MIOPS has today announced the new Capsule Pro motorised pan and tilt head for shooting timelapse and motion control video. Released four years after the MIOPS Capsule360, I’m not entirely sure what makes this different/better than its predecessor, except for the increased load capacity and it looks like some highlight features from the Capsule360 (such as subject tracking) aren’t even mentioned with the new Capsule Pro. Like most of the other MIOPS gear releases, the MIOPS Capsule Pro is being launched through Kickstarter with pledges currently starting at $299. It also talks to and combines with other MIOPS gear, like the MIOPS Slider, giving you multi-axis motion control that you wouldn’t be able to get with just the Capsule Pro alone.
The MIOPS Capsule Pro offers a number of the usual motion control features we’d expect from a pan-tilt system like this. You get the usual motion timelapse, as well as multi-row panorama mode for stitching individual shots together. You can also turn the Capsule Pro into a turntable for 360-degree product photography. It’s controlled by the MIOPS app for both Android and iOS smartphones and can be connected to the MIOPS Slider+ and FLEX units to add a third axis to the system for linear movement as well as shoot day-to-night “holy grail” timelapse sequences.
The moves are programmed through the app using keyframes. And you can define more than just start and end points, too. You can create multiple keyframes in order to have your camera hit multiple targets in your sequence that you can then shoot as either video or timelapse sequence. The big upgrade over its predecessor seems to be strength and loudness. It bumps the maximum load capacity up to 12kg for the pan axis and 4kg for the tilt axis and the motors in the new Capsule Pro offer quieter operation than the Capsule360. You get the full 360° of rotation with speeds of up to 16°/sec, meaning it can do a full rotation in a little over 20 seconds.
The Capsule Pro units are compatible with a whole big wide range of cameras from Nikon, Cano, Sony, Fuji, Hasselblad, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Leica and even a few brands that are a little more obscure in today’s landscape like Minolta, Contax and Kodak. You can see the complete list of compatible cameras on the Kickstarter campaign. If you want to back it and get your own, single unit pledges start at $299 while the pan-tilt twin pack with L bracket pledges start at $699. Head on over to Kickstarter to find out more.
