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Version: 1.0

Last Update: 2021-06

Precaution

• The GC3-S is a piece of precision electronics with corrosion-resistant materials which allow for use in harsh marine environments. As with any marine equipment, trouble-free and lasting operations depend on proper attention and maintenance of the equipment.
• When taking off or landing, slowly proceed to avoid damage to the gimbal camera which can cause by the huge impact when contacting the surface at high speeds. Drop or crash directly into the water from above will result in significant damage to the drone and the gimbal camera.
• After using in seawater, soak and rinse thoroughly with clean fresh water before the seawater dries out.
• If seawater or other sediments form on the gimbal camera, soak thoroughly with fresh water and clean all sediments on the camera and motor before use. For more information, check the drone’s “Maintenance manual”.

Installation

Install the Gimbal

Install SD Card

• The GC3-S supports Micro SD cards with a maximum capacity of 128GB. Since the camera requires fast reading and writing of high-stream video data, please use Micro SD cards with Class 10 or UHS-1 or above to ensure proper functioning.
• Do not insert or unplug the Micro SD card during aircraft shooting, as data files may be damaged or lost.
• Once you are done recording, stop recording and save the file. If you turn off the power directly before saving the files, the recording file might be damage.

ND Filter

GC3-S adopts a waterproof replaceable lens design. There is a separate SwellPro waterproof ND filter kit to give you a broader range of possibilities in your photography. 

To change the waterproof lens, simply unscrew the original lens, then screw the ND filter lens back to the camera. Turn the filter CW to tighten up. Turn the filter CCW to loosen up.

⚠ Ensure the orange rubber ring is attached to the camera when installing ND filters.

⚠ Ensure to aline the lens properly when installing ND filters as the lines on the screw are very thin and can be damaged if not screw on properly.

After Use Casing

After using the gimbal camera, you can choose not to take off the gimbal camera and put it directly into the case with the drone. Follow the following steps to make sure the gimbal camera is properly secure after casing.

Control

Camera Status Indicator

There is a camera status indicator on the back of the camera to indicate the camera's working status. It flashes green or red.

Gimbal Control

Note: the Pan controllable angle allow you to gain a wide range of view while remaining the aircraft position. If you don’t want the camera to capture aircraft’s landing gear, switch the gimbal mode to “Follow mode”, then control the aircraft’s pan angle instead. To avoid the pan angle limitation due to the landing gear, the Gimbal Extension Bar (GEB) can be a great accessory. Go to SwellPro website to know more about the accessory.

Camera control

Gimbal Button

There are two gimbal modes: Follow mode and Lock mode. The default mode is Follow mode. 

Follow mode keeps the gimbal direction to the head of the drone. 

Lock mode locks the gimbal position so the is not going to follow the direction of the drone when the drone is turning.

Press the GIMBAL MODE button once to restore the central position.

Press the GIMBAL MODE for 3 seconds to switch gimbal modes.

  Gimbal mode only works for GC3-S and GC3-T.

  You can add an extension bar or gimbal overhead kit to take full advantage of gimbal Follow mode and Lock mode.

Calibration

If there are any abnormal movements being observed or the camera is not level, you can recalibrate the gimbal camera to solve the problem.

Gimbal camera calibration is performed together with the aircraft gyroscope calibration. To calibrate the gimbal camera, you just need to proceed with aircraft gyroscope calibration.

To calibrate the gimbal camera:

1. Place the drone on a level surface, power on the remote controller, then the drone. Wait for the aircraft to connect to the remote controller.   2. Hold the left joystick down to its lowest position, then quickly move the right joystick left to right, back and forth, until the front and rear status indicators flash alternately, or the remote controller screen prompts "WARNING aircraft Initializing, Please Wait". The drone will now perform gyroscope calibration. Now release the joysticks. This process will be completed in 20 seconds. Do not move the drone during this process.   3. When the front status indicators fast-flashing red and the rear status indicators turn solid green, or "WARNING Aircraft Initializing, Please Wait" prompt disappears, power off and restart the drone. Gyroscope calibration is complete.

⚠ Do not calibrate the gimbal camera on a boat or other moving platforms.

Specification

Version Information

1.0       GC3-S User Guide First Edition