r/videography • u/camera_Niko • 1d ago

How do I do this? / What's This Thing? Any ideia what rig he is using? That's a gimbal?

Gallery image

Gallery image

It looks like a ronin....

59 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

76

u/LizardDruid 1d ago

Probably a Letus Helix Jr

29

u/boxofrabbits 1d ago

Been a loooong time since I heard that name.

9

u/fl3xtra 1d ago

dvx user?

8

u/boxofrabbits 1d ago

yeah boi, also HV20 with a home made m42 adaptor. Strange days.

7

u/Zorlal BMP6K | Premiere/DaVinci Resolve | 2010 | Philly 1d ago

Dear lord, just seeing someone type HV20 made me really nostalgic. I remember choosing between a Canon HF S100 and an HV20 in 2009. Like wondering if I should go tape or digital lol.

4

u/boxofrabbits 1d ago

I put so much work into building lens adaptors with ground glass on vibrating guitar wires chasing that cinematic look high now that we had 24p. Then a friend got a 5dMk2 and it was like...ah yeah thats that gone. Learned a lot about optics though.

2

u/readysteadi 18h ago

Fun times! My first diy rig was a medium format bronica camera with the dvx focused on a custom ground glass. Eventually owned 2 letus adapters. But yeah, the 5D killed all the fun. Still have at least one of my adapters though

4

u/fl3xtra 1d ago

dvx user alumni here! gold era, man. golden era.

4

u/TopHatSasquatch 1d ago

I’ve still got my trusty HV20

3

u/Abracadaver2000 Sony FX3| Adobe Premiere CC| 2001 | California 1d ago

Holy guacamole. I pretty much forgot about that site...and had to log in again just to see if it was still active. Indeed, it's a blast from the past. Jogged my brain way back to the days of dial-up and BBS.

12

u/rektkid_ 1d ago

That thing was on my list of desires for a lonnnnnnng time

1

u/hughwhitehouse 18h ago

I still have an ebay alert that goes off every couple of years reminding me of what could have been. Sign.

5

u/FedeGuendel FX3 A7RV A7IV | DaVinci | 2023 | Paris 1d ago

TIL
Thanks for the answer man

1

u/ulose2piranha 1d ago

TIL what a Letus Helix Jr is!

Soooo many confidently incorrect people in this thread! 🤣

2

u/Impossible-Moose-940 1d ago

I remember shooting with a Canon 7D Mk ii on one of these

11

u/Horror_Ad1078 1d ago

Always wanted to use one of these in the old days. I still hate gimbals because of their akward ergonomic design - this thing just looks way more intuitive to handle and operate - but I am a man of no clue - so hear me Reddit!! Is there someone who used this thing - tell me about it - tell me the difference - tell me it’s good! I will drink a beer and read your long and detailed review

7

u/isthataneagleclaw 1d ago

I had one for awhile. it was way harder to balance than the modern gimbals but once you have it properly balanced I loved the way the handles tilt and control the movement

5

u/paintedro 1d ago

A company I worked for had one. I used it once and it was really not that great. Balancing took forever and required attaching weight to the rig in certain places. I brought my Ronin the next time

1

u/Rambalac Sony FX3, Mavic 3 | Resolve Studio | Japan 17h ago

This thing is a gimbal. 

7

u/Gandosh Camera Operator 1d ago

My dumbass clicked on that playbutton couple of times, turned on off my airplane mode, restarted reddit....

5

u/mart_rt 1d ago

Bro, opening the comments has never been harder before 😂

8

u/Likeabhas 1d ago

Maybe he's carrying like a weird shoulder/back injury and this position is easier on him

And so happens he owns a rig that helps maintain that arm position.

Y'all gotta be kinder and give the benefit of the doubt more

2

u/0_Artistic_Thoughts 1d ago

It’s a gimbal, just not a consumer model people are familiar with

1

u/Rambalac Sony FX3, Mavic 3 | Resolve Studio | Japan 17h ago

It's not not a consumer, it's just old design from gimbals wild epoch. 

4

u/Sxpck1 1d ago

Aw man I miss this crazy thing. I had one for my old BMCC 2.5k. It definitely will wear you out though

4

u/R4csol 1d ago

Letus Gimbal

3

u/FedeGuendel FX3 A7RV A7IV | DaVinci | 2023 | Paris 1d ago

lol. I had the same idea to post it here a couple of days ago but decided to not care lol

Thank you for asking though

1

u/h0g0 1d ago

Not a great stabilizer anymore, but by far the best form factor

1

u/makersmarkismyshit S5IIX & GH6 | Davinci Resolve | 2010 | US 19h ago

It's an old Letus Helix Jr, which was like the original consumer gimbal before DJI type gimbals were really a thing.

1

u/Smooth-Increase2035 17h ago

Cuál es la necesidad de hacer algo más estorboso cuando lo más importante de este trabajo es la ligereza

-16

u/codenamegizm0 1d ago

Not a gimbal. Just side handles. A lot of extra shit on it for no reason

12

u/TheOtterSpotter 1d ago

No it is an old gimbal design called a helix. Super cool to use.

-6

u/bubba_bumble Z-Cam E2-S6 | Resolve | 2016 | Kansas, USA 1d ago

Yeah. That's what i was thinking. 15mm rods on the bottom but no focus gear or mattebox to support?

-6

u/codenamegizm0 1d ago

Yeah I'm not clowning on the side handles, that's fine. But the 90° rods behind the camera? I wonder what that could be for

1

u/ulose2piranha 1d ago

That's how you adjust the height.

1

u/bubba_bumble Z-Cam E2-S6 | Resolve | 2016 | Kansas, USA 1d ago

Height of what?

1

u/ulose2piranha 1d ago

Sorry, the Y axis.

0

u/GreensladeFuchsia 1d ago

"bloat" in medical terms

-8

u/Commercial_Care_1552 1d ago

Looks like a DJI ronin with the gimbal head attached to a plattform and side handles

3

u/Southern_Leg1139 1d ago

Pretty interesting actually. Brings the center of gravity down a lot lower making it more stable (plus side grips) and is probably less straining too. People saying it’s goofy probably obsess over YouTube gear builds, like who cares what it looks like if its function

3

u/0_Artistic_Thoughts 1d ago

It’s a letus gimbal

-11

u/NOB1WON Sony A6400 | 2021 | Milwaukee 1d ago

Naw, cam would be much higher. It’s just a normal cam build with a cage and rails and some side grips

7

u/ulose2piranha 1d ago

It's not. It's actually a gimbal that other people have named.

-14

u/Wonderful-Cat-447 1d ago

Looks goofy as shit 😂

10

u/Southern_Leg1139 1d ago

Who cares if it works

-1

u/Wonderful-Cat-447 1d ago

Just seems like a bunch of extra bulk and weight that could have been attached directly to the cage instead

-8

u/Worsebetter 1d ago

Dork bott 3000 - shoot up your nose edition

-10

u/Wonderful-Baker-6650 1d ago

Camera cage with gimbal grips or something? Not sure how functional that would be lol. Like mounting to a tripod and then removing the legs

-9

u/packhowl FX9 | PPro, AEP, Resolve, Unreal Engine | Austin TX 1d ago

This lady’s reaction to it is all you need to know.

1

u/Icy_Music_4855 Camera Operator 11h ago

He has to remove a hand to manipulate the camera causing a big shake in the footage. So I guess he’s running full auto settings? For a wedding, that’s difficult to rely on.