Zhiyun’s new Weebill 2 gimbal has a built in flippy out touchscreen LCD

Zhiyun has today (yes, today, not yesterday) announced the new Zhiyun Weebill 2 gimbal. A couple of retailers jumped the gun a little early yesterday, but now, Zhiyun has made it official. It looks a lot like the Weebill S, but it has a neat flippy out full-colour touchscreen LCD and a few other tricks up its sleeve.

As well as the new LCD, the Weebill 2 dumps the 18650 batteries in favour of a built-in battery that you can charge while you’re using it (with USB-PD support!) and features a new Infineon sensor which Zhiyun says improves its overall performance.

While a relatively small gimbal, the Zhiyun Weebill 2, they say, is “designed for mainstream mirrorless and DSLR camera and lens combinations” and specifically cite some rather hefty combos, like the Sony A7III and FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM as well as the Canon 5D Mark IV with EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens. It makes sense, as the Weebill S could also handle these sorts of setups, too.

The biggest noticeable feature on the Weebill 2, though is that 2.88″ full-colour flippy out touchscreen LCD. This offers a new way to interact with your gimbal and obviously has a completely different and newly designed UI over all of Zhiyun’s other gimbals. As well as being able to configure your gimbal, Zhiyun says that it will allow you to use features like smart follow, timelapse and gesture control without having to load the ZY Play app – a feature for which many will be thankful.

The 18650 batteries have been replaced by a built-in internal battery and charging circuit. It “only” lasts for 9 hours, which isn’t as long as its Weebill S predecessor – which came in at 14 hours – but the Weebill 2 supports USB-PD charging. Zhiyun claims this lets you charge the gimbal from flat to 25% in 20 minutes, to 50% in 40 minutes, 75% in an hour or 100% in 90 minutes. You can even charge it while you’re using it.

The new Infineon two-filter vector-splitting embedded sensor (that’s a mouthful) offers “unmatched performance”, according to the Zhiyun press release. Combined with the upgraded motor torque and improved stabilisation algorithms, they say it can run smoother for longer and handle more complex moves, compensating for a wider range of instability, even in “extreme conditions”.

The Zhiyun Weebill 2 is available in several different kit options. You’ve got the Standard at $549 (the gimbal, camera cables and basic accessories), the Special Edition at $599 (which comes with an extra mini tripod and fabric case), the Combo at $649 (which comes with a more ergonomic sling grip handle and fabric case), the Pro at $899 (which includes the transmitter, focus motor, sling grip and case) and there’s also a Weebill 2 Pro Plus kit for $1,099, which includes everything the Pro kit does as well as the new Zhiyun COV-04 Mastereye Visual Controller VC100 (normally a separate $499 purchase).

 

All of the kit options are available to pre-order now and are expected to start shipping very soon.