DIY Two Handed Gimbal Mod

Today we’re making one of these awesome two handed gimbal mods [check out the tutorial video HERE].

Motorized gimbals essentially revolutionized filmmaking and video production with their ability to capture silky smooth camera moves. And in the past few years the size and cost of them has come down dramatically, making them easily accessible even for hobbyists. And while the smaller single handed ones might be easy to use there can actually be some stability issues because of the single handle. By adding in the ability to use a second handle, we give ourselves a second touch point, and can remove some of the shortfalls of a single handle.

Now the modification we’re going to be doing is based around two of our DIY wooden handgrips (here’s our tutorial video on making your own for around $12 each), but you could use pretty much any other handles you want as long as they have or can be modified with a rosette adapter. I’ll also be doing this for my Zhiyun Crane-M but you can use almost any single hand gimbal with the right adapter. This project cost me just under $100 which includes all the parts and the handgrips, but you could likely find cheaper ways or parts to do this for even less.

PARTS YOU’LL NEED:

1x SmallRig Rod Clamp Mount (be sure to find one that fits YOUR gimbal): https://amzn.to/2V9i4fv

2x SmallRig Bolt On Rosette Adapters: https://amzn.to/2SDTd1D

2x Handgrips: https://youtu.be/-osnXESPEHE

And obviously you’ll need a gimbal too.

To start you’ll want to grab a tiny screwdriver and remove the little screws from the rosettes in your bolt-on adapter. We’ll need these off to secure it to our clamp mount. Grab your bolts and secure the adapter to one of the sides of the clamp mount, make sure the bolts are pretty tight. Now repeat on the opposite side with your other bolt-on adapter. Grab your little bitty screws and attach the rosettes back to each of the adapter faces.

Next up let’s grab our gimbal and the rod clamp mounting adapter. Slide this up your gimbal handle, and then tighten the bolts down - make sure this is squared off so our handles will be on either side of the handle and not at some wonky angle, and you’ll want to make sure this is on a reinforced section and not at a weak point. Be sure this is secure but not overly tight. Then grab your handles and attach one to each of the rosettes, making sure they are facing the right direction.

Now you can put your camera on, start your gimbal up, and test it out! This two handled mod isn’t exactly cheap, and it does add some weight to your gimbal, but it’s a great way to improve stability by adding in a second touch point. You could easily mount a phone or small monitor or any other gear via the many threaded mount points on the adapter.

So there you have it, a DIY two handed gimbal mod. If you have any comments or questions about this rig let us know in the comments section below.