Handheld Gimbal With Off-The-Shelf Parts

For anything involving video capture while moving, most videographers, cinematographers, and camera operators turn to a gimbal. In theory it is a simple machine, needing only three sets of bearings to allow the camera to maintain a constant position despite a shifting, moving platform. In practice it’s much more complicated, and gimbals can easily run into the thousands of dollars. While it’s possible to build one to reduce the extravagant cost, few use 100% off-the-shelf parts like [Matt]’s handheld gimbal.

[Matt]’s build was far more involved than bolting some brackets and bearings together, though. Most gimbals for filming are powered, so motors and electronics are required. Not only that, but the entire rig needs to be as balanced as possible to reduce stress on those motors. [Matt] used fishing weights to get everything calibrated, as well as an interesting PID setup.

Be sure to check out the video below to see the gimbal in action. After a lot of trial-and-error, it’s hard to tell the difference between this and a consumer-grade gimbal, and all without the use of a CNC machine or a 3D printer. Of course, if you have access to those kinds of tools, there’s no limit to the types of gimbals you can build.

4 thoughts on “Handheld Gimbal With Off-The-Shelf Parts

    1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCDqFE7JP2M Review on the DS1 doesn’t look that much better. Although it’s a little tough to compare because the video quality is so poor on the youtube review and it looks like he’s recording at ~30fps whereas the homemade gimbal video looks more like 60fps. I’m sure occasional jerkiness on the homemade gimbal would be less noticeable if the video quality were reduced and he only recorded at 30fps.

  1. What happened to that Kid who made one from 2 bits of steel and some servos glue and about $20 of electrics and was working on a prosthetic hand for the limb deficient to carry cups without spilling and other such problems they face.

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