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Pilotfly H1 and H2 3 axis handheld gimbals
  • 152 Replies sorted by
  • @ntsan: This setup looks really great. That's what I want to use.

    Would you please share about your experience with balancing and post some clip? How is the back screen visibility for framing? How long lasts the battery with this rather heavy setup?

  • Hi all, I am about to pull the trigger on ordering this from CopterRC, would someone share some feedback on the buying process, do you get a confirmation for when it be shipped? also, why they discounted by 10% but charge around 85$ for shipping? that is mad, who they are using to ship it? I had sent an email over 3 weeks to the email on CopterRC website but there is no reply, thus I am not that encouraged to buy specially that it will cost over probably over £750 (UK pounds)

  • To the us the shipping seems to be via FedEx.

  • its an awkward payment process but i payed through paypal, got a confirmation order number. Just got confirmation that its been posted. Looking forward to seeing how it compares to the nebula, I'm hoping its an upgrade with the stronger motors. postage is usually courier express thats why its that expensive. ive paid similar for other devices delivered.

  • My Pilofly H1 just shipped, once I receive my BMPCC back from Blackmagic I will post some test videos.

  • wrong price point for outdated 8bit controller, anyways glad for you guys. please share your experiences with this new toy. Guess I will wait for 32bit version.

  • The Nebula 4000 is close to the price of the Pilotfly H1 however, the 4000 seems to be a better value, extra battery, case, etc... But we will see about the performance and how quick to set up the H1 compared to the 4000.

    Remember 4000 is also 8bit, the next step up seems to be those dual handheld gimbals which are 32bit.

    Payment was rather painless for me, Paypal is no problem and I only had one choice for shipping to North America which is FedEx. They dont come cheap from anywhere.

  • I am not sure about you guys but I do see a big potential for handheld 3 axis gimbals, there is not enough competition to make the price more reasonable I would say around 400$. If there would be just other two models around will push the prices down to a more reasonable level, I guess if this is introduced to the masses when demand will flow and so does the supply everybody will benefit from this including manufacturers. Pilotfly H1 is surely a fine design but it lacks motivation to do better due to next to no-competition. We are in an age where special video equipment is becoming mainstream and this will push manufacturers for next level innovations that will truly make difference.

  • I am sure the future will be better as always, if you can wait for that perfect stuff then its good for you! some of us need it for the jobs so can't really wait, and the gimbal already paid for itself for the job anyway, so not much of extra expense to be honest. But yeah a 32bit @ $500 will be awesome.

    @dmz that pic is not mine, just found it on the net. But I do have NX1 and will try the lens from 8mm 2.8 fisheye to 45mm 1.8 lens.

  • I am not sure about you guys but I do see a big potential for handheld 3 axis gimbals, there is not enough competition to make the price more reasonable I would say around 400$.

    It used to be difficult to find a matte box for less than $800 not too long ago. Those that were less than this were cheap plastic. Not the decent kit you can find these days but really toy-like plastic. I think it was Redrock Micro that was one of the first outfits to offer a decent follow-focus that didn't cost as much as a prosumer camera too.

    It'll happen.

  • I just took delivery of the Pilotfly H1. Spent the last 4 hours immersing myself but I'm getting steady footage with GH4+DG 25mm f1.4 + Zuiko 14-42mm vII. Here's some rough footage:

    I'm convinced to ditch my slider and Syrp Genie.

  • I'm struggling to balance my BMPCC + SLRMagic 12mm 1.4. Very front heavy and I can't push back the camera further back to get the centre of gravity which is on the lens.

  • Atlasman,

    Thank you for the footage, however we cant judge the effectiveness of the stabilization until you do some sort of longer clip around over 30 sec of continuous walking for example, or even a fast walk.

  • @retrospective might want to try mounting via a lens collar if possible. I'm betting this thing isn't going to be appropriate for shooting with an anamorphic adapter.

  • @BurnetRhoades I had to use those small Manfrotto quick release plate as an extension and it was just barely balanced lol. If I had to use a heavier lens, I would need a longer quick release plate to be able to back it up more as I plan to in the future.

    I seriously messed the initial calibration of my H1 since I had no idea what I was doing but PilotFly support was very quick to answer all my questions and gave me profiles for SimpleBGC to revert back to the original settings. So far, amazed with their support. :)

    Test tomorrow! Video test!

  • I too am pleased with their support.

    At the moment, I'm struggling to achieve inverted mode—and the current prescribed procedure doesn't allow the GH4 to be inverted. I was able to get the E-M5 to work but that's not the cam intended for the Pilotfly H1.

    Adygadam, the immersion depth of this unit is huge, so I'm still struggling with baby steps.

  • I have updated the video with the addition of two clips and the end of the footage. adygadam wanted to see some walking footage. Still not there but have a look for yourself.

  • Got mine today, it can handle the Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 which nebula 4000 can't.. so happy! Thought I need to tune PID more to make it smoother.

    It didn't have bluetooth unlike the Nebula which is a bummer, but it have hard stop to prevent cable twisting on the pan motor which is quite thoughtful, it have toggle switch to control the tilt of camera which is useful, Nebula 4000 doesn't have switch/joystick to control camera movement at all.

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  • My first test with NX1

  • Bluetooth ID is wefly or pilotfly_h1 for first batch. password code is 1234

  • Hi Yanher, I had checked your website and it is down, any reason why ?

  • Is there a way to go into an upside down mode?

  • From pilotfly "you need to assign "Inverse YAW motor" to your mode button. when camera inverted from roll axis. you need to press mode button to change yaw direction of rotation."

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  • There's a video that Pilotfly has produced showing the procedure for inverted mode.

    From what I understand, you must start up the unit in it's regular orientation, hold the gimbal firm and rotate arm counter-clockwise to inverted, then click to assigned inverse Yaw function.

    The implication of this procedure is the camera has to be small enough during the rotation. The GH4 is not small enough. The E-M5 can be used but not without some tricky maneuvering.

    For me, the inverted position is most useful and most stable for higher speed motion.

  • I wrote on Pilotfly's Facebook and asked what kind of batteries you can use and they said you can use "3s 11.1V Lipo" batteries. It doesn't look as clean so I'm looking around for alternatives. Is anyone using the Nebula 4000 external battery to prolong the life on their Pilotflys? Or are using a different method? What kind of battery life are you guys getting? 2 hours? 1 hour?

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