Ultimately, the GoPro Karma Gimbal is an ‘OK’ gimbal

GoPro’s Karma Grip motorized gimbal mount was first released as part of the Karma drone kit. Part of the marketed appeal of the GoPro Karma is that it’s more than just a drone. Specifically, it’s a drone that has a removable gimbal to allow you to take the camera/gimbal and attach it to a separate handle (called Karma Grip) that you can use without the drone.

In order to do this, you’ll utilize the lock-ring to unlock the gimbal from Karma the drone, and attach it to the Karma Grip.

Once you’ve done so, you can then lock the Karma Grip itself, ensuring the gimbal stays put:

On the back of the gimbal are four buttons and four LED status lights.  These lights state the battery power of the gimbal, which is charged via USB-C cable.

The other four buttons are used to:

Record button: Start/stop video recording, or take a photo
Mode/Power: Change between photo/video modes, or power on/off the gimbal
Highlight button: Set a highlight tag that GoPro apps can use later to identify something exciting
Lock Orientation button: This is used to lock the orientation of the camera.

This last button is notable as it allows you to keep the camera either level to the ground, or set at a specific orientation.  This is useful when you may want to film something not level with the horizon, such as a bike computer on your handlebars.

The Grip is designed to be able to clip into the Karma mounting ring, which allows you to then mount it to any GoPro compatible mount location.

And example of this is the front of the Seeker backpack, which even has little elastic straps to keep the bottom portion of the gimbal in place.

All of which is solid, even more so since the gimbal is lightly water resistant – meaning it’ll stand up to rain/snow. However the connectors between the camera and the gimbal are not.  Thus it won’t work in the water, and if you have a Hero4, then keep in mind the water resistance there isn’t ideal (whereas the Hero5 is fully waterproofed).

Still, there are some challenges. First is that the gimbal blocks much of the camera’s display screen – thus making it harder to see what you’re filming. Second, it lacks a microphone port, which matters to some folks. On the Hero5, I find the onboard audio so good that it’s rarely needed. But lastly, and most importantly – the gimbal often gets out of whack.

Meaning that the gimbal calibration becomes off kilter, and the image starts to tilt.  This is usually noticeable within as little as 30 seconds of running. Correcting such tilt in post-production afterwards is a pain in the ass.

Ultimately, the GoPro Gimbal/Grip is an ‘OK’ gimbal. It’s just that there are great gimbals available for half the price, and half the weight. Plus those other gimbals are far more flexible in compatibility.

 

 

 

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How to make innovative party videos?Tips you shouldn’t miss

We have seen tons of reunion pictures like these, how about something innovative videos this time?

Freeze the time:

 ‘Share your food’

Pierce through door/fence

Maybe you have seen similar videos before, but they were too complicated to get and required lots of equipment. We are going to show you how to get these just with your smartphone.

PART 1

‘Freeze time’ actually started with Bled matin’s Mannequin Challenge:

【Chinese actress Ma Sichun’s Mannequin Challenge】 ：

This is how it works: everyone freezes and keep still simultaneously, then the camera guy/gal threads through people and get a long-shot.

Difficulty: ★★★☆

Key Points:

1. It is more interesting to include a lot of people, but that gets more difficult, too.
2. The camera guy needs to decide how he/she is going to move the smartphone. Get a few ups and downs to make the video fun to watch.
3. Get one to give commands. When he/she says ‘freeze’, everyone stops moving and the camera man starts to shoot.
4. Shoot in spatial places.
   Recommended editing app：

 iMovie（free）is really good for this. Import your footage into iMovie, you can accelerate a few parts to get the feeling of motion.
PART 2

One GIF we posted earlier has caught much attention.↓↓↓

Many readers asked how we did it. We actually reversed the video.
Difficulty：★★☆

Key Points：

1. Design your actions, imagine what you get after reversing.

Reversed video is：Get off the car→ wear jacket→ wear sunglasses→ walk forward. So when you are shooting, just reverse all actions: Walk backwards→ removing sunglasses→ Take off jacket and toss away → get into the car.

Recommended app：

 ReverseVid（free）supports to shoot in app or import footages for editing.

Be innovative on this one! See this:

Or stir out really cool latte art:

PART3
“Pierce through fences is actually stop-motion animation. Shoot many pictures and turn them into a video.

This one can be very very interesting:

Three guys floating in the video, is actually made of quite some jump-up images. Adjust angles of jump and connect them all—it seems three guys are rotating on brooms.

This video is similar:

This is actually how we shoot piercing through fences.

Key Points:

1. Two actions should be consistent: where the characters are, their action ranges, directions etc.
2. Shoot steadily.

Recommended app：

imotion

Make your videos creative in next party, hope you can have a lot of fun!

 

 

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Though Gopro Karma Grip lack a few more features, it fits my needs

Bought GoPro Karma Grip at end of Nov. Works great with the hero 5 black, great case it comes in. The grip is easy setting up and using, make sure you do update on GoPro site for camera and grip, it recognizes right away when plugging in USB to computer, it directs you every step of way. It is pretty durable and I read complaints on it being noisy, but I don’t have that problem. The device does lack a few more features as the DJI Osmo‘s, but it fits my needs perfectly. I do have a problem with how long it takes to charge, ( hours ), but once it’s charged with the GoPro camera connected, it seems to last a good while. After charging, I had it in case with camera connected about 5 days without use, and the bar lights on the grip were still full. Then I used it to film about a hour straight without pausing, and the light on bar went down only one notch, and the GoPro camera went down from 96percent to 95percent, so it seems to hold charge pretty well ( I also use the GoPro supercharger to charge ).

The stabilization is pretty good, after testing quick movements and light jogging around yard, this produces stabilized video shots, you wouldn’t think so while filming, seems like the footages are jerky, but it’s not.

Now when using this and looking at your filming while recording, the bracket bar does hinder some of your viewing, but it’s not too terrible. I did think though when using the camera off of Karma Grip, it does have good stabilization when you go into menu and set this up, but when you connect the camera on to grip, that stabilization cut’s off and you now use the grip internal stabilizer, would be nice if it could hold camera and grip stabilization, you would even double the stabilization. So when the Karma Grip shuts your camera stabilizer off, you have to remember to set it back in menu when not using the grip. I have not used this in heavy sports action like biking, etc… but it suits my needs when I want to pull out quickly to do some videoing in close quaters and semi fast movements. I can also use my voice commands when using this grip. I would highly recommend this.

Scan GoPro forums and Amazon to discover a long topic of “Karma Grips button’s don’t work”.

“I fully charged the Karma Grip, hooked up my Hero 5 Black and tried to turn it on. The grip showed 4 lights, the stabilizer kicked in but the camera did not turn on. I manually turned on the camera and tried to use the shutter button on the Grip. It did not work.”

“Don’t buy this. I was so looking forward to this stabilizer, as I think the GoPro 5 (which I love) makes the best camera for a stabilizer. But this Karma Grip is so buggy. I turned it on and off 20 times (I counted) and only once, did it turn the camera on, and never could I get the “record” button to work on the grip. I’m all for trying to make things work, but this buggy out of the box is a huge red flag. ”

Many owners have the same issue and returned it for repair.

“I returned my Karma Grip for a replacement, I hope the replacement works, I find the build quality of the grip to be good, it was good to see the grip charging the GoPro but all functions around recording and power on/off where unresponsive.”

I think it’s the firmware problem, maybe firmware update makes it works with the Karma Grip.

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1st impressions of the Karma Grip

When using a camera while traveling or during an outdoor activity, the image has an unfortunate tendency to move in all directions. The Karma Grip stabilizes the image and resolves all shake and right horizon problems. ” With the Karma Grip, everyone can make videos worthy of the Hollywood studios, without any tremor effect! “Said Nicholas Woodman, the founder and CEO of GoPro.

The Karma Grip is a 3-axis handle stabilizer that can be held by hand or attached to a GoPro mount and Karma drone. It is compatible with the new GoPro Hero5 Black, Hero5 session (a few functions less) and Hero4 cameras.

The functions of the Karma Grip

• Record button: Starts or stops video or takes a photo. You can press and hold the record button to power on the gimbal and start recording quickly.
• Mode/Power: Change between photo/video modes, and power on/off the gimbal.
• Highlight button: Quick Set a highlight tag so you can quickly identify it later in your edit.
• Lock Orientation button: This allows you to keep the camera level to the ground or set at a specific orientation or direction.

 

At the end of the handle, the usb port is used to simultaneously connect the karma grip and the camera to recharge the batteries or transfer the images (function not available for the Hero Session). The Karma Grip weighs 486 g (242 g for the stabilizer part and 244 g for the handle).

Under the 4 buttons, we finally find the level of charge of the battery. GoPro could not be simpler.

1st impressions of the Karma Grip

The Karma Grip comes with a sturdy carrying case, an adapter for the Hero5 Black (Sessions and Hero4 adapters are sold separately), a Karma Grip mounting ring on GoPro accessories, a USB-C charging cable and A tether strap and wrist strap. I just regret the mediocre quality of the zip of the case.

The installation of the Hero5 Black camera is childish. There is a flap to be removed on the camera and then the camera is fitted on the stabilizer. Note for the users of Hero4 that the camera is mounted without the box and is therefore not at all watertight. But well, anyway, the Karma Grip is not waterproof either. It is better to avoid using it in the rain or falling too often on skiing.

The handle is impressive and much better than the Feiyu G4 and MG I had previously used with my Hero4 Black.

 

 

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Put GoPro Karma grip gimbal to good use at such a price

( Video via Abe Kislevitz )

The GoPro Karma grip is GoPro’s 1st party gimbal.  For years 3rd parties have made various GoPro gimbals, and they’re pretty awesome. Now with Karma Grip gimbal, GoPro has their own offering.

The Karma Grip Base is officially the piece that holds the Karma gimbal, so basically, it’s the handle. This comes with the Karma drone kit, or can be purchased separately for $299USD. Note, it doesn’t come with a camera – you’ve gotta supply that yourself.  You can see how it pulls out below from the drone and the attaches to the grip base.

The GoPro Karma grip gimbal has controls for shutter buttons, changing camera modes, changing stabilizer angle, and powering the camera on and off. Plus, you can specify highlights on the fly.

A few buttons allow you quick access functionality:

Record button: Starts or stops video or takes a photo. You can press and hold the record button to power on the gimbal and start recording quickly.

Mode/Power: Change between photo/video modes, and power on/off the gimbal.

Highlight button: Quick Set a highlight tag so you can quickly identify it later in your edit.

Lock Orientation button: This allows you to keep the camera level to the ground or set at a specific orientation or direction.

Next, you can then mount the grip to any GoPro compatible mount. For example you could snap it on the GoPro backpacks (Karma Case or Seeker bags), as well as just about any other GoPro mount you’ve got (such as pole mounts or whatever else).

Alongside with the Karma Mounting Ring, which allows you to mount it to existing GoPro mounts and thus put it on things like bars, bikes, and stripper poles. Really, anything roundish. This year they’re planning a Karma Grip extension, which is basically like a giant selfie-stick.

The Karma Grip gets two hours of battery life, and can be recharged using the new GoPro charging accessories as well.

At $300, we certainly think this is an expensive add-on to buy for your GoPro, so make sure you plan on putting it to good use! We also noticed the gimbal does block part of the screen — making it a little harder to see what you’re filming.

We think the Karma Grip is a great bundled bonus when you buy the Karma drone. But separately for $300 is it tech we want? While we like that it gets the job done and works nicely with your GoPro, we do think it’s a little expensive. Keep in mind there are other options out there for under $200 that are also compatible with smartphones.

 

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The Most Complete Instructions on DJI Products and Accessories

DJI has a wide range of products and accessories. The following tables clearly show DJI’s products and compatible accessories. DJI’s product line covers aerial drones and handheld imaging solutions including the Inspire Series (Inspire 1 and Inspire 2), the Phantom Series (Phantom 3, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Pro), the Mavic Pro, the Matrice M600, the Ronin Series (Ronin, Ronin M and Ronin MX) and the Osmo Series (Osmo, Osmo+, Osmo Pro, Osmo Raw and Osmo Mobile), etc.

1. High-end All-in-one Drones— Inspire 1, Inspire 2

2. Consumer Drones— Phantom 3, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Pro

3. Small and Foldable All-in-one Drone—Mavic Pro

4. Professional Aerial Flight Platforms— Matrice M600 Pro

5. Professional Handheld Gimbal Stabilization Systems—Ronin, Ronin M, Ronin MX

6. Consumer Handheld Gimbal Cameras and Stabilization Systems— Osmo, Osmo+, Osmo Pro, Osmo Raw, Osmo Mobile

Through the tables above, I’m sure that you have got a better understanding of DJI’s aerial drones (the Inspire Series, Phantom Series, Mavic and Matrice) and handheld imaging solutions (Ronin Series and Osmo Series). The information may vary, and it is for your reference only.

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