Blackmagic Forum

Hi,

I am currently facing the gimbal dilemna for my BMPCC 4K (+smallrig full cage) :

Here are the contenders :
DJI Ronin-S (Essential pack + focus wheel + focus motor) VS. Moza Air 2 (+ iFocus motor, not the newer m version)

I know tons of topics already dealt with this topic ! Tons of YouTube videos as well.
DJI's has its strenghts and so does the Moza Air 2.
But my problem is this time the DJI Ronin is the cheaper one. By 130€ (student discount of 70€). 650 vs 780.

The Moza Air 2 16,8V would help me power my camera for long periods of time. I plan to shoot real estate so I would use it mainly on the gimbal. I can buy 4*3000mAh batteries for 25€ to basically power my BMPCC 4K forever. It also seems it's wayyyy easier to balance with a "better quality" focus motor.

The DJI Ronin has better support, can fit into a "classic" backpack and seems more "high-quality" overall (and might even produce smoother footage ?) but it means I would have to buy lots of LP-E6.

FIY here is my setup for now (starting out in real estate) :
BMPCC 4K + SmallRig full cage with accessories + Gimbal with follow focus (duh) + Laowa 7.5mm + S7 Benro Tripod Kit + T5 1To SSD + 2 extra L6 third party batteries.

The reason I am not going straight for the the Ronin is because I already ordered the Moza Air 2 but it's still processing while they wait for the BMPCC 4K so I can probably cancel it but don't want to if it's a mistake.

I would glady listen to any advice or remark on my setup.

Apologies for my somewhat broken english.
Thank you.

Has Moza ever officially said that they support powering the Pocket 4K from their 16.8V model? I have this model and got it to work but read too many stories about dudes burning out that port so I stopped using it.

Yes, I am one of those "dudes". My first Air 2 smoked after 5 minutes of powering the BMPCC4k with a fully charged LP-E6 inside. I really wish I had got that on video the first time because I won't be trying it again.

I don't know of any but I have not looked since I got the Air 2. Based on what I have seen, either of those would be excellent. I was only commenting that powering the camera should probably not be the deciding factor in your selection based on my experience. Someone in another thread provided a link to a power cable that apparently Moza tech support recommended which implies that they think it should work. When I hear of people doing powering the camera successfully, I might try again.

Hi, I've bought the Moza Air 2 for the reason of powering BMPCC4K through it, and I've used the combo now for a month or so – no problems with powering BMPCC4K from the Air 2 16.8V output. I bought the cable from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07N99XP1G/ref ... uage=en_GB
and it works perfect!

Lauri Astala wrote:Hi, I've bought the Moza Air 2 for the reason of powering BMPCC4K through it, and I've used the combo now for a month or so – no problems with powering BMPCC4K from the Air 2 16.8V output. I bought the cable from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07N99XP1G/ref ... uage=en_GB
and it works perfect!

Good to hear that it's working for you!

What kind of battery life are you getting out of the moza batteries while also powering the Pocket 4k?

I know Feiyu-Tech's AKs are great gimbals with a good value .. and so are Zhiyun's Crane for that matter. But I also heard a lot of mixed reviews about those products which is why I chose to focus on the Ronin or the Moza. Sure there is no perfect gimbal but you have to start making choices at some point, doesn't mean they are lesser gimbals of course.

My first Air 2 smoked after 5 minutes of powering the BMPCC4k with a fully charged LP-E6 inside

. I've heard about gimbal ports issues on the 12v but are you telling me the 16.8v is also causing problems ?! I've been looking for feedback on the new revision but have yet to find someone with a 16.8v version stating their gimbal or port died.

The Moza Air 2 + BMPCC4K runs about 2hours (not recording) with the Moza batteries. I've been much more happy with the gimbal batteries than with the less-than-an-hour canon batteries in BMPCC4K. And using gimbal batteries keeps the set lighter.
One important thing to remember is to take out the camera battery while using the 16.8V power feed – then it doesn't consume extra current trying to charge BMPCC4K battery!
Again, no problems with using the 16.8V power feed. It's so much easier to change the gimbal batteries than ripping off the camera from the gimbal each time to change camera batteries. To change the gimbal batteries you just open the gimbal battery cover, and no need to disassemble the set. Good to have couple of battery sets for a longer shoot, of course.
I've had some drifting problems with my Moza Air 2, but Moza is going to replace it and it's on the way.

Thanks for the response, Lauri. Maybe this is what caused Harold's problem earlier since he left the battery in the camera.

Thanks Lauri. I thought that having the battery in the camera would reduce what it drew from the gimbal. I just might try again without the battery now that I know you have had success with it.

Australian Image wrote:This is an example of why DJI and Moza are seemingly the best gimbals available: https://tinyurl.com/y5x7zw5m. A kickstarter campaign for a very expensive travel tripod reached over US$12 million in a matter of a month or so due to constant marketing in just about every photo and video website and YouTube review.

It's all about marketing, to the point that these things become ingrained in people's minds and all else is ignored. It almost doesn't matter whether there is a superior or equivalent product on the market, people simply don't even consider it because it's not promoted on every website and video.

It’s true that you get better chance selling a product if the marketing is right and hit the right user group. Not only may it draw customers away from other potential items, even perhaps better ones... but the real problem occurs when you have thousands of reviews clouding other products that have few or none. Would you put your money on an item that is not reviewed or “tested”? It’s a paradox.

Yes. But I have to confess that I sometimes get fooled by reviews... until they “happen to” not mention big drawbacks that I already know about . It’s upsetting and more than a white lie.

Online advertising is unregulated.
Before I purchased my first gimbal I extensively researched the options on Youtube and through online bloggers. Most fell in favour of the (original) Moza Air. This was just before the Ronin was announced.
So I bought one online - I live in a rural location.
First day I spent all day trying to achieve some basic steady footage. But it was polluted with micro-jitters. On the second morning I turned it on and the motor just went crazy, spinning and wobbling uncontrollably.
I was about to start an important project, so I drove 2.5 hours to the dealer to show them what was happening and to presumably get a lesson in what I was doing wrong. But the tech took the gimbal off me, muttered something like 'I wish we didn't sell them' and replaced it with a Zhiyun Crane and a partial refund to my credit card.
I know from my music industry..... 99% of the online reviewers, all they do is online reviews. They aren't in bands, they haven't made records, they don't play live shows. So pretty much everything they review is never stress tested.

My Ronin S and BMPCC4K work well together. Balances perfectly using a Smallrig full cage and their counterbalance. Camera is fes power from the Ronin via a Cinemagear cable.

I have done several shoots now with the BMPCC4 and RoninS. I use a 3rd party cable to go from one of the 2 "12V out" on the Ronin into "the A/C in" recharge socket with a Canon battery in place, and for me it has worked great. The Ronin handle battery runs the whole rig for about 2 hours, and I have 2. The only downside is they take several hours to recharge. I may get another battery if I encounter another shoot calling for lots of movement.

I am happy to report that since someone else posted that they have successfully powered the BPMCC4k from the Moza Air 2, and since my Tilta full cage arrived, I tested powering the camera with the Moza Air 2 and it is working very well. (Unlike my last Air 2 which took up smoking.)

Someone said that the battery should not be in the camera when it is powered by the gimbal. That may have been the issue. Removing it had two interesting side effects. It slightly lowered the weight so I need to change my setup to re-balance, and, since the BMPCC4k has a physical power switch and not a soft button, I just leave the switch on and the camera powers up when the gimbal is powered up. Very cool.

I am using Moza's follow focus from the gimbal so the only thing I am missing from the gimbal is record control. I have an app on my watch for that.

Great report, Harold. If you see any additional power problems once you get additional time with that setup, please let us know. Thanks!

Does anybody know how to recognize if your Moza air 2 is one of the early 12v or the latest 16.8v models?

I can only say that my current one says "16.8v out" on the rubber cover to the barrel socket. I did not know about the difference before returning the first one so I have no idea what it had.

in the end, I, OP, went for the Moza Air 2. Directly from gudsen paying in dollars with the euro change rate it cost me 488€ for the Air 2 and I focus m bundle. Had to pay 25 euros of import for the ifocus which came from China. I will receive it shortly and tell you guys about my experience : horizon drift, powering the pocket 4k etc.
If I am not mistaken 12v (v1) or 16.8v (v2) should be written on the power port. On the rubber protector thing.

@Harold, I’m happy you got the power feed working. It has worked well for me too.
I mentioned that the battery should be removed from the camera while powering it via the Moza Air 2, because that prevents from drawing additional/unnecessary power from the gimbal. However, I had a believe Moza Air 2 (at least the latest 16.8V model) has a safety circuit to prevent excess power (shutting down the gimbal when the amperage grows too high) – but don’t take this as a truth, I just remember reading this from somewhere.

With the earlier 12V model it might have been different story. (In fact I believe having read in this forum someone had burned the regulated 12V output and then soldering a bypass letting the “unregulated” 16.8V to the same output socket.) So, maybe you had the 12V model and the battery inside the Pocket 4K.

Harold Tomlinson wrote:... and, since the BMPCC4k has a physical power switch and not a soft button, I just leave the switch on and the camera powers up when the gimbal is powered up. Very cool.

I've been using that method too, but have a small doubt whether it's good for the camera. Does anybody have an idea if it makes any "safety" difference, if Pocket 4K is shut off from camera's power switch or just cutting the power feed / detaching power cable?

That detaching power cable question is a good one. Maybe Kristian Lam can confirm that it's not an issue.