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.
The all-in-one Removu K1 4K gimbal features a built in LCD monitor
Currently on display at CES 2018 is the new Removu K1 4K handheld gimbal. Similar in style to the DJI Osmo, with a built-in camera instead of stabilizing your phone or a DSLR, the K1 has one distinct advantage. It features a built-in 1.5″ LCD monitor to show you what that camera’s actually seeing. Originally backed through Indiegogo, the Removu K1 is now on general sale.
Gimbals – Are they terrible and overused or a valuable storytelling tool?
Gimbals can be a wonderful filmmaking tool. They’ve become quite popular over the last year or two, very popular in fact. But are they becoming overused? That’s the argument put forth by Jakob Ownes from TheBuffNerds. He feels that gimbals are overused and take away from not only the story being told, but the storytelling power of gimbals themselves.
Zhiyun’s new Crane-2 gimbal features 7lb load capacity and remote follow focus
Well, this is pretty awesome news. Zhiyun have updated its 3-axis motorised handheld gimbal for DSLRs & mirrorless. To be clear, this is the “Crane-2”, it is not “Crane v2”, which is a revision of the original Crane. I know, it’s confusing, but that’s what it is.
Zhiyun have doubled the load capacity with the new Crane-2 to a whopping 7lbs. They’ve also added an integrated follow focus control, an OLED display, and battery life has increased from 12 to 18 hours.
13 essential camera movements to get amazing footage with your gimbal
A motorised gimbal is one of the most useful tools you can get today for camera stabilisation. They’re much easier to get to grips with than a steadicam style stabiliser, and their prices have come down dramatically in the last year or so. For mobile phones, action cameras, DSLRs or even big RED setups, they are absolutely invaluable. But using them effectively can be challenging.
The temptation is just to hold them static in front of you and shoot away. But this can lead to pretty boring footage. This video from DP Justin Jones for Aputure’s Four-minute film school goes through 13 essential movements that you should know. You don’t need to use all of them in every production, but they will give you many interesting and exciting options when it comes time to edit.
4 ways to get silky smooth stable video footage
Getting clean stable footage is often one of the more difficult challenges with video. Especially while you’re still figuring everything out. Recently, we showed you several tips for getting stable handheld footage. Even relatively smooth handheld footage, though can benefit from a little extra assistance.
As technology advances, there are many ways to make your footage more stable. Using both software and hardware solutions. This video from YouTuber eevnxx goes through four of those methods to help get your footage as smooth as possible.
How to turn your Mavic Pro into a handheld gimbal camera
As far as wacky ideas go, this one actually seems pretty useful. Using a drone with a gimbal stabilised camera as a handheld rig isn’t a big secret. I know a few people who’ve done it, and I’ve tried it myself a couple of times, too. But they’ve all been fairly basic. Either they’re using a Phantom and simply holding the landing gear, or it’s a quickly put together DIY rig.
This, though, is pretty cool. It’s the Polar Pro Katana, and it turns your Mavic Pro into a handheld gimbal stabilised camera. This is the first time I’ve seen a ready-made solution, though. I wonder if it was possibly inspired the DJI Inspire 2 launch with a film which was shot by a drone using this exact technique.
