Indie Filmmakers: Here's Nebula 4200 5-Axis Stabilizer.

Photographer and filmmaker Von Wong gives his review on this very cool camera stabilizer.

"First thoughts at the Nebula 4200 "5-axis" stabilizer.

At only 1000$, there is no other product on the market that gives you fully motorized 3-axis stabilization with shock absorbers for (rated) 1.6kg.

Stabilization:
Although they market it as "5-axis image stabilization", the spring loaded handles serve more as dampeners and shock absorbers than true 5-axis stabilization. That being said, they do work rather well at taking care of the unwanted bumps when one moves rapidly around. The down-side is that the springs tend to creak quite a little bit.

The motors are strong enough so that my A7r-ii with a 10-18 f4 has hardly any problem regardless of which orientation I fly the camera which is fantastically flexible.

Set-up:
The Nebula features a tool-less design which is pretty snazzy. It makes it very convenient to re-adjust balance. The downside though, is that it is a lot harder to get a super precise calibration. Maybe I just need more practice. For anyone who's balanced gimbal's before, it shouldn't be more than just a little bit frustrating. For someone who's never done it before... It doesn't really come with instructions.

Build Quality:
You get what you pay for. There are a lot of plastic parts and the tooling and machining is definitely not A-grade. That being said, there is not really anything else on the market that has such a tiny form factor.

Customer Support:
This is IMHO the biggest worry - customer support is pretty terrible, unless you speak chinese. They do offer some email support but it is very broken, and not very reassuring.

Additional Features:
The removable battery is a significant step up from any of their previous models. Lasts up to 4 hours."


Nebula Stabilizer at B&H Photo
Benjamin Von Wong website.