Separate stabilizer available also now

Ever since the Karma grip and drone were announced I was keen to buy into the whole eco system.

Obviously the drone had its issues but I have always been keen to get a hold of the grip. With the delays I purchased the evo gimbal which I thought was a really nice piece of kit....that is until I got the Karma grip.

I have to say this is a lovely piece of hardware. It is a joy to use and can create if used properly some amazing draw dropping footage. It is so simple to use and produces great results all the time.

In the past I have always been the man behind the camera as I knew how to shoot, how to hold the camera and what kind of shots I wanted. Now with the Karma grip I can happily pass it on to friends and family to film and let me be in the shot for once. They might ask..."how do I use it?" and I say "just point and shoot!"

In the past when I have given my camera to others I have always been annoyed at the footage they have shot, be it out of focus or unsteady video I have always wished I had filmed the stuff myself. With the grip now not onyl can I pass on the filming duties to others I can also be assured that the footage they take will be smooth and useable in post.

So, ironically this new piece of hardware has not confused or complicated my filming kit...its actually made things a lot easier. I now have better looking footage than I could have ever achieved handheld and yet its the most simply solution with such a small footprint. No one looks at you funny when using the grip as it just looks like a normal grip for a gopro.

Over the holiday period I have chosen to leave my DSLR behind as the gopro which once was my B cam became my main 'run and gun' camera.

Indoors and in low light I will still pull out my DSLR, and hopefully thats something gopro can improve in the future. For now I am a very happy customer and now have more time to enjoy my experiences when I am out and about as well as capturing them cinematically at the same time!

Since the holidays two of my friends who got to play with the grip have already purchased their own...and they didnt even own a gopro two weeks ago!!!

well done gopro!

@GMC Thanks!..The main problem I have seen with third party gimbals is invariably they mount the gopro on the right hand side instead of the left which is right next to one of the three mics. I had the evo gp-pro gimbal for about two weeks and as good as it was the audio in video was totally unuseable from the motor noise even though the noise was not obvious when shooting.

I think if GoPro were to release an updated to their firmware it would be a good idea to allow users to choose with audio channel or mic they wish to mute or use in post. At the moment you have a mix of all three so the motor noise is bad, but not so bad with the karma grip...

Not being water proof is a shame but totally understandable...splash proof would have been nice though,..

Anyone used the Karma Grip with the Hero4?

I understand that I must by a separate mount for the camera, but this doesn't accomodate the LCD backpack so that seems like a bummer. I prefer to frame the view with the LCD.

Or can you still connect to your phone app while using the grip?

thanks @MikeLinn for posting the above video, the full review (written by me) can be seen here:

https://www.cinema5d.com/gopro-gimbal-shoot-out-removu-s1-vs-gopro-karma-grip/

Maybe it'll be a nice discount drone in 6 months or so when GoPro get tired of having a lot of extra stock on their shelves...

I recently tried the PolarPro cinema series ND filter with the hero 5 Black, and they work very well. Here's a little video I did with them.

Short video I shoot with Karma and Hero4 Black.

Owners of the GoPro Karma have been unable to fly their drones since the new year time. The problem is affecting owners all around the globe, and it seems to be related to the recent so-called clock “rollovers” in the GPS and GLONASS satellite systems.

Huh.

EDIT: Karma compass calibration software was outdated. Ignore this posting.

The GPS week counter is 10 bit. But this rolled over in april 2019. And nothing happened to the drone by then.

But at the time I had an issue with my TomTom nav unit not working until I did a firmware update.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/02/12/current_gps_epoch_ends/

Then there's Russia's GLONASS, which eschewed the week number and used a "day number" instead. It resets every four years, with the last reset on New Year's Day, 2020.

The Karma is likely to use both GPS and GLONASS at the same time to improve the positioning system. More satelites means that the positions can be fixed more quickly and accurately which is important for a drone which hoovers in the air.

Since GLONASS resets every 4 years the roll over should not come as a big suprise to a manufacturer like GoPro, however it clearly have caught an issue in the firmware.

Espen

If the later are true it means that the drone needs a constant update to the firmware with new magnetic declination data from NGDC (aka National Geoscience Data Centre) or it will be grounded when the current data table expires...

Steve Mo - A fix exists with an updated magnetic model and it's undergoing testing.

Steve Mo - Espen Braathen you should be happy there is still someone working there who even knows where the code is stored and how to make a customer release. The whole drone team was thrown out like garbage. But some of us still hang out, even though a lot of people went their own separate ways..