Corey Hess

You should probably look into upgrading your rig, otherwise you'll probably end up paying more fixing it every time it breaks if you keep overloading like that. GPI offers financing on their equipment through some of their partners, which may be a smarter idea than paying for a new gimbal/service every time your rig breaks. Alternatively, wait for someone on here to post their rig up for sale and you should be able to get a pretty sweet deal. Otherwise, I would replace the gimbal with a new Zephyr gimbal and strip your camera builds of all extraneous accessories. If you can't keep the camera under the payload range of the rig, then you should probably not be using a Zephyr.

I recently purchased an Aero-30 and I’m looking to upgrade to a Zephyr sled and use the A-30 as a backup. I already have the A-30 arm, Zephyr vest, and 7” monitor from the Aero-30 kit, so I’m looking for the sled only (and maybe the hard case too, if available). Thanks!

I use Gold Mount, which is really useful as, again, since the sled is so light, I'm better able to balance larger builds. I believe Tiffen created the Aero as a replacement for Zephyr, although it was manufactured overseas (hence the price differences). Both of them can carry 20lbs+ camera payloads with no issue (Tiffen-recommended max for Zephyr is about 3lbs more than Aero-30), so your camera and lens combos should be no problem.

I own an Aero-30 and I'm very happy with its performance and portability. I haven't flown anything much heavier than a Mini with S4s, but I've still had plenty of lift room. The only downsides I can see are the limited power options and weight of the Aero sled, itself. Since it's a lightweight rig, it's a little more difficult to balance with a heavier camera load. That being said, Cizko's price for a Zephyr is very good and I'd definitely check it out if you're not specifically looking for a brand new rig.