Does the DJI Ronin SC work with a caged Sony A7III?
Yes! Sort of. For whatever reason, I couldn't find this answer online or examples of this question on YouTube. Possibly I didn't scour enough. But here we are. My friends at B&H Photo were curious about the result as well. So they sent one out to me for testing. Luckily I was able to test it on a brand spankin new DJI Ronin SC.
So there's plenty of videos on YouTube on how to set up this gimbal so I won't bore you with the details. But overall the system setup was just like any other camera. I tested this camera with the Sony A7III, Sony 24mm 1.4 GM lens, Smallrig Cage, and Rode VideoMic. I originally tried to use a Sony 16-35mm 2.8 GM but the lens was too heavy but read that you need to use the spacer plate to help balance that lens out. I ended up trying that spacer out and well, I just couldn't get it to balance out. So if you're looking for a small gimbal with the combo of a caged body with a lighter / smaller lens, this could work! The DJI Ronin S would I would assume take the weight much easier. And a better choice for someone that is possibly upgrading to a bigger body camera.
As it sits its been great. Not many issues at all. The only issue I ran into is that the mic will get in the way at a certain angle. Otherwise, it's still quite usable. Maybe mounting it off the handle would be better to reduce the weight. Overall the weight of the setup isn't terrible but the extra folding handle/grip makes holding that up a lot easier.
All in all, this is a pretty sweet set up in a small package. The DJI Ronin SC packs down in a small case that it comes in and won't take up much room if you're traveling. Stoked to give this a try out on a job. Thanks to B&H Photo for letting me test this thing out.
