Ronin MX, Sony FS5 and the Cinemilled Dovetail Plate & Counterweights

Hey all. So an update that will affect anyone buying Cinemilled plates in combo with any Ronin M or Ronin MX's. I received my Ronin M/MX plate and counterweights today. I discovered a little issue that Cinemilled is now aware of. The dovetail plate does NOT fit the DJI Ronin MX mounting plate. It also does not fit the newer made Ronin M's. It does fit about 80% of existing Ronin M's though.

The issue is that DJI changed how the mounting plates are being manufactured and the dimensions changed very slightly. Currently, if you receive Cinemilled's dovetail plate for your MX, it will go in about 1/4" and then bind, it will be too tight of a fit.

I spoke with one of the reps at Cinemilled, and they are aware of the problem now and will not ship anymore of the M/MX dovetail plates until they are re-milled to fit the new castings from DJI.

So, they are offering existing customers the ability to return the plates and get the new ones once they're made, but their shop won't be up and manufacturing the new plates again for about 3 weeks.

With this in mind, and being I have already booked some gigs where I'll need the MX with my FS5, and with a better lens than my cheap little pancake lens that vignettes, I went ahead and did a DIY milling of my plate to grind and sand down the dovetail grooves on the Cinemilled plate.

NOTE: Attempt only at your own risk. I chose to because I needed it to work ASAP. If you're not comfortable with power tools, wait for the new plates.

Cinemilled plate after grinding with Dremel tool.

Manfrotto quick plate attached to the Cinemilled plate. Too many plates! However, it makes it much easier to dismount your camera. Otherwise you have to unscrew the weights from the back to be able to release the Cinemilled Dovetail plate.

I pulled out my Dremel and attached one of the cutting discs. It's one that is about an 1/8" thick. I then clamped the plate down and carefully ground along the dovetail edges. It took several passes on both sides of the dovetails to get it to fit smoothly into the DJI mount. I then attached the wire brush attachment to smooth out any rough spots where I ground on the Cinemilled plate. Note that you don't need to do anything to the Ronin mount at all. Just grinding the Cinemilled plate. I ground it and tested it a few times before getting it right. I didn't want to grind too much off to where it would be too loose.

It obviously leaves the plate without any of the black powder coating along the dovetail grooves, but it is aluminum, so it won't rust. It just won't be as pretty, though it is hard to see from the underside. I've attached photos to show what I mean.

Cinemilled plate after grinding the dovetails with a Dremel tool. 2" and 1" weights sitting behind.

Anyhow, after all was said and done, the Cinemilled plate with 2 of the 2" weights was the perfect solution getting my Sony FS5 on to the Ronin MX with a larger lens--specifically the Rokinon 16mm with Metabones EF to E mount adaptor--and mounted on a Manfrotto quick plate as well. Now, the camera is perfectly weighted and it works great. And with the added Manfrotto plate, it makes it a quicker mount and dismount of the camera.

I highly recommend getting these plates if you're mounting a RED or Sony FS5 or other larger cameras to this gimbal. I also have to say that Pedro at Cinemilled was great to talk to and was more than helpful to solve the problem. This was a situation where DJI didn't get the word out that their plates had changed and it leaves the smaller third party guys like Cinemilled in a bind. I feel bad that they have to go back and fix and/or mill new plates after the fact. However, all said and done, the problem will be easily resolved, and they're the perfect solution to mounting bigger rigs on the Ronin family gimbals. And, if you absolutely can't wait, there is a DIY solution to making the plates work.

Cinemilled has an excellent line of products for MoVI and Ronin users. Check them out at

https://cinemilled.com