The Zhiyun Smooth Q2 and Crane M2 are small but mighty little gimbals
Sep 23, 2019
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Zhiyun has given us no shortage of new gimbal releases over the last year or so. The Crane 3 LAB and Weebill lab have both been big hits. But now Zhiyun is focusing on the smaller things in life with the new Crane M2 and Smooth Q2 gimbals for small compact cameras and smartphones. We had the opportunity to chat with Zhiyun at IBC 2019 and find out more about them.
The Crane M2 is Zhiyun’s latest gimbal for small compact cameras, like the Canon G7X Mark III and the Sony RX100 VII. It’s aimed at travel vloggers who like to carry as light a kit as possible while still getting some decent footage. Even though it’s designed for small compacts, it can take a decent range of cameras from action cameras up to small mirrorless cameras like the Sony A6500 with a small compact lens.
- Payload: 130-720g
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.2
- WiFi: 2.4Ghz
- Battery capacity: 1100mAh
- Battery life: Up to 7 hours
- Charge time: 2 hours
- Weight: 499g
The Zhiyun Crane M2 is available to buy now for $269 in the USA and €289 in the EU.
If you find yourself regularly shooting with your phone, then the Zhiyun Smooth Q2 might be a better option. This one isn’t quite available yet, having only been announced recently, and is currently being funded through Kickstarter. As tiny smartphone gimbals go, they don’t really get much smaller than this. It’s shrunk considerably vs its Smooth Q predecessor, and it sees quite a few upgrades and refinements, offering better battery life and power for the ever-growing smartphones in peoples pockets.
- 16-hour battery life
- 1-second quick-release clip
- Aluminium alloy body
- Works in portrait or landscape orientation
- 360° Infinite Vortex Mode
- Motion Lapse
- Object Tracking
- Direct control of your phone’s native camera
The Smooth Q2 Kickstarter campaign is set to end in a few days, but you’ve still time to pick up one of those $109 early bird bargains. The gimbals are expected to ship to backers in October, and after the campaign’s over, the regular retail price will be $139.
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We are giving away over $5,000 of cinema gear: https://bit.ly/2LQE6gw
DIYP’s coverage of IBC2019 is sponsored by Syrp, Manfrotto, Zhiyun, and Spiffy Gear.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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2 responses to “The Zhiyun Smooth Q2 and Crane M2 are small but mighty little gimbals”
139$ retail for the smooth q2 is a bit too much since the osmo3 is 129$ for the full package as far as i know and the moza mini s is 90$
And SJCAM?