If you have used a Freefly MōVI M5/M10/M15/Pro gimbal, you will probably be familiar with the Toad In The Hole Quick Release.
Attaching between the gimbal and handles, additional Toads can be mounted to other accessories like a drone, tripod or jib for a much faster transition.
Freefly sells the Toad (Male Adapter) individually for $75 or a set of three for $199.
XM2’s Safety Upgrade
Unlike a tripod plate or dovetail, there is no safety release on the Toad In The Hole so you have to be quite careful when releasing the camera. You can imagine the horror of watching say a RED Epic-W with cinema glass & lens motors come crashing to the ground.
To prevent this from happening, Australian company XM2 have created the “Thingymajig“.
CNC milled out of a single block of billet aluminum, the bracket connects in between the gimbal & hole, adding a port where a safety cable can be looped through providing an extra layer of security, giving you peace of mind.
A safety wire can be purchased together with the Thingymajig, available in three lengths. It features a D-Shackle on one end and an eyelet on the other.
One thing to note is that depending on how you secure your safety cable, it could add time transitioning between setups so if you had a one-shot going from a drone to a gimbal you would need to account for the extra time. One thing you could do is add a carabiner to the other end of the safety wire.
Pricing
The Thingymajig is available to order from the XM2 Store with or without a safety cable in a range of colours.
Thingymajig (standalone) – $99 AUD
20cm/7.8″ – $149 AUD
30cm/11.8 – $151 AUD
40cm/15.7″ – $153 AUD
