Device to record gyro data for old cameras

[Clark Nikolai]

Last year I experimented with a Digital Bolex and an iOS app that recorded the gyroscopic data from the phone. I took the footage and the phone's sensor data in Gyroflow software and was able to stabilize the footage. It worked well and I was impressed by it but cumbersome in the field to shoot with as you have to start the app and then start rolling the camera, it was more trouble than it was worth for me at that time so I didn't continue with it. 

Now I hear about this new product called Niyien Senseflow A1. A tiny little thing that you can put in your cold shoe and only have to start it once per day. Seems pretty neat. I'm pondering getting one and trying it out. I'll let you know how it goes. Does anyone on here have one and can give their experience with it?

 

[FHDcrew]

I've been using it extensively with my Canon R6!  Really cool device.  Definitely one of the best gyro loggers I have used.  It substantially reduces the inconvenience of using an external gyro logger; on supported cameras it will read lens info and focal length from the metadata, eliminating the need for you to make custom lens profiles or be at super specific focal lengths.   You create two sync files, then you let the Niyien A1 record continuously.  You then can just record as normal on your camera.  The Niyien tool will auto sync everything!  I ran into a few issues at first, but they were eliminated by making sure I was using a fast enough micro SD card and adding a 1.0 sec sync offset to the gyro data in Niyien tool; seems without that the gyro data will slowly drift.  I think it's just a timing thing with the R6.  But yeah, it works great.  I personally have a very solid heel-toe walk and handheld technique, so for me with careful walking I can use the Niyien A1 and reduce the sensitivity down to 2-4%.  This has two advantages; #1, I can drop my shutter speed as low as 1/60.  This looks very close to 1/50 or 1/48 for 24p footage, effectively giving me natural motion blur in camera.  With careful movements and low sensitivity, there is not too much motion blur artifacts, so it lets me have a near 180 degree shutter! 1/125 shutter for 4k60 stuff works great.  Again, I have a very very solid handheld walk so this works for me.  #2, when keeping the smoothness at around 2-4%, the crop is very minimal, around 1.2-1.3x.  That's not bad at all.  Almost all of the video below was filmed on my Canon R6 using the Niyien A1.  The final sequence was actually all 24p footage with a 1/60 shutter!