Practice, Practice, Practice

[DMKAlex]

Unlike a pro who uses his equipment every day, or every week, I find myself having to practice using my equipment frequently so I will learn how to operate the equipment and not to forget the tricks I learned. That's particularly true when I have new equipment. You can read hours or watch tens of tutorial videos, but until you take it out and try it out first hand, you don't know what surprises are awaiting you.

The GH6 and the dji RS3 mini are relatively new to me. I had a chance to give them some real test yesterday. I normally go out with my shooting buddy on the weekend, but yesterday I was by myself. I found shooting alone is really good for learning. I can shoot and reshoot the same track until I am happy. With a friend awaiting you to move on put some pressure to rush.

Here's what I get from yesterday's 2-3 hours in Battery Park. That's the kind of video I would shoot when I do my big trip. Let me know how you would improve.

I am going to talk a bit about a few things about the RS3 Mini after this video.





About the RS3 Mini . . .

1. There are 5 follow modes in the touch screen. The M button only gives you 3 modes. The M button picks up the last mode you set on the touch screen. You got to be careful that you might have changed the assignment to the M1, M2 or M3.
2. With the M button controlling the follow modes, I set the touchscreen on the control of the rotary dial. I set it to controlling the aperture but the ISO is on the same screen if I want to change the control of the dial to ISO. And I tried something new . . . I set the camera to auto ISO and shot yesterday's footages. The auto ISO is not as precise as the manual control but it is really good enough. Any minor up/down on exposure can easily be corrected in post, but the auto ISO let me worry about one less thing.
3. The gimbal's ability to set focus is a godsend. Pressing the on/off button halfway focus on the subject, and then hard pressing it would start the shoot. What a natural move!
4. The joystick button is well design and sticks out far so the control can be smooth. But when I hold the gimbal by the handle and walk around, the knuckle at the base of my right thumb would accidentally push the button causing the camera to point upward. I have to reset the camera before my next shoot. It is no big deal. Pressing the trigger twice would reset the camera. But it took me a while to know that I am the one who cause the camera to point to the sky, not a defect.

 

[Sleepymouse]

Nice looking video. I'm afraid I don't care much for the vortex shot as it doesn't really add much and is distracting but overall excellent.

I would like to get more use out of my gimbal but most of my videos are hiking based so I want to go as lightweight as possible. I mainly use a GoPro 9 but have recently got a G100D which I'm hoping to use within it's limitations.

 

[DMKAlex]

Nice looking video. I'm afraid I don't care much for the vortex shot as it doesn't really add much and is distracting but overall excellent.

I would like to get more use out of my gimbal but most of my videos are hiking based so I want to go as lightweight as possible. I mainly use a GoPro 9 but have recently got a G100D which I'm hoping to use within it's limitations.

Whatever equipment you have, you need to use it to keep not forgetting the moves you learned. Unlike stills that require a singular motion (raise the viewfinder to your eye and press the shutter), video with gimbal require coordination of the equipment and you hand, foot and body. It also involves the selection of foreground to frame the subject. If I don't shoot for a month, I would forget all these.

For now, I am still discovering the difference of the new camera (Gh5 vs Gh6) and the new gimbal (Moza Air vs RS3 Mini). There is still new features I am discovering about the RS3 as I use it.

Here's another one of my practice video . . .

 

[ATP62]

What program do you use to edit your videos ?

 

[Sleepymouse]

Another nice video. Just shows practice works. A lot of nice cinematic shots.

 

[DMKAlex]

What program do you use to edit your videos ?

Premiere Pro.

 

[DMKAlex]

Another nice video. Just shows practice works. A lot of nice cinematic shots.

Thank you.

 

[Joe Lynch]

Good example videos! You make some great points. As I get older, it is even harder to remember exactly how to operate various camera bodies and gimbals.

When I got a Sony A1, I was surprised at how limited the IBIS was for video. Quit a shock coming from m43 bodies. I bought a DJI Ronin RS2 to use with the A1 and some heavy zooms. That worked, but the setup was too heavy to be any fun, so I pretty much quit using that combination.

Now I use G9ii and S5iiX bodies for video, both of which have good IBIS, even for video, and the lenses I have for those bodies are light enough to make trying the RS2 again a real possibility. But then I'll have to use it maybe once/week or it will not be any fun when I DO need it!

It would be nice to get some dead smooth walking shots with the Panny bodies. I think I'll try it. Thanks for posting your training exercise videos.

Joe L