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The SteadyCross is a 3D printed 3-axis magnetic camera gimbal with no electric motors

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Gimbals have become one of the most commonly used camera accessories when filming video. And for the most part, there have been two very different types. Gravity stabilisers, like the Glidecam, and motorised 3-axis gimbals, like the Zhiyun Weebill Lab and Crane 2. The SteadyCross seems to be something sort of in between.

It’s a 3-axis gimbal, however, it’s not powered by motors & electronics. Nor is it simply another gravity stabiliser. The SteadyCross keeps its level using magnets. It’s made using 3D printing with TitanX ABS engineering filament, and complete gimbals are currently available to backers through Indiegogo.

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The Obsbot Tail uses an AI powered camera to produce perfect selfie videos

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The concept of a camera that can follow a subject all by itself isn’t a new idea. Well, I say all by “itself”, the camera was usually paired with some kind of “homing device” on the wearer to tell the camera in which direction to point. But the Obsbot Tail needs no homing device. It uses AI tracking to follow a subject automatically, even if visual line of sight is broken.

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6 creative ways to use a gimbal for your video footage

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Gimbals are wonderful things, but just walking around holding a gimbal gets really boring really quickly, especially for the viewer. But that’s what often happens. Every shot looks like a “gimbal shot”. We’ve seen the same thing happen with drones, too. And like a drone, a gimbal can be a valuable storytelling tool, offering some unique shots.

In this video, the guys from COOPH show us six creative ways we can use gimbals to make more interesting footage. Footage that can help us tell a story and not just look like your typical gimbal footage.

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Standardize your tripod plates for $15 or less to save time on-set

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I own, maybe 8 tripods. I also have a monopod, couple of sliders and a gimbal. Each of these has heads which take some form of tripod plate. A way to attach your camera to the device.  But the big problem with them is that they all typically tend to use different tripod plates to each other. This means lots of switching out plates on-set as you need to move from one to another.

This number of camera supports might seem excessive, but I am not alone. Many folks out there own a number of tripods, sliders and other units, especially if they shoot video as well as stills. This video from Jordy Vandeput shows us how we can standardise all of our tripods to make swapping out a breeze, saving a lot of time.

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DJI announces pricing and availability for Ronin-S camera stabiliser, should you get it or the Crane 2?

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DJI’s line of Ronin camera stabilisers, however, is very well regarded, and they work pretty flawlessly. So, when DJI announced a handheld 3-axis stabilised gimbal for DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, a lot of people got excited. But the big concern was the price. DJI’s gimbals haven’t exactly known for being low budget. Now, though, we learn that the Ronin-S is actually less expensive than its closest competitor, the Zhiyun Crane 2.

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DIYP reviews the Zhiyun Crane 2 motorised 3-axis gimbal stabiliser

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Ever since I got to play with the original Zhiyun Crane at Photokina 2016 I’ve wanted to put one of these things to work and see how it handles. I’ve used a number of smaller gimbals for phones, but the ability to load up a DSLR or mirrorless camera offers huge benefits. I almost never invest in the first generation of anything, but then they released the Zhiyun Crane 2.

GearBest got in touch with us to see if we wanted to check one out for ourselves and how it might help with the content we create here on DIYP. With The Photography Show and other events coming up where we need to shoot video, it seemed like a great opportunity to give it a good workout and really put it through its paces. But it’s quickly become one of my favourite video creation tools.

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5 things you need to know to get the best footage out of your gimbal

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Gimbals are probably the single coolest development in filmmaking tech in the last few years. Catering to everything from phones & action cameras to big DSLR & dedicated video camera rigs. They’ve become extremely popular, but they do take a little getting used to. There are ways to get the best out of them and results that you’re really happy with.

I have three gimbals myself. My most recent is the Zhiyun Crane 2 (review coming soon) which I’m planning to use for a shoot this weekend. So, this video from Matti over at TravelFeels comes at just the right time to serve as a reminder. In it, Matti goes over five great tips and techniques to help you get the most out of your gimbal.

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