Gimbals Are Awesome (And Why You Should Use Them) – Cinematography

Gimbals Are Awesome (And Why You Should Use Them) - Cinematography
Spread The Viralist



Download my 46 minute Lighting with Colour mini course for just £15 – https://www.robelliscinematography.com/downloads

https://www.patreon.com/robelliscinematography – support me on Patreon for extra content, informal breakdowns of my work and extended Youtube videos.

Looking back over my hard drives, I realised that over the last 5 or 6 years, I’ve used gimbals a hell of a lot in my work! So I decided to make a video on why gimbals are such amazing tools and just a few of the ways that you can use them in your cinematography.

Nowadays it’s so easy to shoot professional footage on the go using 3 – axis gimbals – whereas in the past you’d need to be setting up dolly tracks or hiring steadycam operators. Not to mention the newer, smaller, pistol grip gimbals, that you can mount to anything and use pretty much anywhere.

I’m still amazed at the quality of shots you can get using these tools and I think in today’s run-and-gun world of video, they’re pretty much an essential purchase if you’re looking at getting smooth, professional looking footage on the fly.

Gimbals used in video:
DJI Ronin (original)
DJI Ronin-S

Cameras used in video:
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 2.5k
Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera

source

Recommended For You

About the Author: Rob Ellis

34 Comments

  1. I have an A7s#. Should I be able to get this quality of footage with my camera? I believe so, but I just want to hear for sure from a pro. Maybe I'm not grading it correctly. I'm learning how to use a gimbal right now and the main thing I'm having trouble with is jerky movement. I'm going to change some settings, when I barely tough the knob, it moves pretty fast. Great footage and advice. Thanks. Just saw that you have a course. I'll be purchasing that today or tomorrow for sure.

  2. Totally blown away by your videos Rob. I only started really making stuff this year and it's really nice to see how you work with light and to see your perspective on stuff

  3. Hi Rob, how do you pull focus whilst the camera is on a gimbal with moving subjects ? I use a lumix s5 and as you know the autofocus isn’t reliable. I see you are using black magic so assume you either have a focus system on the gimbal or just keep the focal distance or just having a deeper depth of field? Love your videos.

  4. Hey! Love your videos and your style in general. Could you PLEASE make a colorgrading video / how you properyly expose your footage. I never know how to get my footage looking as good as yours!!!!!!! Im not the only one thinking it lol you're amazing

  5. Great stuff man! Subbed! How do you pull focus when you operate a big gimbal when using a camera like the bmpcc that doesn't have auto-focus? Do you work with a 1st ac that pulls remotely or you've got a special handle that allows you to control your focus? Thanks a lot =)

  6. Cinematic Lighting in Small Spaces on a Budget – Part 2 brought me here 😀 I was about to ask, that If 0:42 was shot on a 1080p blackmagic, then I saw the topcomment, and realised all these shots were done with it 😀 Can you recall, that it was shot with the 2.5k or with the Micro one? And maybe the lens? 😀 If not, dont mind my question 😀 Beautiful work tho. I cant justify spending 2-3x more money on a new Sony A7sIII or whatnot, when a good old Blackmagic with 1080 can do this!

  7. I humbly agree with the main point here: gimbals are awesome because they let you shoot amazing cinematic moving camera shots, even on a low budget. My problem though is that I feel people don't need convincing to buy and use gimbals: if anything they need reminding that it's often best to keep your gear simple, and focus on the actual shooting. I think though it's partly a question of audience. There's no question that in the right hands they're incredibly useful. But for beginners who are learning filmmaking, I think tech like gimbals can be a real distraction. It's learning to ninja-walk before you've learned to walk, if you'll excuse the pun. Myself, I rushed out and bought a gimbal because I gathered from youtube that it was the cure to my shakey handheld footage. For a while everything I shot was shot on the gimbal. Much of it was silky smooth, but it didn't make me a better filmmaker. In fact, for a while it made me much worse, because instead of focusing on the camera and the image it was seeing, I was controlling a gimbal. Later, I learned the value of less technical ways to avoid camera shake: a balanced rig, weighty gear with plenty of inertia, good support points, braced hold, planned camera movement, and practice. Throw in a bit of software stabilization in post, and I can shoot most shots handheld with perfectly smooth results. I'm far happier shooting that way and feel I can focus on shooting rather than setting up, balancing and then holding a gimbal. Now I've come full circle and, having come to hate my gimbal, I have to force myself to use it. There are camera movements that are hard to shoot smoothly handheld, even with practice – walking shots, dollies, and so on – and for those, I think gimbals are very useful. But for me, they remain a trick piece of kit I'll pull out when the need arises, rather than something I'll shoot with all the time.

  8. Hey Rob, love your videos – your channel is criminally undersubscribed. What brand is the larger gimbal you refer to? Looking to get a larger gimbal setup for my BMPCC4K for those buttery smooth shots. Much appreciated!

  9. this video was so beautiful i can't believe it was just about gimbals. Amazing movement, lighting, cinematography and movement. Crazy to think this guy gets more out of 2.5k than i get out of 6. 😂 After watching this i feel so inadequate 😂😂😂😂😂

  10. Hi Rob. I really love your job, great cinematography and color grading. I bought the Ronin-S recently and I have used it with the microcinema and Sigma 18-35mm in a couple of shoots, but I find that it´s really hard to work with this combination because of the weight of the Sigma. I saw that you have wide and tight shots with the gimbal and the bmmcc in the same sequences, do you change the lens or do you use a zoom lens? I was thinking to buy the lumix 12-35mm 2.8, but I don´t want to lose the s35 perspective that I get with the metabones speedbooster…can you tell me which lens do you use mostly with the gimbal? Thank you so much.

  11. Hey Rob, great work. You're right about the gentle, subtle movement. Looks like you're based in Weston-super-mare (or somewhere nearby). I'm based in Penarth, directly across the Bristol channel with the opposite view of Steep Holm and Flat Holm. I just subscribed this evening after watching your terrific cove lighting tutorial. Really, really great training mate, keep it up 🙂

  12. I left my gimbals and tripods in Japan where I was working before Covid19 hit and now I can't return for a while.
    I used to do travel videos for my company so I didn't/couldn't use artificial lighting. But now I'm trying to diversify into products and portraiture.
    Do you think I should invest in another gimbal and maybe 1 light? Or all-in my current savings into a good lighting setup for products/portraiture?
    I'm dead broke and don't have any clients now though, pretty much shooting commercials and photos for free to go knocking on doors for jobs.

Comments are closed.