Electronic Gimbals 2019

[Pete Cofrancesco]

I’m looking to get one for this wedding season to fly my canon 70/80d. I currently own a steadycam but find it hard to operate under wedding conditions. I want something light weight and easy setup for a solo shooter.

I’m considering the following gimbals:
$400 Moza Air (2.4lbs)
$600 Moza Air2 (3.5lbs)
$500 Zhiyun Crane 2 (2.76lbs)

Any thoughts?

[Eugen Brinzoiu]

Pete
I use Moza Air with a Sony A6500 and 18-105mm and I'm very happy with it.
Got this a year ago and it was less than 400$.
If you can wait for a deal.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Eugen Brinzoiu

Pete
I use Moza Air with a Sony A6500 and 18-105mm and I'm very happy with it.
Got this a year ago and it was less than 400$.
If you can wait for a deal.

Thanks I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Moza Air. It’s on top of my list because of it’s low weight and price.

it’s basically between the Air and Crane 2. The crane is heavy but I like it takes Manfrotto plate and is compatible with Canon.

[John Nantz]

Can't help with your decision but couldn't help adding a post. A cam on a gimbal is the only way to fly, so to tag onto Troy's "Gear Acquisition Syndrome" thread, a gimbal is a really useable piece of kit.

I also have a Glide Cam but the electronic gimbal is so much easier to set up and use. Picked up a FeiYu last summer for flying a small Sony FDR-X3000 cam (it's really small) and the combo has got lots of use even though the X3000 has a gimbaled lens. The purpose of the gimbal is to keep the horizon level when used on a bike and a boat.

This afternoon I came across a guy doing a corporate video using a Ronin and due to the weight of the gear he often had the Ronin angled down to his belt. What I liked about the Ronin was the tilt lever in front where it was easy to make adjustments. The FeiYu has a tilt button aft which is kinda okay but when operating it the thumb has to be used and I don't think it's as easy to keep the cam pointed where you want it, but it's good enough.

The FeiYu tends to go through batteries so a second battery is helpful, and it's also a non-standard battery.

P.S. Speaking of "Gear Acquisition", the tripod foot would be another handy piece of kit :-)
Cher of Sony & Cher fame always said "Money is meant to be kept in circulation."

Picture of the guy's Ronin rig:

[Pete Cofrancesco]

most of the reviews agree while the Ronin function very well and has the highest capacity it’s too heavy for this style of gimbal. It’s also very expensive.

[Steve Burkett]

I tried a few gimba!s, but Ronin S was the winner. Heaviest yes, but so good to use. I got a strap for it to help distribute the weight. I hated the zhyiun. Never worked for me, but I know many who swear by it. Never used the Moza Air.

You may wish to try them first if you can. Gimbals are really how you feel working with then. If you don't feel them working intuitively with you, you'll never get the sort of shots you need. No one could have advised me which one was best, and I feel the same is true with you.

[Nate Haustein]

I have the Zhiyun Crane 2 and use it with an A7iii & adapted Canon lenses. It’s a good value in my opinion, beefy but not huge - I use it a lot. It will work with my FS5 if I really spend some time balancing things.

The other day I tried out a friend’s Ronin S with a 5Diii. Wow. Really nice functionality but it was massive. For planned shots I think it has the advantage, but I don’t think I could just carry it around all day like I can the Crane 2.

Prices are pretty comparable these days, I think the Ronin S without follow focus wheel can be had for $499 and the Zhiyun for $549. One other consideration is that the Zhiyun does not have the angled back arm, meaning the back screen on your camera can sometimes be a little harder to see.

[Peter Riding]

I tested the earlier version of the Crane called - confusingly - the Crane V2. I'd bought it on Amazon so fortunately I was able to return it. The problem was that it could not handle confidently a Canon dSLR body and a decent zoom lens plus a mic. e.g. 5D-IV _ Tamron 24-70 f2.8 G2 _ Rode Videomic Pro.

I bought the later Crane 2 instead and that can easily handle the weight - if YOU can handle the weight! The particular advantage of Canon is that you can control the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc on the actual gimbal rather than having to touch the camera or use a smartphone. Other products may include such functionality now, I don't know if they've updated for e.g. Nikon, Panasonic.

I added a handle to it which can also take extras e.g. a monitor. The middle photo here shows my Crane 2 with a handle. It makes all the difference:
https://www.ashtonlamont.co.uk/video...ilation-01.jpg

There is a Crane 3 now and I tried it at a recent trade show but its substantially different in design and it wasn't for me.

The problem with gimbals is the difficulty in actually holding in position for any time. The video guy at yesterday's al-nikah was using an Olympus micro 4/3 with a small prime and tiny mic but he still said he struggled.

I have also been using an improvised Gitzo carbon monopod as in the right photo linked above. Recently I bought a Sirui P-424SR as its the only one I've found that has foldable legs that are long enough to hold substantial kit unmanned:
https://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-s...with-stand.htm

It is excellent quality. Built like the proverbial. I'm tempted to cut back on my use of the Crane 2 and use that Sirui more, especially as the G2 version of the 24-70 has 5 stops of stabilisation.

You can of course use a Manfrotto type plate system to quickly attach / detach your gimbal with a monopod or tripod

Pete