We’ve been trying to incorporate gimbal shots into more of the videos we make recently. It’s still sort of a new toy, so it shows up at each shoot in part because it’s a novel item, in part so I can become familiar with it, and in part to add more moving shots to our work. Here are my thoughts so far.

First, it’s strenuous to operate. We’re using a Ronin S with a Sony A7sII, so it’s not a lot of weight, but after a couple hours of ninja walking with the camera held at chest height my arms and legs begin to burn. Again, the rig I’m using – a third-party handle, a small monitor, and a photo lens – is not a lot of combined weight, so I can’t even imagine how exhausting it is to operate a larger gimbal with a cinema setup. I could probably stand to work on my form, but that being said, I don’t think I see myself using the gimbal without occasional breaks.

What do I think in terms of its usefulness on a shoot? Well, that depends. I don’t think it replaces other equipment. If you want a gliding shot, a slider will do it better. If you’re standing in one spot and tilting and panning, you should stick with a tripod. I don’t think the gimbal replaces the equipment that gives you those rock solid shots. I think it’s amazing for following or orbiting around a subject, but I also think if you over use that kind of footage every video you make will end up looking like a music video. I think that kind of footage works great as an accent, not as a centerpiece. I find it’s also more difficult to compose movement (obviously) and relying on moving shots that aren’t really progressing the story or saying something with their movement is sort of tacky.

I’m not trying to put this piece of equipment down though. During the tunnel shoot at Tamagawa Daishi, I realized a great application for the gimbal: it’s small enough to fit in a tunnel. Lugging a tripod and a slider in the tunnel for some moving shots would have been such an enormous pain in the neck and setting up for each shot would have taken so much time. I feel a bit of gratitude towards the gimbal for allowing me to whiz through the tunnel and grab the shots I needed without having to pause and a setup equipment or accidentally knock over some statuary.