The Zhiyun Crane 2 motorized gimbal capabilitywith Canon cameras

Jack Douglas

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Apr 10, 2013
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leGreve, thanks for that vote. I'm guessing that working for now with Video Studio 2018 is not going to have any/many negative effects on my initial efforts to get into video. What I liked about my present decision was the fact that I wouldn't be making a serious commitment until I gain more experience.

For reference, as I reentered the realm of photography in the digital era I resisted Photoshop in spite of my friends prodding and illustrations of what he was doing, because I was concentrating on learning shooting techniques, composition and so forth and found DPP to be very adequate for RAW processing. I now have ON1 RAW and follow the tutorials and so forth but life's business finds me more drawn to shooting when I have the spare time.

Being a bit of a perfectionist my open ended question is, where will I be with video in a year? Certainly, I'll be a little wiser and in a better position to understand the implications of any pending decisions and for now the Crane 2 has really increased my level of enthusiasm!

For anyone in a position similar to me this Canon video posted by canonnews is exhilarating:

https://youtu.be/xpF_fV4Sm4g One can always dream! ;)

Jack
 
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If you are just trying to get a handle on shooting video, and there is certainly a lot of new skills that we stills shoots have to learn, I’d say shoot in 1080p for a while. Your life will be vastly simpler. Yes, if you shoot in 4K and then res down your final product will be a bit sharper but so what. That is really a grind if you don’t have the right gear for post production. Shoot in 1080p and most any computer will be fine. The 4K 60p mjpeg from a 1DX II will choke anything short of a workstation if you try and edit it without transcoding or creating proxies. However, the 120 FPS 1080p slow motion on the 1DX Mark II is a lot of fun to shoot on a gimbal and will give very good results without driving yourself nuts. Just my two cents.
 
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Jack Douglas

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Graphic.Artifacts said:
If you are just trying to get a handle on shooting video, and there is certainly a lot of new skills that we stills shoots have to learn, I’d say shoot in 1080p for a while. Your life will be vastly simpler. Yes, if you shoot in 4K and then res down your final product will be a bit sharper but so what. That is really a grind if you don’t have the right gear for post production. Shoot in 1080p and most any computer will be fine. The 4K 60p mjpeg from a 1DX II will choke anything short of a workstation if you try and edit it without transcoding or creating proxies. However, the 120 FPS 1080p slow motion on the 1DX Mark II is a lot of fun to shoot on a gimbal and will give very good results without driving yourself nuts. Just my two cents.

That's a lot more than 2 cents and very much appreciated. It's suggestions like this that may seem obvious in due course but are presently valuable. There is a tendency for a beginner to get caught up in the glitter.

I've mentioned a planned trip to Bella Coola. It's BC wild rain forest area at its best and not a place too many go. For a nature lover it'll be amazing (especially Grizzly fishing) and given my age some of these places are not going to see me returning. 2015 was Haida Gwaii and as much as I get goosebumps viewing my photos and sharing, I now feel, given my 1DX2 video capability, that I'd really regret not getting some nice video.

Since zoom isn't possible with the gimbal, post zooming seems very appealing and so at that point I'm guessing somehow I need to acquire 4K footage. For practice right now I will absolutely follow your advice!

My life was a frugal one and now that it's not quite so critical I can probably afford a new computer - it's almost 10 years on a $1200 purchase so I can't complain ... but there is that desired monitor and ... you know how it goes. ;)

I don't understand folk who are almost antagonistic about our cameras having video capability. Here I am after an hour climb up a cliff and really soaking up the beauty in 2015. Now viewing these two shots (that's all I took since the lighting wasn't perfect) and oh, if only I could view a complete 360 degrees. I shot at 11mm primarily to try to capture the broad view but my hope is that with video I could shoot with the gimbal even up to 200mm. A bit of re-balancing on the gimbal with lens changes and I'd have a really fine remembrance of that moment.

Edit: I did take more shots but they were seriously boring and weren't even processed. Here's one with 600mm and I'm guessing, with some creativity it represents a shot that could be incorporated with wider video - are there any good books on how to accomplish a good travel video?

Jack
 

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Jack Douglas

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leGreve said:
Jack Douglas said:
Since I'm new to video editing I was asking for advice on which programs to consider. I was close to purchasing a CS6 version of Adobe Premier Pro but at over $500 CAD, I was uneasy. Since I already owned Corel VideoStudeo X9 I had inquired whether an upgrade to X10.5 would give me panning and zoom of 4K. The uncertain answer appeared to be no and thus I had decided to abandon Corel.

However, in order to double check the upgrade situation I opened X9 and up pops an upgrade offer for $30 to get me the new 2018 Ultimate (quite a few desirable improvements) and upon checking features and reviews I was convinced that the price was low enough to deserve one last kick at the can - like what's $30 compared to $500+.

If anyone's interested check it out: https://www.videostudiopro.com/en/products/videostudio/ultimate/

I'd be interested in ongoing feedback on the topic since I may still choose something else.

Jack

Davinci Resolve.... sure, the learning curve is a bit higher, but it has superior grading tools and by next version it will probably be on par for most users with Premiere Pro in terms of editing.

We hardly use anything else on our TVC productions etc.

Just received this update:

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/ca/products/davinciresolve/

My only concern is how hard it is to learn and if there is support material.

Jack
 
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Jack Douglas

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Sometimes the love affair quickly fades but I'm pretty certain not with this piece of gear, still pinching myself.

It looks like spring is here at long last. Out in the backyard of my acreage walking around the pond and creek on grass and snow (still!) and simply loving the gimbal. For all my bumping and jerking it's so smooth and using the 1DX2 is a pleasure other than needing some more arm strength. I'll work on that. The DPAF is such a godsend, I can't imagine folk trying to manual focus as they walk (without tripping). Working with 200 mm is of course more challenging and will take lots of practice but is feasible. Today with 24-70 at about 30 it was no sweat.

Jack
 
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ethanz

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Jack Douglas said:
Sometimes the love affair quickly fades but I'm pretty certain not with this piece of gear, still pinching myself.

It looks like spring is here at long last. Out in the backyard of my acreage walking around the pond and creek on grass and snow (still!) and simply loving the gimbal. For all my bumping and jerking it's so smooth and using the 1DX2 is a pleasure other than needing some more arm strength. I'll work on that. The DPAF is such a godsend, I can't imagine folk trying to manual focus as they walk (without tripping). Working with 200 mm is of course more challenging and will take lots of practice but is feasible. Today with 24-70 at about 30 it was no sweat.

Jack

That is good to hear Jack. Maybe email me some footage sometime. I was out of the country so I haven't used it for a while or been able to update it. I still need to try out the 70-200 f2.8. I have a friend's 70-200 f4 so maybe I should try that to see which version is easier to use, although the f4 doesn't have a tripod collar with it, but I would think the 1dx weight would balance it on the gimbal?
 
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ethanz

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snappy604 said:
how are you finding the weight? it looks intimidating from a weight angle

By itself, it isn't bad. It is heavy with a 1dx and pro lens on it. Not sure how it is with something else. After 10 minutes of using it, your neck and shoulders feel it. I think what really gets you is that you are extending it out from your body.
 
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Jack Douglas

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It would be disingenuous to suggest the weight isn't challenging over time. For 5 to 10 minute stints it's not bad at all. Since a person is typically working with the legs collapsed downward, what I do is rest those legs into my gut right at my belt, sometimes even when shooting, provided I'm not moving excessively. That makes it really easy to handle and gives a guy a rest. My biggest concern is slipping or tripping, which means that calculated movements should be carefully implemented with no one allowed to rush you! The gimbal control is awesome.

I'm finding that for typical sunlight I'm at ISO 100 and up to about F11 if the shutter speed is kept to the recommended lower values (2X FPS). Tracking AF is awesome.

Ethan I'd like to send some footage but I'v been so busy with the deck. All the stainless framework is up and now it's just the covering to screw in place. I can't wait! My Google Drive only has about 1 1/2 GB of space but that should be enough for a short clip.

Jack
 
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ethanz

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Jack Douglas said:
Ethan I'd like to send some footage but I'v been so busy with the deck. All the stainless framework is up and now it's just the covering to screw in place. I can't wait! My Google Drive only has about 1 1/2 GB of space but that should be enough for a short clip.

Jack

Oh yes, I forgot, you don't know how to edit the clips down yet ;)
 
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Jack Douglas

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How dare you say I don't know how - the truth hurts! That's an activity I could probably do with a little effort, in VideoStudio 2018 now but as you get older multitasking becomes more burdensome and typically by late in the day when I might like to do some of that, I don't have the head for it.

One day I'll surprise you. No sweat getting the video though.

Jack
 
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Jack Douglas

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Apr 10, 2013
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ethanz said:
But getting those massive clips to me will be the challenging part lol. How is the internet speed out in the country where you live?

I believe they quote 6Mb/s. but I should be able to trim to the minimum to keep files small, right. there is no shortage of illustrative videos so it's just a matter of me jumping in.

Jack
 
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Hi Guys!
Im brand new to this forum as i found it googling for answers.
I got my Zhiyun Crane 2 Delivered yesterday as my first handheld gimbal. I wanted to try it out with my personal camera, a small Canon Eos M (First mirrorless version, 4 years old). The gimbal itself works as a charm and let me take awesome clips. But before i bought i i checked compability and as i could understand it was suppose to support all canon EOS cameras. I have updated the Firmware in both camera & gimbal. So the camera connects via, it reacts when i push certain buttons on the gimbal handle but it doesnt work. I have set up the gimble to camera / canon. i want to be able to use the record / photo button but no luck. I have tried both googleing & youtube but without any luck =(

Hope you guys can help me out!
 
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