Zeapon Micro3 PONS - Review after 1 Year of Use

[@Aperture3D]

Hi. I found this to be the single most informative video on the Zeapon system. I'm very grateful for the information, I have an AXIS 100 (on the way) & PONS + Tilt Arm in hand. Also your replies to viewer questions are also very informative. Your products are incredibly well-done too - great timelapses! A solution you might consider for the app re-install issue could be to download the app to your internal storage and sideload it (this is possible on Android, I don't know about fruit phones).

[@boycefitzgerald]

@@Aperture3D - thank you for your kind comment. It means a lot to me. That is a great idea to manage the reinstall issue. I do have a “fruit” phone. A second-hand android just for this system might be a good solution too.

[@lolamann110]

This Review is gold to me, ... not fancy bla bla bla, & btw absolut awesome footage from your work. Stunning performance .

[@boycefitzgerald]

Thank you so much. You kind comment means a lot to me.

[@marctrainor5595]

Excellent review and very informative. Boy!!!! ,,,,, it's always something in the software these days, it seems, with a whole lot of different electronic units. but......... this seems like a "killer" unit, extremely well built, and if we can live with the bugs, and the bug fixes, which thankfully, you've provided, it sure looks like a lot of bang for the buck, for such a professional unit. Thanks for a very thoughtful, well informing report. Marc T.

[@boycefitzgerald]

@@marctrainor5595 - your comments are most welcome. For sure the hardware is top shelf quality. The is necessary for me especially for my motion time lapses. I have had no problems lately. I’m so glad this was helpful to youx

[@D4ni3lS4nk3]

Good video, none of the other KZbinrs talk about those issues

[@boycefitzgerald]

@@D4ni3lS4nk3- I am glad it was helpful. Thank you for watching.

[@br2v]

very informative, (as an astro/weather scape time lapser) highly appreciated like Richards video's I just upgraded from the Syrp system, which I used for 10 years ( same app issues)

[@boycefitzgerald]

@@br2v - Astro time lapses are my favorite thing to do with this system. They are beautiful. I haven’t had trouble with the app since I learned the quirks. Sometimes, just the pan/tilt head is all that’s needed to show subtle motion like tracking the Milky Way. I hope it works out for you. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@soffici1]

13:00 I’ve watched Richard’s video and found you can do some crazy thing to have the slider do whatever you want. Basically you attach the Zeapon Trigger to the camera!s hot shoe (flash synch has to be set to rear curtain), so that it “feels” the flash impulse from the camera. Then you can use whatever means to set the timelapse shoot, but here is the kicker: if you have a trigger built for holy grail timelpases, then set the app to the “photo” mode (the last one ), you’ll have the slider+Pons heads do the move-shoot-move exactly timed to the holy grail triggers. It’s a bit Frankenstein-ish, but it works! I’ve tried it, and next time I have clear skies (probably next century), I’ll try to do a winter night timelapse

[@boycefitzgerald]

@@soffici1 - let me know how it goes.

[@soffici1]

@ if you can wait until next century…

[@marioranieri]

Hey, i have some questions for the Slider incl. the PON Head: How long does the batteries last (each of them) in long-shots? Can you connect all those parts directly to a power socket instead of the batteries? I plan to use it for sliding and panning around 1-2 hours without a break...

[@boycefitzgerald]

@@marioranieri - It depends on the size of the battery. I use the large NP-F-970 batteries for time lapses that are 20 hours and still used less than half the battery. 2 hours even going back and forth on high speed is no problem at all. Yes, you can plug into the wall with the proper power converter.

[@marioranieri]

@@boycefitzgerald great thank you for the infos 👍🏻

[@hanshuang4287]

thanks for sharing!

[@boycefitzgerald]

Thank you for watching.

[@charliegrossman3801]

Thank you so much for putting this video together!! Very big help on my quest to find a slider. I found this after watching the nightscape images review and wanted to get your take on the move-shoot-move function of this slider with the trigger. If you have long shutter speeds set, wouldn’t not shooting move-shoot-move cause blur in each photo? (star trail for example)

[@boycefitzgerald]

I have done move-shoot-move and also had it just move slowly even with a 20 second shutter. I have it move just 23 inches in 3 hours. There is zero blur. The slider is still moving slower than the Earth is spinning. Richard Tatti convinced me to try it and it is better and easier than move-shoot-move. If you are doing a sunset, then the slider is moving that distance in 30 minutes but now your shutter is 1/15 or even much faster. Still works. See all my time lapses now are just slow, even motion I can see no trailing. I know it sounds crazy. This works for wide angle. For a more zoomed field of view, I doubt it will work. Thanks so much for watching and commenting.

[@michaelweening5171]

I got a offtopic question. I am on blackbox and I use the mini 3 Pro, I believe it shoots in 16:9 ratio. In my editing program (filmora) I use the 16:9 setting. And my footage gets rejected because of letterboxing (black bars) on the left and right.( Some drone footage were accepted) Even I scale the video the bars remain. Do you know how to fix this ? Thanks

[@boycefitzgerald]

All the video specifications for the mini 3 Pro are 16:9. So there is nothing wrong with the raw video. There must be some settings in filmora that are wrong. I don’t know that editing program but you should be able to look that up on KZbin and confirm your settings are correct for 3840x2160 which is what you should be filing in. Sorry I can’t help more. Good luck.

[@JasonLeeCalifornia]

Looking to upgrade my Syrp Genie (Original) -- and can't decide on this or Trexo. I heard bad reviews about Edelkrone. I like the features of Zeapon but since I have waited this long I might as well wait for the Micro 4... How quite is the motor for video work and is the Zeapon very accurate for doing the exact same shot a couple times in a row?

[@michaelyeoh]

Hey Sir, do you use the slider on a tripod before? Does it sink especially when the camera move towards the end of the slider?

[@boycefitzgerald]

It comes standard with supports for both sides of the slider that connect to the tripod legs - or you can easily use two tripods. I have never had it sink or sag at all. I always use a tripod that can support the weight, of course.

[@patrikmigac8998]

Hello, is it possible to make 3 points keyframes, and then something like ease them? For example, A - ease out B - continuous bezier C - ease in, i am asking because i saw videos where it just stops in point B instead of making it smoothly to point C without stopping.

[@boycefitzgerald]

This is something Zeapon has said they would do but for now at least the waypoints do ease in and out but you cannot control it and if you have more than two waypoints, it does stop at each one before moving to the next. I mostly do time lapses so it makes not difference to me. But for video, it would be great to have that control option.

[@patrikmigac8998]

@@boycefitzgerald Thank you! :)

[@tonngook]

Can I use this slider with a gymbal (RS3 Mini)? Don't I need to buy Pan&Tilt part of Zeapon, right?

[@boycefitzgerald]

I have used it with a small gimbal, the OSMO pocket 3. I set the slider and then I have the gimbal do follow mode - like on a person. It works okay, but I like the pons system better. I don’t think my experience can fully answer your question using the RS3. If you had to program waypoints on 2 different apps, that would be too complicated for my workflow.

[@tonngook]

@@boycefitzgerald thank you, sir!

[@boycefitzgerald]

@@tonngook thanks for watching. Let me know if there is something else you would like to see in a video.

[@tonngook]

@@boycefitzgerald With all the problems in your video clip, should I buy it and accept the above problems in 2024? I'm looking for an electric slider to replace my manual slider.

[@boycefitzgerald]

@@tonngook - the problems I have had are manageable and all related to the app which has not caused me problems for some time. I don’t know if others with this slider have had issues. I’m not sure how best to advise you.

[@jodifriedman9864]

Can you use it manually as well? And can it be used in stop motion (where it stops and you restart but have a path defined)?

[@boycefitzgerald]

I works very well manually. If I understand the he stop motion correctly … you can program a path and it will move, take a picture, and move again at a rate that you define. The slider and pan-tilt system has to remain on. If you turn it off, it will not remember where it was and automatically continue that path.

[@voederbietels]

hi sir what trigger cable do i need i have a nikon z9 and i dont understand why you dont need the trigger from zeapon? it al is so complicated i think you trigger the slider with a huttercable for day to night timelapses?

[@boycefitzgerald]

I don’t have a Nikon but I believe they work with a 10-pin cable. So, you would need a 1 x 2.5mm Male input on one side of the cable with a Nikon 10-Pin on the other. In the US, these are available for under $10 on Amazon or at B&H.

[@boycefitzgerald]

I don’t use the trigger. I have it but have found it better to not use it. If I go day to night, I set the slider waypoints for the duration of the time lapse. Then I set the camera settings with an intervalometer. The motion is so slow that even if I have a 15 second shutter, there is no motion blur. The slider is moving 70 centimeters in 2-3 hours. It works. You can see my find my Milky Way time lapses and see that they work. Just try it. You will see. Good luck and thanks for watching.

[@voederbietels]

@@boycefitzgerald hi thank you for your quick reply i gues its daytime in your country here it is night time (the netherlands) so you dont do move shoot move you just let the slider roll. wow ) i ques you do the timelapas ramping by hand and no inside camera job ( thhe nijon z62 can do that perfect) i realy like to buy this thing but it is so complicated and there is not so much to find what i understand. im going to loog at your timelapses afcours ))

[@boycefitzgerald]

@@voederbietels - I was in the Netherlands just a few days ago. Relaxed there on my way back from Abu Dhabi. Regarding how I do time lapses with this slider, I learned the workflow here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGTGdKmNm9WVgJosi=0Noe-Jgo-773FSpH

[@voederbietels]

@@boycefitzgerald wow you where in my country? hope you liked here.. you travel a lot i think. nice) thank you for the link ) have a great weekend )

[@jodifriedman9864]

And how often do you have these issues where it doesn’t connect? Is it frequent?

[@boycefitzgerald]

I had a few weeks where I had difficulties. But had to delete the app and reload it between every use. Once I had to update the firmware even though it was up-to-date. Before and since then, I have had no problems.

[@jodifriedman9864]

Do you need anything specific to do a firmware update? Is it plug and play or do you need to load it on SD cards and such?

[@boycefitzgerald]

Firmware update is from the app on your smartphone or device.