Zhiyun’s new Crane-2 gimbal features 7lb load capacity and remote follow focus
Sep 1, 2017
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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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.
It can also power select Sony cameras via the gimbal itself. This is extremely handy for Sony shooters given how long their batteries last (or don’t) when shooting video. Now, you just have to deal with one set of batteries. Your camera and gimbal run out at the same time, and to power up both, you just replace the one 6000mAh battery inside the Crane-2.
Other than that, there’s not a whole lot of information out there on the new Crane-2 yet. Other than the price. Which is a $200 increase over the Crane v2 (again, different from the Crane-2).
Given even just this little information, though, I’m glad I held off buying the original Crane. I tend to often hold out for the second generation of something, and I think this one is going to be in my future.
The Crane-2 is available to pre-order now for $749 and is expected to ship starting November 1st.
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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3 responses to “Zhiyun’s new Crane-2 gimbal features 7lb load capacity and remote follow focus”
Haha John – I just wanted to tag you here …
I just bought a Yhiyun Crane. They recently lowered the price to $549.
Now I know why…
This new Crane 2 doesn’t have anything I need though. I don’t use a Sony camera… nor do I need to fly 7lbs… and I don’t have a problem with battery life.
Agreed. The Crane 1 is good enough for me and not worth the upgade at this time. My only complaint is that Zhiyun has way too many phone apps out there and need to consolidate all of the features into one. They’re pushing ZY Play now but Zhiyun Assistant (in Android) is the one where you can change the motor strength in the settings. Default on my Crane was “weak” which worked for my a6500 but caused my friend’s GH+Sigma zoom to bounce. After switching to “strong” for GH, it was fine. This setting caused tremors on my cam. Switched back to medium/weak, power off and on, all was good. There really needs to be more documentation about this. We found this tip in the comments of review video.