As I’m not giving in to the coronavirus pandemia, I’ve got some new stuff here on the blog, but not only. First of all, feel invited to watch the film review of a motion control system made by Syrp, Syrp Genie II.
Motion control system is something, that every timelapser decides to use at some point. It gives many options of differentiating your shots, as you can move your camera in one, two or three different axes. Such systems used to be very expensive, but nowadays it has changed, and you can even build step by step your own desired system out of the offered components. After testing a few different systems, I decided to go on with system provided by Syrp.
Syrp is a company from New Zealand, that offers camera sliders, cable cams, motion control devices and many more, and most of them you can buy step by step, building your own system that suits you best. The first time I saw it, I was really impressed by the bunch of opportunities it gives for me as a timelapser. Their components aren’t cheap, but compared to way bigger motion control devices available on the market in the old days, it has one of the lowest price.
I decided to use Genie II Linear for slide, and Genie Mini II for pan and tilt. Genie II Linear is smaller, lighter and has lowwe profile than the original Genie, which means it’s more stable. It’s also powerful enough for vertical operations, which is not a rule for even more expensive systems. I chose Genie II Linear over the original Genie because it has newer hardware that lets you use advanced keyframe editor. And why Genie Mini II? The main factor is the price, but also it’s lighter, and payload is satisfactory for me.
Advantages of Syrp Genie II + 2x Genie Mini II for motion control
- Small & lightweight – for me it’s very important that I’m able to carry it in my backpack and still have place for the other stuff, because usually I shoot in many different places for a long period of time, and carrying everything like this is the most comfortable;
- No cables hanging around – there’s only one cable for shutter trigger, you simply connect and set up the shot via mobile app, there are no additional cables that you can drag and destroy everything
- Strong enough to work vertically even without counterweight – well, that really changes the perspective: there are so many options for new unique shots with the vertical slide;
- 15 hours of battery life and can work plugged into the powerbank – this is good for mobility, and 15 hours for one timelapse shot is usually more than enough;
- Can be used on different sliders brands and different lenghts – you can use it with your own, motorless slider and can switch, you are not limited to only one slider;
- It’s modular – you can buy each thing seperately building your kit in time. There is also slingshot – a system designed especially for timelapses. It’ a cable cam with a special rope, which allows you to move your camera for bigger distances than with the slider. The longest rope Syrp offers is 100m.
Okay, so what are the disadvantages?
- More stuff to charge before the shoot – each component has it’s own battery and each one of them needs to be charged for the whole set to work properly
- Pan tilt bracket for two Genie Minis can give us some wobbles in the shot in some conditions – it’s not something that Warp Stabilizer can’t handle, but you have to bear that in mind.
- Genie Mini has limited payload, so for heavier camera, like some bigger video cameras it would be better to get a Pan Tilt head, which is more expensive.
and some more news…
As I mentioned in the beginning, I have something more for you. There’s a new, detailed lesson on the Hyperlapse Academy about motion control movement. If you want to learn something new, visit hyperlapseacademy.com and join the courses!
Final thoughts
In my opinion, the best gear is the one that you enjoy using. I had a chance to test Syrp while making Explore Poland, and it made me sure that it’s a well-designed, very reliable, easy to use system. I really like that it works on the mobile app, and love the fact that I can buy only the components that I really use, and don’t have to change the whole system if I want to upgrade it.
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