2025.03.29 Checklist for taking a panorama using the DJI RS4 Mini
gimbal + Sony ZV-E10 II (or a starting point for similar setups).
Mechanical/Camera setup
- Unfold/assemble tripod and extend column and legs as required.
- Attach DJI RS4 Mini gimbal to tripod (directly, or using QuickLinks).
- Adjust gimbal to working position:
Unlock roll from Auto Lock, rotate so roll arm horizonal, re-apply
Auto Lock.
(May need to adjust roll slider, here, depending on camera/lens.)
- Add camera + lens (without lens cap but with hood) to gimbal (this
assumes clamp plate is already on gimbal and Arca-Swiss plate is
on camera); camera should be just short of vertical arm.
Lock clamp lever (fully to left if long lens to avoid fouling Roll
arm).
- Plug USB↔USB cable between camera and RS4 Mini USB-C socket (on
rear of tilt arm).
- Extend and tilt screen to left as when balanced/setup.
Gimbal and Camera power-on
- Turn on RS4 Mini gimbal (press and hold On/Off button (on right
side) for 1+ seconds)
→ gimbal should beep, light screen and level; balance icon (top
right of four) should be green.
- Turn on camera.
- Select USB Connect Mode screen: Remote Shoot (PC Remote); Set
- Check/set camera settings on screen:
Camera mode A, use dial to set F5.6 if possible.
ISO 200.
Exposure compensation +/− 0.
Self-timer 2 secs.
Shooting mode Single shot.
Fn → Focus mode MF (Manual Focus) or DMF (half-press focus then
fine-tune manually), or AF-A (AutoFocus-Automatic) for closer subjects.
- If using a zoom lens, set to desired length.
Start app & set camera focus & exposure
- Open DJI Ronin app on phone; device name (DJI RS4 MINI-xxxxxx)
should show blue in box at top shortly (if not tap ‘Connect’ and
then on device name).
- Touch ‘Create’.
- Touch ‘Virtual joystick’, then ‘Recenter’ to level and centre the
camera.
(Then use virtual joystick left/right, or mechanically pan tripod,
to centre point of interest.)
- If using MF then focus using peaking; if DMF then half-press shutter
and fine tune.
- Ensure app shutter button is white (if red, for video, switch
using bottom-left icon).
- Tap White Button to take single shot (this records horizon and
also measures exposure).
Record compass bearing of prominent feature for later Set North
and/or GPS.
- Press camera AE Lock toggle button (according to camera setup
– C1 if set up for ZV-E10 II) to lock exposure; ‘*’ at bottom right
confirms.
- Use back arrow to ‘Create’ screen’.
Take panorama
- Touch ‘Panorama’.
- Set panorama bounds: touch two opposite corners and for each corner
use push mode or drag corner to approximate position (tap joystick
icon to fine tune, tap icon again to hide joystick / see X×Y counts).
- Check/set the four settings (e.g., Sensor Type APS-C, Focal Length
60mm, Overlap 30%, Interval 5s – the 5s interval allows for 2s camera
delay, but perhaps could be reduced).
- Press white button to start panorama imaging (if it doesn’t start,
check ‘Contact→Virtual Joystick’ page is not in video mode).
After capture, tapping white button repeats panorama bounds (zoom
change OK if Focal Length changed to match).
When done:
- Turn off RS4 Mini: about a 1-sec press & release.
Gimbal should auto-lock and fold.
- Turn off camera then unplug USB↔USB cable from camera.
- Remove camera from gimbal, and pack.
- Remove gimbal from tripod and pack gimbal then tripod.
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This page was last
edited on 2025-04-25 by mfc.