lwestfall

It's hard to beat the Crane and the a6500 for a relatively affordable and compact stabilized autofocus high-detail rig. (Which has never overheated for me with the high-temp setting on - I just ignore the warning icon.) And yes, your setup will work. My similarly hefty and jerry-rigged Zhiyun Crane V1 setup actually balances and articulates quite well, even with a Breakthrough X4 ND 6-stop ND filter and the lens hood on that hefty 18-35/1.8 lens and with my Church Audio Ugly 2 Preamp and CA-14 Cardioid Mics mounted on top of my a6500 with 3M Extreme Mounting Tape. With the Arca Swiss plate under my a6500 it's easy to switch between my RRS QR tripod mount QR and the gimbal's SunwayFoto DDC-60LR QR Clamp, and I like keeping a Cullmann 50081 Magnesit Copter Multi-Tripod at the base for setting the gimbal down or using it as a little boom. I just hooked my recently obtained USB cable up too, and it's nice to have smooth Clear Image Zoom and Record controls handy. I too have thought of attaching a SmallHD Focus (and my LED light panel) to the handle. Thanks for the idea for that clamp arm.

What do you think of rolling shutter correction in PP 2017?

I don't think it takes much pixel peeping to see the obvious resolution advantage of 6k oversampling in the a6500/a6300 over the crop 1:1 pixel 4k options out there: https://***URL removed***/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr29_0=sony_a7sii&attr29_1=canon_eos1dxii&attr29_2=panasonic_dmcg85&attr29_3=sony_a6300&attr72_0=4k&attr72_1=c4k&attr72_2=4k&attr72_3=4k&normalization=full&widget=378&x=0.4307963787018565&y=-0.174296745725317 And once you put a Metabones Speed Booster on with some sharp fast Canon/Sigma primes, the stabilized full-frame look and detail/resolution is hard to beat, especially for the price. Yes I think it's easier to get good skin tone color out of Canons, but with a little practice one can get similar results with Sony. I think a lot of people are just fed up with Canon holding back so much in every camera they put out anywhere close to this price range.

I've been interested in attaching things to the handle but haven't come up with the best way yet. Perhaps something like the Daisho gimbal clamp system mentioned in the other thread by Cinegain or a long plate system or the upcoming two-handle attachment for the Crane. In any case I don't see much reason to get the smaller Crane-M if there's any possible chance in the future you'd ever want to use a larger camera/lens combo on it. FYI with the new "5D" firmware for stabilizing the pitch for heavier lenses, the Crane is now smooth and stable (including pitch which was previously bouncy) in ALL modes with my 70D + Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 Art! (755g + 811g = 1566g!) You can see before & after in another person's setup.

I finally got the new firmware installed (make sure you plug your USB cable into the handle, not the pitch motor housing up top), and now the gimbal is indeed smooth and stable (including pitch which was previously bouncy) in ALL modes with my 70D + Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 Art! (755g + 811g = 1566g!) Yippee!

The download finally barely worked! Now to install it and try it out! CP210x_Windows_Drivers.zip Zhiyun_Gimbal_Tools_for_Windows_v1.2.0.zip

Does it just not allow for full range of motion? I know with the 18-35/1.8 (which I think is heavier and longer) I have to remove the eyecup from my 70D to allow it to move freely. But your GH4 + adapter may be deeper than my 70D. I think you may need to use an adapter with a tripod mount to center the weight better. Did you get the new firmware working to confirm it can at least stay smooth? Zhiyun sent me the firmware via a Facebook message but they haven't sent the Tools yet.

Still can't get the Tools to download, but it looks like someone has already tested it and posted a before & after video, and it looks excellent!

Once I have the firmware installer for Windows, I will try out my 70D + 18-35/1.8 and 70D + 50/1.4 Art. Can you download them and post them here? (I'm guessing you'll have the same connection problems with their site right now, likely due to traffic for this upgrade.)

Great news! Looks like their site can't handle the traffic now! Maybe someone who got it can post a mirror? Wait - It finally downloaded! Here it is! Crane Firmware V1.50 5D RC2.zip Oh, but the Windows USB driver & Tools links aren't working...

Actually now it's the Aputure DEC Vari-ND (electronic variation from 3 to 11 stops allegedly without color casts) that looks like it will be the first to market (maybe they bought the tech from Genus?), supposedly by the end of the year! http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/09/10/ibc-2016-hands-on-with-aputures-impressive-dec-electronic-variable-nd-for-canon-ef-to-e-mount/ http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/09/09/ibc-2016-aputure-electronic-variable-nd-dec-canon-mirrorless-lens-adaper/

Oops, the Kipon does 7 stops (1.5 to 7) . (I was confused by the "4 step range" wording in the exclusive distributor's Adorama ad and an older announcement on DPReview) Also, although removing the filter is possible, you lose infinity focus. The Fotodiox goes from 1 to 8.5 stops, the variable ND filter is not removable, and the ring is geared. I would be interested in seeing a comparison between the color casts these two adapters cause. Still looking forward to how this more advanced (but unfortunately much pricier) electronic version will do, since it provides FS5 level functionality and full wireless controls to Canon EF lenses (like the Aputure DEC does): http://www.newsshooter.com/2016/02/24/bve-2016-the-end-genus-show-electronic-nd-control-for-sony-e-mount-cameras/

Looks like the Kipon only does 4 stops vs. 8 on the Fotodiox, but at least the filter is removable from the adapter, unlike the Fotodiox.

Oh no, I hope that doesn't mean that the only way to record for more than 16 minutes is to turn IBIS off... Sad that so many work-arounds have to be done to exploit the amazing potential of this flaming little beast. And hopefully it doesn't go the way of the Note 7...

Sweet, it's official! So the answer for me to the question of high-quality full-frame 4k (that doesn't break the bank) is the a6500 with the EF Metabones Speed Booster.

I'm looking at the EF-to-E Speed Booster because I have Canon glass, and the A-mount lens line-up is not that inviting... Maybe the 5-axis-stabilized non-overheating a6500 will materialize soon...

How about the 1.5x-crop a6300 with the 0.71x EF-to-E Metabones Ultra Speedbooster, giving 1.065x, basically full frame 4k with full-frame depth-of-field results on Canon glass? Plus the Speedbooster gives an extra stop of light and even increases effective lens resolution. But although the June firmware helped AF, but there are still AF issues with some lenses. Looks like the a6300 (with its 6k-to-4k oversampling/full-sensor readout) delivers currently unbeatable resolution: https://***URL removed***/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr29_0=sony_a7sii&attr29_1=canon_eos1dxii&attr29_2=sony_a7rii&attr29_3=sony_a6300&attr72_0=4k&attr72_1=c4k&attr72_2=4k&attr72_3=4k&normalization=full&widget=378&x=0.4307963787018565&y=-0.174296745725317 https://***URL removed***/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr29_0=sony_a7sii&attr29_1=canon_eos1dxii&attr29_2=sony_a7rii&attr29_3=sony_a6300&attr72_0=4k&attr72_1=c4k&attr72_2=4k&attr72_3=4k&normalization=full&widget=378&x=0.22088384225870783&y=-0.5714285714285713

Anyone have both (and an EF adapter) to do a direct comparison?

Obviously the 1DX II blows the a6300 away in numerous other ways. I just didn't realize till recently the technical difference they have in resolution was so huge. Even with significant sharpening of the natively unsharpened 1DX II image, you can tell the 6k-to-4k oversampling of the a6300 still delivers so much more detail. It's a shame to see the notorious soft Canon demosaicing present even in the 1DX II where I thought Canon pulled out all the stops. And I wonder when anyone other than Sony (and Samsung with the NX1 which doesn't quite match the a6300) will offer that apparent revolution-for-4k-resolution feature of 6k-to-4k oversampling of full sensor readout... (and without overheating. )

Wow, 1DX II resolution looks horrible here compared to the 4k resolution king a6300: https://***URL removed***/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr29_0=canon_eos1dxii&attr29_1=sony_a6300&attr72_0=c4k&attr72_1=4k&normalization=full&widget=369&x=0.4158286635449449&y=-0.1637596899224805

Exactly, it's such a love-hate relationship Canon (and really every other manufacturer) forces us into. Nothing can autofocus in video like Canon DPAF. But unfortunately there is much less 4k detail in the 5D Mark IV vs. the GH4 and especially a6300: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n7Qvu1KMt8 I haven't seen yet how the 1DX Mark II compares, but I'm guessing it's the same, since there is still no oversampling involved. The a6300 is pretty quick at autofocus in video but doesn't make the transitions as smoothly as Canon DPAF (or even the equally high-res NX1, although the NX1 loses focus way too much: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqon9ZRx9r8 There is some hope in the E-M1 II and a99 II, but they still don't have the complete superfine super AF coverage that Canon DPAF has. But since the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Note 7 have nice DPAF too, I don't see why no one else is doing it in ILCs. Such a shame there's no NX1 Mark II on the horizon...

So I came across a video of someone who had the same bouncing pitch issue using the 18-35mm on an a6300 with the MC-11 adapter (a total of 1490g, just a little less than my 70D setup but just as front-heavy) on the Crane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSOvOESAwHM The brilliant thing is, he figured out that using the third mode on the Zhiyun smartphone app ("Full") does indeed provide stability even though the first two modes are unstable. (Unfortunately it seems only the first two modes are accessible via the built-in joystick...) So I tried the Full follow mode with my 70D, and it's stable!!! Hallelujah! So I won't need to get an a6000 or anything else just to use this setup. And whenever I move to the GH5 + Speedbooster (about the same weight), the Sigma 18-35/1.8 should be usable on the Crane in this mode too!

I think that the 6K photo burst extraction feature is actually a tip off to the GH5 doing 6K full uncropped (<2x of FF) 16:9 sensor width readout and down-sampling to 4k, which hopefully matches the a6300's high-res detail. There's no reason to write off the possibility of external 10-bit 4:2:2 4k60p. I'm still nervous it might not have IBIS or good on-sensor PDAF.

Yeah, or even the lighter EOS M2 or M1

Exactly. I was bummed because stabilizing the 18-35/1.8 would be awesome, but I guess (at least on my 70D) it's just a little too long & front-heavy for the Crane to do well. (Too much torque)