We recently took on a music video which required a long take for the opening shot. Our best bet would have been to rent a stabilizer, such as Steady Cam, as well as an operator. This would be ideal so that we could have relied on the expertise of another, allowing us to do our job. However, the budget would not allow for that (typical indie music budget, am I right?!). We then looked at renting a DJI Ronin, which we knew was a more accessibly priced option, but were unfamiliar with the quality of the product. After comparing the rental rates with the actual cost of the item (about 20% of the retail price), we hesitantly made the jump to purchase the Ronin. For a small company such as ours, any substantial purchase such as this must be weighed with these considerations:
-Will this make our product substantially better?
-Will it pay for itself, or better yet, return a profit?
-Will it help us be more efficient, or slow down productivity (affecting profit)?
-Is this item something we can use in a variety of productions (or is it too niche)?
-Can we rent this item out when not in use?
-Will it add credibility, add status (perceived value)?
Assuming the Ronin works well, it seems to answer those questions positively. So with that we pulled the trigger and made the purchase. The most intimidating aspect of this was that the Ronin arrived on Friday. The shoot was scheduled for Monday. So I only had two full days to become acquainted with the Ronin. For someone with zero experience operating any kind of stabilizer it was definitely a gamble.
