Gravity gimbals and effect from overall weight

[mun45038]

Hi all,

With gravity gimbals like Steadicam, does the weight of the camera and the weight of the counterweights together have an overall impact to the stabilising effect? That is, suppose the same drop time in two setups where one has a 200g camera whilst the other has a 1kg camera. Will the stability be different?

Actually, what is the term for non-motorised stabilisers? It seems "gimbals" seem to refer to motorised stabilisers these days.

Any thought appreciated.

[redwudz]

The more weight in the camera and/or the counterweight increases the mass and this slows down the reaction to movement of the camera.
This could be very important with a light weight camera.
This is also assuming the stabilizer is balanced (Tuned) properly between the camera and the stabilizer weight.

If you haven't been there, this forum seems to have a lot of info: http://www.steadicamforum.com/

Stedicam is the copyrighted name, but another other popular term is just 'camera stabilizer'.

A real gyro (gimbal) mount for a quadcopter camera:

[mun45038]

Stedicam is the copyrighted name, but another other popular term is just 'camera stabilizer'.

A real gyro mount for a quadcopter:

So a "gyro mount" is motorised whereas a "gimbal" isn't necessarily motorised? DJI seems to call motorised ones "gimbal" http://www.dji.com/products/aerial-gimbals

[redwudz]

So a "gyro mount" is motorised whereas a "gimbal" isn't necessarily motorised?

AFAIK, both motorized and non-motorized mounts could be called 'gimbals'.
A common definition of a gimbal is a pivoted support that allows the rotation of an object about a single axis. (Or several axis)

A Stedicam type of stabilizer would have gimbal points and weights.
The gyro mounts use a microprocessor to maintain stability and the pivot points are the servo motors themselves.

[Cornucopia]

Agreed. And yes, mass affects the stability because of inertia & momentum, damping. Assuming balanced rigs, the rig with more mass responds more slowly & "fluidly".

Scott

[aedipuss]

on the other side of the equation is that the heavier the hand held "gravity stabilizer" the shorter the time you can hold it unless you buy a shoulder/body mount or have the arms of a gorilla the hand helds are not very user friendly.

[Cornucopia]

Yep. That's why a harness & reticulated arm is sometimes used. Helps better redistribute the weight and allows for minimal touching of the mechanisms.

Scott

[redwudz]

A 35mm Panavision Panaflex Steadicam setup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX1ZMIMwmlE

[aedipuss]

LOL that's not a cameraman that's a mule...