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The Ronin S (But Smaller)
So if you have been shooting mirrorless for a while now, and if by chance were using DJIs fairly new Ronin S, then you better list it up on craigslist, or OfferUp, or whatever. OR SHOULD YOU? That's what we're gonna find out.
Enter, the Ronin SC! Coming in at a price that won't make you have to sell off one of your kidneys, the ripe old cost of $450 is nothing compared to it's big brother, the Ronin S at $750 (DJI raised the price $50 a few months after release, thanks DJI). "But its nearly half the cost of the Ronin S?? Don't you get what you pay for?" Well, yes and no, sorta. Being that mirrorless cameras like the Sony A7RIII, Canon EOS R, and Nikon Z6/7 are far smaller than that of the traditional cameras with mirrors, it doesn't require as robust of a setup. DJI added some helpful features this time aound that you won't find on the S, such as: Active track like youd see on the Pantom, Mavic and Inspire series, they added axis locks to make balancing easier, and safer storage, as well as a great phone mount so you can use your mobile device as a monitor for the active track mode. Lastly, and perhaps most ground breaking for the time being is the gyroscope-phone-controller witchcraft of a feature. Basically, tilt your phone, its tilts the camera. Simple, yes, but practical? Thats up to you. You currently can't see your cameras display on the phone while in the gyroscope mode, but maybe if you have an external monitor and by chance you have it strapped to a chase car, and you don't wanna hang out the car at 80MPH, then this might be a solition. Personally of all said new features, I think that the axis locks will prove most helpful. Being that balancing a gimbal is the make or break of your shots, this will easily let you balance one axis at a time instead of juggling all 3 at once like us Ronin M / MX users need to do. However, The active track option could also prove just as helpful depening on the shot of course and your expertise of course.
All that being said, it will be a great addition to any film maker or photographers gear collection. Should you sell your Ronin S or current gimbal for this if you own a mirrorless camera? Well, I always do reccomend DJI in general but in general you should do what fits your setup the most. a few downfalls of the SC are that it is not as robust as the S, meaning smaller motors, close quarters axis which means you cant fit many larger lenses on it. So, my reccomendation? If you dont have a gimbal as a mirrorless user, give the SC a try, if you have an S or a Zhiyun, or a Movi, stick with it. They can more than handle a mirrorless body. However cool the new features are, I'm not yet convinced that the SC is worth selling your current gear for a few new options. I think we'll see a new version of the S very soon with updated hardware to accomidate a wider range of cameras, and possibly with a removable battery, and stronger motors and so on. What do you think the next Ronin lineup needs?
Check out all the exact specs of the new Ronin SC below!
