, I have no intension of flying the Ronin just handhelds...

 

[Carapau]

The only thing I would say about the Ronin is its weight. Ive been doing some work with the Movi 10 with just a 5D on it ie a very light setup and it doesn't take long before your arms and back are giving you a fair amount of grief. Add another 2-3 kilos or so for the extra weight of the Ronin and you will feel it. How the Ronin itself work though, I have no idea.

 

[Shawn Herold]

We use the ronin on almost every shoot and the first few shoots it was a bit heavy especially coming from using movi's and Alexmos gimbals. Now I can run a DSLR all day with no problem and a C300/C500 all day with breaks. As far as the software and the performance I actually prefer it over the movi. It is definitely rock solid and even if you bump it or hit it pretty hard against something it never freaks out. The app is super easy to use and you can swap out cameras and have it rebalanced in about a minute once you know your way around it.

 

[domx]

Hey Shawn… a question on the Ronin as I've just bought one and intend to use it with the 5D. Have you considered using a 5.8GHz transmitter on the Ronin to provide a video feed to a remote camera operator? I like the idea of 2 man operation and am yet to try it out, but the only option I can see right now is the mount a monitor on the Ronin handlebar and take and HDMI feed from the 5D. This means that the camera operator will have to walk behind me the whole time.
Cheers,
Dom.

 

[tstrike]

I use a Paralinx wireless hd transmitter on mine, it's mounted under the power distro plate on the bottom. Haven't needed to use a separate monitor, we just use the cameras onboard, but we have mounted a small hd on the handlebar using one of the paralinx receivers. Just adds more weight to the rig though. The 5.8 would require an hdmi convertor and the picture quality would really only help you with framing but not focus.

 

[Shawn Herold]

Hey Shawn… a question on the Ronin as I've just bought one and intend to use it with the 5D. Have you considered using a 5.8GHz transmitter on the Ronin to provide a video feed to a remote camera operator? I like the idea of 2 man operation and am yet to try it out, but the only option I can see right now is the mount a monitor on the Ronin handlebar and take and HDMI feed from the 5D. This means that the camera operator will have to walk behind me the whole time.
Cheers,
Dom.

We go SDI out of the Camera and into a SmallHD screen mounted to the rails and go HDMI out to either a paralinx arrow or DJI lightbridge.

 

[Buzz_Roavr]

I have just got Ronin and I'm really very impressed at the build quality and ease of use.
Just waiting on a few extra bits before we really use it hard with the GH4. I can't get the vertical tilt very well balanced with the GH4 so will be adding some weight to the hotshoe.

It's pretty easy to balance up.

 

[twistedshifter]

I use my Ronin regularly with my Red Dragon and GH4. Decently manageable with GH4, metabones, & Canon 16-35 weight wise. With the heavier Canon glass and Metabones you don't need to add any extra weight for the Ronin to work. When running the Dragon however the total weight sans Red Brick is right around 20lbs (9lbs for the Ronin, 11lbs for the Dragon with side handle Redvolts & 16-35.) It's a bear to handhold for takes any longer than a few minutes. I usually have a PA around to grab it to rest my arms. Acquiring an EasyRig for it shortly as this seems to be the ticket for longer takes and filming all day. For the price, you can't beat it.

 

[Carapau]

Sounds like you need to 'man up' like Shawn Herald above who can easily carry the thing all day with a C300 with a few breaks...apparently.

 

[domx]

I use my Ronin regularly with my Red Dragon and GH4. Decently manageable with GH4, metabones, & Canon 16-35 weight wise. With the heavier Canon glass and Metabones you don't need to add any extra weight for the Ronin to work. When running the Dragon however the total weight sans Red Brick is right around 20lbs (9lbs for the Ronin, 11lbs for the Dragon with side handle Redvolts & 16-35.) It's a bear to handhold for takes any longer than a few minutes. I usually have a PA around to grab it to rest my arms. Acquiring an EasyRig for it shortly as this seems to be the ticket for longer takes and filming all day. For the price, you can't beat it.

Excuse the newbie question, but I'm guessing that Metabones is a solution for attaching Canon EF lenses to the GH4? This is what I need! Any pointers on which Metabones product is best for this would be most welcome Looking at the website I can't figure out what the different is between a Smart Adaptor and a Speed Booster! Thanks in advance...

 

[SleepyC]

The Smart Adaptor JUST adapts a Canon lens to a Micro4/3 camera and provides

• True electronic integration of aperture diaphragm - let camera automatically choose aperture in P or S exposure modes, or dial in yourself on the camera body in A or M modes.
• EXIF data such as lens identification, focal length and aperture.

. The Speed booster gives you 1all of this:

• Increase maximum aperture by 1 stop. <---- this is GREAT, it can make an "OK lens nice for low light!
• Increase MTF. <--- can help with contrast, clarity and making the OOF stuff look nice.
• Makes lens 0.71x wider.
• Build-in electronics to control lens aperture.
• The lens aperture is set by the controls on the camera body.
• Powered by camera body. no external power source required. (also accept 3rd party external power supply via MicroUSB socket when using with passive MFT mount camera e.g. BMCC 2.5K)
• High performance 32-bit processor and efficient switched-mode power supply.
• The tripod foot is detachable and compatible with Arca Swiss, Markins and Photo Clam ball heads.

Optics designed by Caldwell Photographic in the USA (patent pending)

 

[twistedshifter]

Metabones Speed Booster is the way to go. Speed booster reduces the crop factor of the M43 sensor and allow more light to focus on the sensor giving you an extra f stop. You also still have full control of electronic Iris through the GH4. Kinda pricey but if you already have Canon lensing, it is worth it.