Overall I'm very excited to have the Ronin RS4 Pro as a review unit. I previously had the RSC 2 Combo Kit which included the Raveneye Transmitter and the original focus motor, which I've been using a lot for the past few years. The RSC2 could only handle about 6lbs, which was fine for most DSLRs, but I had to keep lens weight in mind. The new RS4 Pro can handle 10 lbs, so I can stack a Panasonic Pro lens on there or a 14mm 1.8 Sigma Art with ease.
By the way, it comes without any battery charge in it, so make sure you buy a 2nd battery first, charge it, so it's ready to go when the delivery guy comes and you won't have to wait three hours to use it.
APP INTERFACE
The old RSC2 had an antiquated text menu, requiring you to press the dial in and scroll scroll scroll. The new RS4 Pro has a pictorial menu with icons and is fairly easy to navigate and is touch sensitive.
What's mildly off putting is RS4 Pro does away with the balance test compared to the RSC2. In the app, you used to be able to start a balance test, hold the Ronin on an angle, then it would stress test the motors. Now in the app, you'll hit the "Balance Test" button and it sends you to YouTube videos about how to balance a Ronin as opposed to an actual balance test...which is odd and annoying they didn't polish the presentation. Why call it an balance test when there's no longer a balance test?
However, if you hit the green camera icon on the Ronin's menu screen, it will give you a pseudo replacement...a balance meter. Each axis will have a slider scale displayed on the Ronin's screen for left vs. right, top vs. bottom heavy, front vs. back heavy etc. You then move the Ronin around and if you're perfectly balanced, you won't see much green. If you're off balance, let's say too top heavy, then a green bar will light up and extend to the "Top" side of the slider. If you're too bottom heavy, the green bar will extend towards the "Bottom" side of the slider scale. Ditto for the other axis's in regards to left and right, front to back etc.
So this is jarring at first but it's IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK. You do not have to go through the uncomfortable ritual of holding your Ronin at a 45 degree angle for an extended amount of time...only to have the Ronin tell you it doesn't like the incline angle, try again...and wait another minute as your wrist is on fire supporting the weight. You get access to a balance test ASAP, which is GREAT and a welcomed addition to speed up production and minimize down time.
It's also welcomed to have this at the touch of a button WITHOUT having to dig your phone out of your pants pocket, then go through menus to find the balance test.
The Ronin 4 screen menu has multiple pages, which merely require left / right / up / down swipes to access various pages.
There was some minor hiccups in updating the app however. You have to scan a QR code on the Ronin's menu and it's very tiny and a bit of a chore for your phone to read. Then the RS4 Pro wouldn't connect. I merely restarted the Ronin 4 Pro and it connected. Then a few tries later it insisted I register the product which was annoying. Aside from those minor setbacks, it's been working great.
Now for old Ronin users, let's cover some new features that are selling points to decide if you should upgrade:
NEW FEATURE: BRIEFCASE HANDLE INCLUDED
I love the fact that the Ronin RS4 Pro includes a briefcase handle. As mundane as that sounds, YOU NEED HANDLES. And sadly, they're expensive.
When the RSC2 came out, I tried using it with the basic grip only. But it was too top heavy using only the base handle and it showed in the footage. So I had to get handles and got the DJI's two handle kit, which was $100 USED and usually retails for $150. That's quite pricy for handles, but you need them and the footage improved drastically.
While this is only one handle and not two, it's great that you get one to start with at least. The briefcase handle is great for doing low to the ground shots which really sells a gimbal and makes it "pop". It's also very fun to boom up and down with, so I'm glad new users can get to have clean footage with dynamic moves right out of the box with a handle included. Most people starting out with gimbals will be afraid to get handles given the price, then get frustrated, always having subpar footage.
But for those not familiar with handles, the double handle system has a handle on each side and makes the gimbal not as top heavy and thus, not as wobbly while walking. It's easier to orbit and turn with a double handle system. They're weaker at booming (going up and down) and going low to the ground. A briefcase handle is the opposite: It will be weaker at turning, but do low ground and up and down shots easier. Handles attach via the side Nato rails. Now that a briefcase handle is included, you can get a single straight handle for the right side if you wanted the best of both worlds.
I actually had a briefcase handle from Sirui that I reviewed via Amazon Vine. On my very first shoot, it became loose, and now the Nato screw to tighten it is stripped and I can't tighten it at all now. So it's great I get a replacement one on the RS4 Pro.
While it's great a handle was finally included in a Ronin, you only get two USB cables (A USBC cable and USBC to USBA cable). There are three USBC slots in a Ronin, four if you count the power port. Also there's no AC plug included. Make sure you have those items handy from past units.
NEW FEATURE: ROLLING BASEPLATE PRECISION BALANCING
A very cool feature of the Ronin RS4 Pro is that the bottom of the included baseplate has a gear strip underneath and you'll now notice a gear dial on the plate chassis itself, to roll the baseplate back and forth for precision balancing. This is a very cool feature and good to have. The only issue I have is they put a precision knob on the tilt axis, which is the easiest to balance. If anything I'd love to have it on the pan axis, (the bottom most axis pivot) as holding the Ronin in one hand and trying to find the sweet spot going back and forth is a giant pain as you can't lay the Ronin on a table to balance the pan axis...sure you can put it on a table and move it back and forth but of course you can't see if it's unbalanced or not until you hold it sideways.
So a gear fine tune slider is a great feature, but PLEASE PUT ONE ON THE PAN AXIS for RS5 time.
As far as build quality and balancing, several have noted the Teflon finish is nice for balancing, but honestly I prefer the tension of the RSC2. The Ronin 4 is TOO TIGHT overall and you have to use a lot of force to go left and right on the roll and pan axis. Adjusting top vs. bottom weight has too little friction on the RS4 Pro and you have to hold the camera for support so it doesn't drop, which I never had to do on the RSC2 - you could get the tension on the older Ronin's loose enough to adjust top vs. bottom heavy, without being loose enough not to fall. That's not the case with the RS4, it's either REALLY TIGHT that you can't adjust up and down, or loose enough to require supporting the camera, with no sweet spot.
Another nitpicking feature with the pan axis is the lock. The lock for the pan axis doesn't match the familiar form factor the other two axis's have. It's switch shaped and conforms to the round shape of the grip and is tucked deep into crevices. It's a bit challenging to unlock it by feel, usually requiring you to turn the gimbal around to see the unlock pan switch. Then it's very easy to lock it, ironically enough, while you're trying to balance the pan, while putting a lot of force going back and forth, so it's quite annoying.
NEW FEATURE: VERTICAL MODE
Like most video people...I'm not a fan of vertical videos...#MVHA. But it seems like they're here to stay with cell phone internet usage I'd say being more important and widely used than desktop internet. The good news is if you have to make a TikTok video or Instagram Reel, you can do it more easily by snapping off the base and inserting it sideways, orienting the camera vertically...yay.
Of course you will have to REBALANCE the camera, you're wildly changing top heavy vs. bottom heavy distribution as well as switching axis's with improper power levels. But if you're good at balancing, it should only take 1-2 minutes.
Personally I'm lukewarm on this feature, but glad it's there, I'm sure it will come in handy. But it's still a chore as there are plenty of times a client wanting a video will want it both horizontal with some verticals thrown in as an add on, and you'll have to rebalance a few times an hour on those shoots. I generally had luck with the older RSC2 by putting it in FPV mode to activate the roll axis, then turning it sideways, to avoid rebalancing. That's why I'm not over the moon with a vertical mode, given that the roll axis on a horizontally balanced Ronin turned sideways generally works, and is more convenient if a client wants shots both ways on a dime. However it's great to have a proper vertical orientation to have a custom balance when the time comes.
Now the main issue I have with the vertical mode's design is the hot shoe mount on the bottom of the plate. That was generally used for the Raveneye transmitter. The Raveneye blocks the port needed on the bottom plate to attach to the gimbal for vertical mode. If you turn the Raveneye 90 degrees to reveal the vertical port, guess what, the Raveneye then blocks the locking mechanism to lock the plate in vertical mode...so vertical mode is not Raveneye friendly unless you're ok with attaching the Raveneye on the top of your camera...making it top heavy. While a minor nuissance, I do wish the design were better to allow the Raveneye in vertical mode. Luckily...or unluckily...I barely use the Raveneye, it wasn't that good at tracking.
NEW FEATURE: AUTOLOCK...but there's a flaw (FIRMWARE REQUEST)
One of the major pains I had with the older Ronin RSC 2 was locking it. You can't have an active gimbal all day wearing out your battery. And you can't just turn it off and have your camera fall as the gimbal collapses, catching your HDMI and USB cables and ruining your ports. You have to lock each axis first, then turn it off or put it in rest mode. Then while you're locking it, someone calls and says "ready for the next shot"...then you have to unlock each axis again and wait for the startup. Then the impatient client or crew member gets frustrated because you're not ready. It was a major pain doing this with the older Ronins and made me cringe, especially since you have to hold the heavy gimbal one handed and wrestle with the gimbal axis flying away from you as you try to lock an axis as the Ronin tries to correct the motion...like giving a cat a pill.
Finally we get an AUTOLOCK feature that solves all of this. Merely tap the power button and each axis locks automatically then the gimbal goes into rest mode, saving battery life. Not only that, as goofy as it sounds, I LOVE the sound it makes while autolocking...it sounds like a transformer or something made by Skynet. And with another tap of the power button, you get that sound again and the gimbal unlocks and awakens...RISE OF THE RONIN!
But with that autolock feature, DJI missed a huge oversight in my opinion. The proper way to turn off the gimbal is tap the power button once, WAIT FOR IT TO LOCK. It will CALMLY LOCK IN THE NEUTRAL POSITION... ONLY THEN do you hold the power button down for a few seconds and it will shut off. The problem is people are conditioned to turn off a device by holding the power button down as the only step. THIS IS A PSA - DO NOT HOLD DOWN THE POWER BUTTON WITHOUT LOCKING FIRST! When you hold the power button down, the Ronin WILL SNAP SHUT and in a DEFORMED shape. It doesn't go to neutral, it contorts...and it contorts QUICKY. GOOD BYE HDMI AND USB PORTS on your camera if you were unfortunate enough to have 3 cables attached to your camera. There's been a whole industry around securing wire ports on cameras for a long time, you do not @#$% with cable ports getting knocked loose...so it's baffling DJI didn't fix this before release and IMO needs to be fixed by firmware.
AGAIN I WILL TYPE IN ALL CAPS - LOCK YOUR RONIN 4 BEFORE POWERING DOWN...ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE WIRES ATTACHED TO YOUR CAMERA.
What's really frustrating is DJI limited the motion of the roll axis to 30 degrees, I'm assuming for safety...but this slips by. There needs to be a check in future firmware to insure the gimbal gets locked before it powers down.
OPERATION - SHORTER ROLL
The Ronin RS4 Pro is built for 10lbs, which is a lot as I'm a Panasonic S series shooter and the RSC2 held up just fine with a few pounds to spare. I previously was eyeballing the RS3 Mini and got the S series lenses to stay lightweight as gimbals do get really heavy over time.
With a beefier motor, you do get the freedom to add accessories as well as have less hiccups and motors shaking under stress, so that's a huge plus. It does operate more smoothly and feels more secure, like the gimbal is more put together than prior versions. DJI stated there's less gaps in the gimbals axis components and it feels like it fits better. There's less shake and less stress tremors. Granted, the RSC2 wasn't bad at all and was completely trust worthy for me, but the RS4 Pro feels more secure.
The only caveat is you have to move your body more for orbit shots. The roll axis on the Ronin RS4 Pro has less range than the RSC2. Perhaps that's a safety feature to ensure less gimbal confusion, but I noticed it right away and have to be conscious to avoid situations where I stress the roll axis as I'm trying to stand still in tight quarters, trying to get a crescent pan around a close range object, relying on the roll axis to maintain horizon. The RS4 Pro will often stop short and bump against the roll axis's short 30 degree limit, which is the max setting allowed in the app. Hopefully a firmware update can allow it to expand to older Ronin performance. Perhaps this is the cost with having an extended tilt arm allowing for larger cameras and cinema lenses.
You can also map shortcuts to the front trigger, which is much appreciated so you can leave your phone in your pocket. By default the front trigger locks the camera so you can do interviews or have a very smooth "simulated dolly on tracks" shot as opposed to a floating airship shot. Or you can set it to FPV mode to get twisty Inception shots on the fly.
ACCESSORIES - NEW ECOSYSTEM
Aside from carrying more weight and autolocking, the main selling point of the RS4 Pro is the new accessory ecosystem. Some of these accessories aren't even out yet or are back ordered.
These include:
1. A new bigger battery grip, the BG70 ($150), that extends the battery life to 29 hours. The stock battery included goes for around 12 hours.
2. DJI Transmitter - a better imaging transmitter with control features to replace the Raveneye. I hated the Raveneye for tracking, but it was only $150 alone, but often bundled for cheaper. The beefier DJI transmitter is almost $1000 more and requires a receiver, which together, are $2500.
3. A new focus motor, the DJI Focus Motor Pro ($150), which now has a beefier 15mm standard rod, as opposed to the 12mm rod the original focus motor had.
4. Lidar Range Finder ($699)- a module that enables autofocus for manual lenses when using the focus motor.
5. Focus Pro Hand Unit - a large focus wheel to control focus remotely. So far I've only seen this in a Combo Kit that includes the focus motor and Lidar system for $1900, with B&H quoting the hand unit at $929.
These accessories are not included, but, if you get an older Ronin or smaller non-Pro version, you'll be locked out of these accessories. So the RS4 Pro is a great way to future proof your investment in a gimbal, leaving the door open a few years down the line to collect the needed accessories. So you'll have to judge for yourself how much you'll need the new accessories or if you're even willing to shell out a few grand to beef out an $800 gimbal, potentially totaling $4000 extra. If the accessories aren't in your future, then you may want to opt for a cheaper gimbal or older Ronin, unless you really need 10lbs of camera on top of your Ronin. Black Magic camera users will obviously want the lidar and focusing modules as Black Magic cameras never include autofocus. Camera ops working large crew and budget productions requiring an external monitor where focus pullers are expected will also need a Ronin RS4 Pro. However your average Joe doing basic corporate videos with interviews and gimbal shots as B-Roll, using a lightweight Sony Mirrorless, the RS4 Pro may be overkill and you could be just fine with an RS3 Mini or Covid Era Ronin.
My personal opinion on the new ecosystem is as great as they seem, a lot of it is overkill or overhyped for most videographers out there. The autofocus on the Lidar and focus pulling capabilities of a wireless monitor and focus handle are nice. However, modern sub 5lb DSLRs have pretty trustworthy autofocus as is, especially on Sony, and you can map a focus lock button on the gimbal handle. That's usually plenty for most corporate video productions.
I originally got the RSC2 bundle that included the Raveneye and original focus motor, both of which were underwhelming and collected dust, so that leaves a sour taste in my mouth upgrading to DJI's more expensive options, given their track record with similar accessories. Obviously they've upped their RnD game as the new versions are PRO and come with a beefier price tag. However the new focus motor I'm skeptical over as it's a one rod system, not a double rod system. The old focus motor ALWAYS rotated AWAY from the lens due to the force and constantly had to be re-adjusted. Nearly every follow focus that was one rod did that as there's nothing securing the distance and it would always twist, no matter how hard you tighten it. The new pro motor still has one rod and I'd want a two rod system.
The DJI transmitter, at almost $1000 more...$2500 with receiver, BETTER be better than the Raveneye, but I've kind of soured on the concept of remote control/monitoring given the Raveneye's tracking was terrible, even with the new Ronin RS4 Pro. The Raveneye would only "track" in spurts and not smoothly. It would only kick in when the object was leaving frame as well, having no concept of rule of thirds, or even maintaining proper framing by keeping the object in a similar spot. As much as I like Ronins, I'm not sold on DJI accessories that much. I regret getting the RSC2 bundle and wish I would've gotten the RSC2 solo instead. So as much as I like the Ronin RS4 Pro, it's main selling point is the new "ecosystem" of accessories...some of which aren't even out yet with no samples online...so that's a tough sell given I wasn't a fan of spending an extra $100 on the RSC2 bundle and now DJI wants a few grand extra for the super versions.
I will say Black Magic users probably don't have much choice and should get the RS4 Pro. Their cameras are heavier and without autofocus, so that's a match made in heaven.
The main accessory that excites me is the BG70 battery. I love how newer Ronins have swappable batteries. My RSC2 had it built into the handle...and after a 3 hour shoot recently, fully charged, it was down to 50 percent...scary for a 14 hour quote. So it's good to know I never have to worry about charging again with the RS4 Pro, which makes it worthwhile at least. However the battery grip lock in the Ronin RS4 Pro only slides partial way to the lock icon, which makes me go OCD, even though it stays put and feels secure.
Overall, if you have a camera over 6lbs with the lens, GET THE RS4 Pro. If you have a Blackmagic Camera and can swing a few grand on accessories for autofocus, then GET THE RS4 Pro. If you get habitual work shooting vertical videos...GET THE RS4 Pro.
If you own an older Ronin and have a light weight DSLR, then you'll have to debate how badly you want the auto lock feature and newer batteries that are swappable...which to be honest, are great quality of life improvements. Then again older Ronins can be had for almost 1/3 the price...which is really tempting as the RS3 mini is a mere $350.
So average Joes on mirrorless cameras may want to wait as this is a welcomed evolution, but not a revolution. I'd give this 5 stars if it had fine tuning dial gears for the Pan axis and didn't have that annoying power down glitch. I do wish the new accessories were ready on the market to showcase the RS4 Pro as well.
I will reiterate, my personal opinion, I wish I didn't get the combo kit in the RSC2 days. I still feel the same way about the current RS4 Pro combo kit. While it includes the NEW Pro Focus motor, it's still including the Raveneye Transmitter. That's understandable given the new transmitter is $2500 complete, but the Raven eye was only good at transmitting a video feed to your phone in all honesty. It's not precise or fun to control the joystick via a phone screen and tilting your phone to pan up and down can get dizzying and confusing fast.