The competition on motorised gimbals these days is pretty intense. They didn’t even really exist a few years ago, except for small devices like phones, action cameras, and drones, but now there are a number of companies producing some solid piece of gear. And these companies are generally pretty secretive about new releases, right up until they’re ready to announce them.
One of the biggest names in gimbals is Zhiyun, who was pretty much an instant hit since they introduced their first Zhiyun Crane back in 2016, and they’ve been going from strength to strength ever since. It turns out they had a new gimbal on the way, the Weebill-S, but B&H broke the secrecy and leaked it ahead of their own official announcement.
There is a complete listing for the Zhiyun Weebill-S gimbal on the B&H website, along with a price and specs. You can even pre-order, although there’s no mention of when they might actually ship.
The Zhiyun-Tech WEEBILL-S incorporates the underslung mode design of its predecessor, the WEEBILL LAB, and also has a more compact form as well as other new features. The sling mode design consists of a handle on the rear that allows for easy switching to underslung mode as well as better handling in all other modes. Other improvements include upgraded motors and stabilization algorithm. The WEEBILL-S features 300% more motor torque and 50% more responsiveness.
When it comes to specs, there’s no mention of load capacity, except to say that carry “camera/lens combos such as the Canon 5D Mark IV with a 24-70mm zoom lens“. This suggests that it has a pretty decent load capacity. The photos in the listing also show some kind of Sony, possibly the A7 III from the top button layout, with a 24-70mm f/2.8 GM lens attached.
These are the specs currently in the listing (we’ll update this as we find out more).
| Number of axes | 3-axis (Pitch, Roll, Yaw) |
| Rotation range | Yaw (pan): 360° Pitch (tilt): 314° (-132 to 182°) Roll: 314° (-67 to 247°) |
| Battery type | 2x18650 (custom Zhiyun designs) |
| Battery capacity | 2600mAh |
| Battery runtime | 12-14 hours |
| Mounting points | 3x 1/4-20" female |
| Dimensions | 11.81 x 7.48 x 5.51" (30 x 19 x 14cm) |
| Weight | 2.04lb (0.926kg) |
Along with the Weebill-S comes a new TransMount Image Transmission Module. It’s an optional extra for the Weebill-S and should allow for similar image transmission capabilities to those found in the Crane 3 LAB. The Zhiyun ZY Play app for Android and iOS, it says, has been upgraded to work with the new image transmission module and incorporates a number of new and upgraded features.
Six modes of operation are included with the Weebill-S; Full-range POV, Vortex Mode, Go Mode, PF, F and L modes. These seem to be pretty much the standard modes common to many gimbals these days. It supports electronic focus control using the wheel on the side of the gimbal, and supports the TransMount motors for manual focus lenses and unsupported cameras.
There’s no word on exactly when the Weebill-S will ship, but if a complete listing with a price is already on the B&H website, it probably won’t be long before we hear an official announcement. We’ll let you know as we find out more.
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