okay no counterweight, just legs, the moment of truth, I'm gonna move my R5C all the way to the edge
of the rail and I gotta let go my hand oh my God it's still hold holy moly this tripod
is so sturdy
Today, I am going to show you my new Universal quick release tripod system for all my travel
cameras - 2D, 360 and professional-level VR180 cameras - the Canon EOS R5C.
It allows you to go from tripod to gimbal in a matter of seconds!
I have been traveling around the world in the last couple of months shooting 3D VR180
Metaverse Videos at extreme environments like the Burning Man, travel destinations like
the Caribbean Islands, and very strict cities like Paris, Barcelona, and Ibiza.
And I quickly realize the importance of having a lightweight, reliable travel tripod.
If you are a long-time follower, you know I love to use super high monopole.
That is still my key setup for 360 cameras like the Insta360 ONE RS 1" 360 as you see
here.
But operating a cinema-level camera - the Canon R5C right here with the dual fisheye
lens while traveling- is an entirely different story.
For example, if you have a tripod that looks like a tripod, you won't be able to go anywhere
in Paris.
Oh yes, if you are planning to go to a travel destination like Paris, just be aware that
a tripod is not allowed anywhere in the city without a film permit.
If you watch my Canon R5C tutorial, you know having a tripod is very necessary for VR180
filmmaking.
So what is the solution if you want to travel with your Canon EOS R5 or R5C with a dual
fisheye lens for 3D Photography and 3D Videography?
My solution is, to find a very lightweight travel tripod that can fit inside my backpack.
With a quick release system, I can set up, shoot and move on.
Basically, not to draw too much attention, run and gun it.
Let's start with the Tripod I end up going with and absolutely
love.
The Ulanzi Zero F38 Travel Tripod with Quick Release plate.
There are actually a decent amount of good videos on YouTube that reviewed this Tripod.
Lots of hype.
And I want to find out how true those hyped statements are.
Disclaimer, Ulanzi did send this tripod for me to test.
I reached out to them based on my initial research.
This is not a sponsored video and my opinion is my own.
This is also not a review video, it is more a how I use it, hands-on video.
And I did find some statements on the Internet - like comparable to any arca swiss plate
and accessories - are not necessarily true.
And there are downfalls on this tripod as well.
More on that later.
Let's talk about why I chose this tripod.
It is extremely light and smaller.
It is made with expensive carbon fiber.
Like my favorite 3-meter pole here.
It is 1.1 kg, and you can easily fit it into your backpack.
The shortest height is 16.7".
It just looks and shapes like a water bottle.
It comes with this nice bag, so you can further conceal it with the bag.
As long as the authority does not see you traveling with a big tripod in your hand,
you are usually good in most places.
For VR180 filming, you usually want the camera height equal to human eye height for the best
immersive experience.
The fully extended height of this tripod is 62.6 inches.
An average height of an American is 63 inches.
So the eye height is way below that.
So you are good with VR180.
What about 360 videos?
The beautiful thing about this tripod is it comes with a none ball head center collar
you can easily swap with the quick release ball head.
Now, you have a super sturdy base to put your 3-meter pole on to reach the combined height
of 4.6 meters!
Great for timelapse, long exposure 360 photo, nightlapse, and HDR virtual tour photography.
This center collar right now it is free with the purchase if you buy tho my affiliated
link below.
Oh, there is a 10% discount code as well for you to save some money.
It is the best deal you have on the Interent.
But don't go buy it just yet, let's watch this full video first then you can decide
laster.
To finish my point, this standard center pole is actually why I choose Ulanzi instead of
Peak design or any travel tripod. 360 camera or VR180 camera requires the base to be perfectly
vertical.
For rigging an extended rail, I first put a 1/4 to 3/8 head here, and then I use the
Nodal Ninjas level head here for mission-critical leveling for the Canon VR system.
Why, check this tutorial on VR180 filmmaking here.
Then I can mount my rail and arca swiss plate on top to have the same system as my heavy-duty
tripod here - the Smallrig Heavy Duty Tripod.
BTW, the best heavy-duty tripod for cinema level camera that is under $150.
Comment below if you want a review on that.
This is the fastest tripod I ever owned with the F38 quick-release ball head.
First, crazy fast to deploy like so on the legs. like so
Then I can quick swap my Canon R5C, my Insta360 ONE RS 1" on its own invisible selfie stick,
and my SONY A1 for 2D capture.
All my cameras have the F38 plate on the bottom to make mounting universal.
My Canon R5C is actually in an F38 cage.
I also have the F38 on my DJI gimbal here.
I can mount my R5C here without rebalance and ready to go on gimbal from tripod - very
fast.
It can also go on my backpack easily when I am not shooting.
The ball head is really fast to adjust, and it can go vertical both ways.
So if you need to shoot for social, you are ready to go.
It also can turn 360 degrees for panoramic 360 photographers.
So potentially, you can use it for 360 photo capture.
The plate will fit in arca swiss mount.
But not the other way around.
My arca swiss rail or plate does not fit the F38 mount, unfortunately.
Also, the ball head is not strong enough for R5C on a rail.
There is a Zero Y version of this tripod come with standard Arca Swiss mount.
But I do not have it to test for you yet.
Another thing I absolutely love is the built-in screwdriver at the bottom of your pole right
here.
This screwdriver will work on all screws on the tripod, including the base plate here.
So no need to find a coin anymore.
If you want to use it with a 360 camera and a 3-meter pole for timelapse, especially in
a very windy area, like high up on a mountain against the cliff right here, you can use
this screw drive to detach the session right here.
You can fully extend your three legs to go really low to the ground.
Now, you have extremely good stability no matter how strong the wind is.
It is the peace of mind you need as a fast-pace travel 360 photographer.
And you only need to bring 1 tripod instead of bringing an extra leg just for your 360
camera.
1 less gear to bring on travel - lighten your backpack by more than 500g
I okay now let's get hands on and talk about my actual VR180 setup with the Ulanzi
coman right here let me just turn around you can see it
see it right here at the Ulanzi and Coman tripod right here first thing is like really
good this Panhead actually had like fully 100 360 degree pan so why is this so important
you want to make sure this camera always sit between the two legs so let's position the
leg right here you have to make sure the camera sit right between the two legs so this the
reason why is you don't want the leg to be in the camera frame right when you see in
the middle you see like that you see this like in a VR 180 because this lens so wide
you capture everything in here right so this looks like in it so we have to turn it like
that so that's really important feature there to have after you pan in the state center
of two legs you lock it like so now it's not going anywhere like it's locked and I think
quick feature is uh this this whole setup right here actually I could show you right
now it's a quick release right so uh let me try to turn it in that way and you see the
quick release right here so we're doing outside you hit this button right here this is locked
but you get unlock it and it hit that this entice it up it's coming come closer see set
up hit it right here and get out this is very heavy this is like five kilograms it's a really
heavy professional setup with the VR 180 uh with a giant battery the ZGCINE right
here giant battery is the with the plate provide all kind of power source to all this setup right
here so hold this thing is a quick release you can just slide right in right here hit
this button boom slide right in and then you hit this button right here and lock it boom
now it's not going anywhere so it's very safe and this 5kg setup sit nicely on the tripod
right here which is great so now let me just pair this back to facing this way and let
me show you how I set up so after you even be in the center
right here actually before we show you the whole setup let's show you the back so right
here this is not a tripod with anymore I will talk about my actual setup right here have
the ZGCINE the v-lock battery right here is a v-lock Mount which is really it's
a v-lock battery right here it's a brake is a 160 watt power this thing can power literally
everything on my setup since I'm on a tripod I can use a heavy battery right here slot
in and the plate will provide let me just show you we'll provide right here 12 watt 14.8
watt standard like d-tap right here only not so now turn it off by now so it's not to be
part of the camera anymore turn it on here have PD Power so PD Power two PD Power basically
I can power two Canon r5c at the same time while I'm USB power anything else in here on
this side we also have 12 watt and 8.4 watt output and when one more D-tap right here
so this thing can power literally anything in your Cinema setup is a really reliable
cinema camera with a giant battery pack right here as you see has a color display right
here so right now it's 95 power uh will give you literally anything so this is the my
power source when I'm like on tripod so after we're done with let me just lock it this lock
the the Ulanzi right here and now I want to show you it's a little bit detail right here
these things that hard mounted in the quick release place this Mount the battery and this
thing this is very important right this is my special setup so even I put a camera in
the center of the two leg if you turn the camera on I still see the leg because this
thing is so wide it's giant fisheye lens you can see that again the line is cutting through
right here I still see the leg so I need to untie right piece Two Notch right here and
it's a railing system I can push the camera even further boom and lock it and again depending
on what kind of rail you get you can get a longer rail and it will hold the cool thing
about this setup is this battery here is a counterweight so if I get too much weight
in the front I get unloose this part right here actually it's right here this part
you get my finger in it and then I can put this like lower now that the whole center
point of gravity is going lower now but this battery is actually pretty heavy right now
if you lock it now provide pretty balanced builds the standard of 10 the gravity is still
falling right here the weight is not changing but the gravity pulled back so I can go further
now this tripod lag is completely out of frame and we can really shoot VR180 with that
but if you need more distance you can just get a longer rail right here this is perfect
for me because the distance right now is perfect but let's say your setup is like you don't
have this play right here you need a more distance going out you want to get a longer
plate and other thing is this setup is like still on the ground doing a tripod shot but
let's say that for some reason you want to go on gimbal right here gimbal setup so I actually
have another ulanzi plate right here uh with a quick release so I can easily
right here did have a cage right here it's the Ulanzi Falcam cage again quick release boom
unplug the power source now this entire thing can get mobile on a gimbal again only want
to get out of the Ulanzi set up to get out the insta360 one RS right here this is
a behind the scene camera but I can take that out for me, it's cool because it's also a handle
for me to do a behind the scene but also holding the camera more sturdy, that a Ulanzi light
right here to give me small light uh this is start uh Tentacle sync to provide
time code in the camera so actually sync with my lavalier mic so this whole setup this thing
can go straight on the gimbal because the cage actually comes with an other F38 Falcam
quick release so you can set on the gimbal another thing about the Ulanzi is the
ball head is actually pretty sturdy if you are not using an arca swiss rail the ball
head is good enough so level really fast like let me show you so there's a hinge right here
let me see if I can show it to you I mean actually cannot show it to you the hinge is
right here but you can untie it and now the whole thing is loose and then you just level
it there's a leveler right here but I say use the camera to help your level so I look
at the camera leveler lock it and it's not going anywhere pretty sturdy the Ballhead
is actually really well built so uh for this minimal setup yes you can do that but if you
want to put on a long rail you might want to swap this head out into a flat head again
if you open right here you can pick the entire thing now actually I can show you
right here or even it high too you can go high as well and this holding get out so it's
a really easy setup so after you've done it just grab the whole thing and then move to
our film location so you can move fully fast because the leg is actually pretty light
it's carbon fiber so I think this is my full setup right here with the Ulanzi quick release
system and two quick release point right here and right here they can go on Gimbal and then
power source and all the accessories that's how I film so fast on location hopefully you
learned something today
I hope you enjoy this video and find it helpful on building your camera rig.
The next video, I will go into more detail on all the little pieces I have on my Canon
EOS R5C on my gimbal system.
Building a universal quick release system using Ulazni FalCam F38 and F22 to swatch
the camera from tripod to gimbal, to car mount.
And my way of absorbing vibration to achieve the most stable footage.
If you are interested in Metaverse filmmaking, create 3D VR180 video for Meta Quest 2 and
Meta Quest Pro, don't forget to subscribe to this channel and I will see you next time.