Build update 2 / 27 October 2026

The Ronin 4D video is online.

Four and a half years, six continents, one camera. Greenland, the Amazon, fires, glaciers. I love the Ronin 4D, and I finally made the video about the two things it was always missing.

Watch on YouTube: I Finally Fixed the Ronin 4D's Two Biggest Problems ↗

Nick at a table outdoors with the Ronin 4D on the NIX base plate and the orange stereo mic bracket, two pencil microphones mounted — I Finally Fixed the Ronin 4D's Two Biggest ProblemsPlays from YouTube once you press play.

Status on 27 October 2026

Status on 27 October 2026: every NIX part and its state
R4D / 001	Professional Base Plate	Prototype on the camera
R4D / 002	Stereo Mic Bracket	In testing

Why this camera

One take in Senegal.

We rolled into a village in Senegal just before sunset. A little chapel, dusty roads, the blue hour about to start, and a producer who needed the whole interview inside the half hour of light we had left.

Five minutes later I was walking backwards through the village with a 50 mm at f/1.2, looking over my shoulder, one take, no retakes. Before this camera that shot meant hours of setup and a focus puller. Here it was out of the bag and go. That's why I keep it.

A village chapel in Senegal at blue hour under a purple sky — Fig. 01 / Senegal, blue hourStill from the video. From The Last Places, free on YouTube.

The big but

Two things I was always missing.

The first is a tripod. A gimbal can fake a locked off shot, but on long interviews you end up holding it at eye level and dreading every extra question. I screwed a Manfrotto plate to the front of the stock plate for years. Always back heavy, always drifting. The middle is where the sensors sit.

The second is sound. Before the audio expansion plate I had to choose between timecode and scratch audio. Once it arrived I had a proper shotgun mic and nowhere to put it that wasn't in the shot.

Silhouette of Nick standing next to the Ronin 4D on a tripod at sunset — Fig. 02 / On the tripodStill from the video.

R4D / 001

Professional Base Plate.

Prototype on the camera

Six months and a whole crate of printed prototypes later: a plate that bolts to the original points, keeps the sensors clear, takes a Manfrotto quick release and adds barely any height.

The raw sample from the mill has been on my camera since 30 September. It fits, and one small correction goes into the series drawing. The anodised samples are back from the anodiser and next on the camera. Measured specs go on the product page once I've checked them on finished parts.

Professional Base Plate

Close up of the raw aluminium base plate under the Ronin 4D with orange printed cable clamps — Fig. 03 / Raw sample plateStill from the video. First sample, before anodising.

R4D / 002

Stereo Mic Bracket.

In testing

Two pencil mics at a fixed angle, out of the lens's way however the gimbal moves. A car passes and you hear it come in on one side and leave on the other. Recorded, not faked in post. Marks on the bracket show where the mic ends go.

And yes, it opens a beer bottle. The first test print broke doing it, on camera. The final one doesn't.

Stereo Mic Bracket

What comes next.

Part two of the Ronin 4D video is in the edit. Then a video for each of the other parts before anything goes on sale.

Nothing is for sale yet and there's no launch date. Tell me what your rig is still missing, in the comments under the video or by replying to a build update. If you want to know when the shop opens, the signup is below.

Nick, Überlingen