3 Hidden Features/Tricks In The Ronin-SC And Ronin-S

Photographer Josh Yeo just released a video showing how you can do a few interesting and somewhat less known things with both of DJI’s most recent pro gimbals.

DJI recently announced the more compact Ronin-SC gimbal (see review) and together with the larger Ronin-S both gimbals have some interesting (and powerful) capabilities. Josh was able to find three less known tricks (one is a feature and the other two you can essentially do with most similar gimbals who has a motor).

Programmed motion control – while you can do normal “live” motion control with the Ronin SC and the smartphone app, Josh is talking about pre-programmed moves. You should try this with the gimbal and do a step by step – it can be a bit complex but the result seems really nice (focusing, on the other hand, might be a bit tricky).
Follow focus VND – this is something that you can do with many gimbals that have a follow focus and a controller by putting the gears on the VND and you can use them on the go ND change as you move for example from outside to inside.
Power zoom – again this is not new (or technically hidden) just another thing that you can do with any gimbal that has a follow focus system – instead of connecting the follow focus motor to the focus ring – put it on the zoom ring (The larger Ronin S is probably more ideal for larger/heavier zoom lenses here) and you can do a dolly zoom which is a really cool effect (you might be able to do this in the post but if you can pull this one in the camera it will typically look better (just put the zoon to the max and change the zoom as you move forward to create a sort of a push-pull look).

We already mentioned The pricing for the JI Ronin-SC in our review but here they are again – a basic version sells for $439 and a “Pro” kit with a follow focus motor and controller for $539 (the Ronin S starts at $560).

Bonus video – Josh on making smoother B-roll shots with the mini pro Segway

By the way, Segway now has a newer version of the Mini Pro called Ninebot S which might function a little bit better.

You can watch more HDSLR and video techniques on our dedicated HDSLR channel here on LensVid.

Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.