Hi folks...short note after less than 24h, 1300 views and 20 comments: Thank you all for your reply. I appreciate that. And its a bit funy, that some criticize my Ronin shots ;-) Of couse, I can handle my Glidecam better. But this was NOT my point. I want to show there are still some good reasons for the Glidcam systems: Camerasize, preptime, run&gun shooting style, the "look"....he watch my film. Enjoy your day, be nice, and keep filming Cheers Stefan

Thank you so much for shining light on this subject !!, i love technology and i have used both, the stedicam for me is the best all around, predictable, no batteries, no stand. stedicam for me feels and looks natural and organic, the shots from the gimbal based systems look and feel robotic to me. Thanks again for making this video.

Thanks for creating this comparison review! It's so helpful!

Great vid. Great explanation of pros ad cons to both systems, and a nice unbiased talk about what you like about both. Thank you so much for making this video.

Personally I found that in this the Ronin shots were terrible. They were bumpy and not smooth. I know that the Ronin is actually much better than that from experience but i feel like this shows the Ronin to be worse than i really is

I always enjoy your videos sir , i just got my DGS Glide Cam and thanks your videos im learning to correct way to use the system. Thank you Stefan .

Hi mate Thanks a lot for your great review and give us in-depth details of both units I was in a point of buying a Ronin M and right now I am considering the Glidecam. Many many thanks again

This is an eye opener Thank you bro. The review that you made is more realistic one. keep it up and more power.

Great video stefan thanks for granting our request!

Outstanding review my man it's so hard to find quality an informative reviews on KZfaq that answer all the questions. too many reviewer is sit at a table 4 for 15 minutes. Doing unboxing's and talking about the product and never take it out doors. Don't change a thing on your channel Bro.

Thanks for all those tutorials for glidecam, helps a lot, im waiting for the next video thaks

Great comparison and review!! Thank you so much for this seriously!

Thank you Stefan. Enjoyed watching

I really love your videos like this, thanks!!!

Stefan, thank you for showing the difference in both systems, you are correct learn the equipment first. As a TV station we always have our guys trying to make us buy the latest toy. But as you proved here the DGS Glidecam still is a very good tool. Thanks.

Thanks! I currently have the Laing glidecam and I love it! Prefer the shot to a gimble. It just takes practice but when you get good they are in beatable

This was an amazing review.

Great explanation, thank you very much for shedding a light on current I would say "hysteria" about the 3-axis gimbals. The glidecam style is the king.

I much prefer the organic look of the glidecam. I'm using the Laing P45s Stabilizer at the moment. Will purchase a glidecam later this year. You are a true master of the glidecam. I will keep practicing hard and keep watching your videos. Thanks for the inspiration

on a professional hands, both of them are great!! Salute to you sir.

Really nice, Thank you Stefan.

Great in depth comparison. Thank you!

ty Stefan - I had watched this before - but after 7 months or so of research and passing my FAA pilots license for commercial drone work, I wanted to come back to review your comparison... which now makes more sense to me as a fashion photographer. it's the fluidity I remember you talking about - I can't imagine shooting stills the way I do if the camera were in a cage - but I can imagine shooting video with a more natural feeling with the glidecam setup. personally I prefer the ABSENCE of software as much as possible between me and the subject!

Lovely review. Thank you so much

Very thoughtful and helpful review. Thank you so much.

thank you so much. i really thought that the modern gimbals spelt the death of the glidecam! this was very comprehensive.

Thank you for the clever comparison...video is full of inforamations.

Very nice review

Very helpful... Sticking to my glidecam :)

Love this guy!! Accent is great . Well done comparison.

I used a gimbal for awhile because I got caught up in the hype and didn't want to learn how to use a glidecam...terrible life choice. I'm now using a glidecam, slowly getting better, and starting to get some fantastic really nice results. Thanks for all your Glidecam Tutorials. They're incredibly helpful and clear.

Excellent review. I am definitely buying the glidecam to shoot my KZfaq videos.

great comparison.

Thanks, you just convinced me to make the better choice and buy the steadicam instead of a 3 axis gimbal.

See these kinds of detail only an experienced video maker can provide. Thanks for such detailed differences.

I own both a Steadicam Pilot and a DJI Ronin. I use both. For some things I love the Ronin because I dont get the side to side movement i get using my steadicam because of operator movement. I totally agree that the Ronin is not as versatile. When I do events I use the Steadicam because I can move and capture shots live with really good results. I use the Ronin when I can really plan and rehearse my shots and get superior results. The Ronin gets really heavy really quick and I have to put it down a lot. All in all for me I just dont use my Ronin enough and am now looking at picking up a Beholder MS1. Oh yeah, I also use an iKan X3-Plus gimbal for iPhone and GoPro and get amazing results. I guess every shot is different and its nice to have the right tool for the job.

the only advantage i liked the ronin over the glidecam was that the ronin you can really dial in a perfect horizon line

Thank you for this comparison. And yes, one point here is, that you *can* operate a glidecam, and so I think for many out there the results with a ronin are better from the beginning. But as you say, you have to know how to operate the tools that you have.

Great review ;) Cheers.

Totally agree with you, Stefan! I'm a DP and have used my Scarlet with a Ronin many times but decided to sell it and buy the new Glidecam DGS. It's just far more fluid and being able to set it down and take a break is a very big deal! Really great review! Thank you!

thank you you have cleared up my confusion.

Really enjoy watching your video's but in this comparison It's impossible to compliment the Ronin. When the Ronin operator is not used to the ronin you can see shakyness due inexperience. Ive been working with the Glidecam and the Ronin. And indeed life is more relaxing with an camera support system for the ronin, but when you become one with the Ronin I must say I really have superiorresults with the Ronin. I do love the glidecam, but in the end i gave my heart to the Ronin. It's just another workflow, when youre already used to any kind of glide cam it does takes practice Mastering the Ronin. TNQ for the video !

really very helpful video ... thank you so much

Superb comparison, very 'balanced' (boom boom). thanks.

Vielen Dank für den tollen Vergleich, ich bin auch überzeugter Glidecam User.

I definitely prefer the organic movements of the glidecam.

good lesson, thanks you for video

Gldecam DGS is based on mechanics and analogue system. Ronin is based on motor and digital computer system. Personaly, I think Ronin will win finally with upgrade of the system design and control algorithm, just like the digital camera vs. film camera. Digital system is the future, sooner or later.

Really appreciating your comparison and that you share it. I also get a little the impression that you have a prejudice against the Ronin. Besides the very well Steadicam work (thumbs up) I miss that moves on the Ronin. Operating a Ronin now for many hours I can state that it's clearly the inexperience in operating it - you can do extremely good shots with it - if you trained enough. But I also know that a Glidecam is not working out of the box, isn't it? :) For sure I agree on the fact that Ronin is some over-hyped and also definitely the Glidecam (Steadycam etc.) is not dead at all... I start making the experience that in some situation the Ronin does a great job, while there are situations I prefer using a Glidecam, or of course other stuff. So if your point was showing that there are still good reasons for a Glidecam, OH YES, DEFINITELY !

Thanks, Stefan. Three years later, I imagine lots of those 119 thumbs-down voters are cursing the Bluetooth glitches on their cheap gimbals and lamenting the poor customer support. Meanwhile, the Glidecam users are out there filming unconcerned. BTW, "Motiv" in German translates to "subject" in English - there is no English sound-alike word that means he same as Motiv. Herzlichen Dank aus Kalifornien.

like the reveiw ( watching From Kenya)

Hi Stefan, it is rare to see on the internet such didactic lessons. Thank you for detailed and easy to understand explanations about complex mater. Good old school at its best. As I see there is a problem with horizontal stabilization. All examples that I see with flycam suffering from "loosing horizon" and that looks just like unwanted effect that spoiling whole sequence. Your examples has it too but faraway less than in others that I have seen. Could you be so kind and point out how to control this behavior? Maybe monitor on the bottom with "wider balance" will give better results. Thanks again Regards, Svetolik

Great video comparison. Wish I had watched it before I bought my Ronin-M. The Ronin-M being electronic has a few other issues with fragility. Water splashed briefly on one of the motors and the entire system died. I have to get it serviced and hopefully fixed. This was a beach shoot where I was attempting to be very careful with it. Oh well. Hope it doesn't cost too much $$$ to fix. Anyhow, I just picked up a GlideCam XR-PRO to use while it is being serviced. For less money than one of the gimbal motors is likely to cost me, I have a very smooth stabilization rig. I am very impressed. I love the level of control I get with it that I never got with the Ronin - I was always a slave to the motor speed. In addition, I can monitor much easier with the Glidecam because the monitor from my GH4 is at eye level. It also takes me less time to balance and I have the XR-PRO which isn't even as easy as the DG or the HD series of Glidecams. I am very much enjoying the level of control that I have with this stabilizer. Two thumbs up!

What mics are those on the RED..?

You're right. I totally agree . After about 1 year using Ronin S I have come to believe the result footages are too artificial. Now I'm considering to test a glidecam instead .

I am newer to videography. I tried the GlideCam before purchasing a gimbal similar to the Ronin (which I'll call 'gimbal') and found it very difficult to use as a beginner. I could tell it would take me a LOT of practice to get quality footage using it. On the other hand it took hardly any practice (10 minutes?) to get amazing footage using the gimbal. The camera turning delay you mention is trivial because it is easy to get used to planning a second ahead of time. My gimbal is no problem to place on the ground after turning it off. The only negatives I experience with the gimbal are you do need batteries and it can get heavy after an hour or two of holding it. Maintaining focus is also difficult but you have the same problem with a GlideCam. Otherwise for a beginner the motorized gimbal is wonderful to use without needing a lot of practice.

Stefan du machst sehr gute videos :) (y)

Hi, which additional equipment do I need for the connection between the Ronin and a monitor sitting on the remote control and how much effort is it to establish this connection technically ? Thank you for your input.

You sound cool, like somebody that wants to hurt john mclain

Good review... A few points from me, firstly it seams you are a tad brash was the glide can. I would recommend slowing your movements down and make the more cinematic. I shot with glidecam HD4000, DJI ronin and Came TV gimbal. You can get smooth shots on your Ronin, but you can't expect to correct jerky movements. It compliments smooth camera movements. So you need to be just as steady as with your glidecam, but it's heavier! So get a vest if you can afford it and you will get even smoother shots :)

Mainly because of this video I bought the Davin Graham Signature Series Glidecam and I have to say it is very hard to get decent shots. Although I'm convinced that you can very good shots using a glidecam, but not without a lot of practice. So after months of not using it because I find it too hard to get a decent shot I finally put mine on Ebay and decided to go for a DJI Ronin instead.

Just bought x10 with hd4000. My rig weighs just under 10lbs. Have to order a plate then I can shoot some footage. Finally I can get rig off tripod. Payed 650 bucks for kit. These things use to cost 3-4 grand. Love how gear is now available for pro consumer.

So this reviewer has worked professionally with GlideCam for many years... and then reviews an augmented/signature model GlideCam versus a DJI Ronin... and *SURPRISESURPRISE* finds that the GlideCam is 'more professional' because it doesn't require a controller or an additional operator... well some people would say that you can get exceedingly unique and one-of-a-kind shots from the DJI Ronin WITH PRACTICE just like the reviewer allaged from the GlideCam with his years of GlideCam familiarity use/experience. This review seems similiar to when a twenty-year use Canon shooter reviews a Sony/Fuji/Olympus camera and finds that the 'interface is not very intuitive'... well of course it isn't because you have twenty-years of 'synaptic muscle memory' honed from the Canon and everything will seem strange/foreign initially after that.

Hello Stefan! I discovered your tutorials on Glidecam and I love them. I am going to buy a glidecam soon because I prefer it for different reasons compared to Dji. Although I am seriously worried about weight just on one arm. I owned a stabilizer more similar to Merlin style and the weight is ok within a few minutes of use but I am sure with the Glidecam will be much worse. Do you have suggestion on how to solve wrist or arm pain? Are arm vest any good? I noticed you use Glidecam without any help in many of your videos. My camera setup is about 1.8kg. Thank you for any advice.

Can you please advise how much does it cost you to buy the Glidecam from where?

Thanks for this ... I was very excited about the DJI, and was getting the "wants". But not only the things you mentioned, but I also noticed the DJI footage was not nearly as smooth. I noticed it had issues BEFORE viewing the Glidecame footage, in fact. Watch closely, and you can see a shakiness to the DJI footage. It seemed side-to-side mostly ... perhaps it was not 100% calibrated?

Like with anything, each device suits a particular purpose and need, some people prefer the ronin others prefer steadicam. Both do a similar job but differently

There is no "death of the glidecam system".

Every time Stefan says, "Motiv" think "Subject"

Thanks for the great video :) This helps me making my decision. I prefer organic looks.

what about 5 axis systems. I dont mind the shake so much, itss the fact that most test I have seen the framing is off

thanx

Sehr gutes Infovideo! Ich finde den look einer glidecam kann man noch nicht elektronisch hinbekommen.

How do you do with the C300's big viewer, when you bring up the ronin? Doesn't touch on top?

as a Ronin owner, I can say you are spot on. the look of the videos are just wrong. I haven't been able to put my finger on it. btw, I'm no longer using mine. I think I'm pulling the trigger on selling it right now actually

Glidecam has cool style record:D

I prefer the Ronin shots but only when you're moving it slowly. That's how I would use it.

I've used the Ronin M in one of my Videos (Mercedes AMG GTs) and it was easy to get smooth shots. I have an external monitor and a remote for my camera so I can operate my Ronin on my own. The Landing-Gear is attached to my backpack and I am able to build it up with one hand. I can't operate a glidecam. I have one at home but after 2 hours of balancing and 3 hours of running arround its not the tool of choice for me.

Enjoyed this video thanks

What vest can i get for the Devin Graham glidecam

If you shoot at a low f stop with wider aperture how do you keep focus without messing up the stabiliZation?

Great review. I've tried the Ronin and its not easy and heavy. Not used a glide cam yet, but going to try soon! Love your hat, what is the make and model? Many tanks Oh its the Devin Graham edition not David

Hello Stefan, thank you for providing such in depth video comparisons! What are your experiences with shooting Image Stabilized lenses with both Glidecam and Ronin? Are they helpful? Or do you prefer switching IS off?

Stefan knows!

How is David Graham related to Devin Graham?

How can you blame a Dji Ronin Stablizator for not having video transmitter to the operator? Its just a stabilization tool, not a capture device...

Gut! Hilfreich! Alles sehr kurzbrennweitig. Wie siehts mit einem 50er oder 85er aus?

One thing I like Ronin series is that it can work seamlessly with Drone. For the long shot including both grounded and aerial photography, Ronin is a much better choice.

Great Video man it helped me so Much and I loved the shots too , So the Ronin gives you a way more Profeccional look But the Glidecam it's easier and better to use ? and if you could only pick one to shoot which would it be Just one for the hole shoot, Project, Movie ?

what's the background music called? I really like your video by the way!

its so much shit to do to use the ronin M i got caught up in the hype and spent 2k on it . its so heavy after 3 mins and it sits low so trying to get mid shots have to bring up very high . . i ordered a glide cam today gonna give it a try . i used ronin for 2 years i have to be honest it takes 30 min on set to prepare . and extra luggage and batteries . cant just throw in the trunk and go have to break down and pack neat and anxiety of breaking .

with this review am convince that the GLide cam is for me... we have to see before buy, what type of videos we want to take or shots.. and for me the Glide cam is more corfomtable :) thanks man ! thumps up! subscribe

+Stefan Czech Great comparison Stefan! In my opinion, motorized 3-axis Gimbals don't handle vertical stabilization well. I too, enjoy filming classic cars. World Largest One Day Car Cruise: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iMx4ZpqK0p2YYXU.html

I agree that the Ronin or any other 3 axis system is not a replacement for Glidecam / Steadicam systems. There is a place for the 3 axis systems and a place for Glidecam systems - my preference stays with the simplicity of the Glidecam/Steadicam systems

david graham! killed me!

How did you get those shots of the glidecam around 2:52?

Also ich finde, dass der DJI Ronin irgendwie nicht so smoothere Bewegungen wie die Glidecam hinbekommt. Das sieht immer so abgehackt aus...

i don't get why there is so much up and down movement with the ronin. isn't it basically the same as walking with a steady cam ? on a gimbal there is only one axis I have to worry about on a steady cam it's every axis.

schönes video ;) ich denke, beide systeme haben grosse vor und nachteile, und benutze beide, je nach bedarf. meine meinung: der grösste nachteil der elektonischen gimbals sind der "technische" look, und dass man tatsächlich zwei operators braucht (mit allen vor und nachteilen die das wiederum beinhaltet, wie du schön erklärt hast). wobei sich das ja sicher auch bald enorm ändern könnte (hoffe ich)! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rayfZZSp16yromQ.html&t=300 abgesehen davon: den focus puller brauch ich auch mit der glidecam ;) der grösste vorteil: die dinger werden immer besser und auch kleiner. ein osmo mit X5R bietet mir (hoffentlich, wenn es das denn bald mal gibt) die möglichkeit, aufnahmen zu machen, die ich mit ronin/glidecam und meiner fs700/odyssey combo niemals erreichen könnte! dazu noch: absolute wind-unanfälligkeit, als steadycam operator weisst du was ich meine ;) kzfaq.info/get/bejne/p7Sii5SG1LjZqo0.html ich liebe meine glidecam - leider hab ich nicht die grandiose "Davin Graham Signature Series" - aber sie ist dennoch oft im einsatz! wie du sagst: "Enjoy your day, be nice, and KEEP FILMING"!

I did a film a couple years ago where the producer brought the Ronin to set and I had my Steadicam as a back-up... I balanced the Ronin no problem but I hated that I couldn't just set it down or pick it up, it was always a process. And, like mentioned in this video, I hates waiting for the damn camera to turn. I was doing a 'oner' where it was 14 points of interest and the thing wasn't even close to keeping up so I just said screw it and got out the old school Steadicam with vest. However, this Glidecam looks amazing... best of both worlds.