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My Review of the Zhiyun Crane 3-Axis Gimbal


Mattias Burling
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For sure - its my Samsung NX1 with a Samsung 18-55mm kit leans....latest firmware on the camera -had no issuses with the weight on the gimble.....

5 minutes ago, Evan said:

For sure - its my Samsung NX1 with a Samsung 18-55mm kit leans....latest firmware on the camera -had no issuses with the weight on the gimble.....

Also believe its the latest Firmware on the gimble too....

 

14 hours ago, jonpais said:

May I ask what firmware you're using? What camera/lens combination?

For sure - its my Samsung NX1 with a Samsung 18-55mm kit leans....latest firmware on the camera -had no issuses with the weight on the gimble.....

 

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Hey guys, 

Just bought a Zhiyun crane here in HK but wanted to use it with my phone with a tripod adapter, however it doesn't seem to balance no matter how hard I try .

Does anyone know if it's a problem using it like this ? The phone doesn't weight much, will it still put too much stress on the motors ?

The problem seems to be the phone doesn't have enough weight even when I try to set the encoders to the maximum positions ...

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Discovered that my crane has a problem in pan axis.

It won't lock position, but mode 1 and 3 are fine (pan follow and follow modes).

In the app, in mode 1 I can see the pan axis drifting in degrees, even though physical position is still.

In mode 2, the axis in the app stays stable, but the physical position drifts to the left.

 

I tried the 30s standby initialization AND the calibration steps several times, still not working.

 

I connected to the Windows app, it shows Z acceleration of 1, but X and Y are zero when I hold it still.

Looks like a sensor problem, I've just emailed the support email on the website, we will see what happens...

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Update:

I sent Rose more info.

TLDR: If I put the gimbal on tripod for around 30s (or standing on a base on the ground) the horizontal drift in lock mode will be stopped/reduced and then I can hand hold it - no standby mode needed.  However if the camera is tilted up >~40deg(guesstimate) it will start drifting unless you use 30s standby mode (which might not even work).  But if you return to level (0deg tilt), it will start drifting again.

So to do a locked shot I have to start gimbal on tripod, go into lock mode, wait for 30s until drifting stops, then use it in locked mode.  Not sure how long this stops the drifting for (but at least enough time for a 30s shot).

Has anyone connected their gimbal to the computer?  Is the Z axis showing 1 for acceleration? My x and y show zero (0) but Z is 1 unless I tilt up, then Y becomes 1...

Very inconvenient for lock mode :(

Is this happening with anyone elses?  Turn on your gimbal then go directly into lock mode, see if it drifts... thanks...

 

>>> 

I have done more testing and found the behavior to be inconsistent:

 

- If I turn on gimbal, and then use standby 30s calibration but place gimbal on ground (handle sideways on ground), it will still drift.

- If I use 30s standby on tripod, it helps a lot (until I tilt up using joystick).

 

- If I am handholding and start gimbal, then go directly into lock mode it will drift.

- If I then put gimbal on tripod it will settle down and not drift!

 

- If I tilt up over ~40deg, it will start drifting again.

- Even if I put it on tripod it will drift, or if handheld.

- If I return to normal 0deg tilt, it will still be drifting.

- I change to follow mode, start handheld, change back to tripod and lock mode, drifting stops.

 

- If tilted up over 40deg gimbal will drift, standby 30s mode helps to prevent drift, but if you tilt down, it will start drifting again.

 

I love this gimbal but this issue is makes it not as quick when outdoors, and you have to carry small base for crane and reset frequently if you want to use locking mode.

I need locking mode for some of my work.

 

Maybe software fix?  When connected to computer, why is one axis showing 1 acceleration, is this normal?  For example X and Y are 0, then Z is 1.  If I tilt up, X~0, Y~1, Z~0

 

Video:

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Zak Forsman said:

I blame everyone in this thread for this impulse purchase. But love you for it too. This thing is so much fun.

eGvvvmK.jpg

Nice setup! How do you like the Tokina 11-16mm on the Micro? Are you using it with the EF speedbooster? If so, what's the 35mm equivalent FOV after speedboosted?

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16 minutes ago, mercer said:

Nice setup! How do you like the Tokina 11-16mm on the Micro? Are you using it with the EF speedbooster? If so, what's the 35mm equivalent FOV after speedboosted?

 

I've had the Tokina for years. Very, very easy to match the Sigma 18-35 and 50-100 so i keep them all together as a zoom kit. It's a little warpy for my taste but that can be fixed in Resolve with the barrel distortion adjustment. The BMPCC speedbooster opens up FOV by x0.58.

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2 hours ago, Renaud said:

Amazing gimbal for the price, very easy to balance ! here my first footage with the beast : 

 

Works better with OIS lenses thought , i got some shaking when i'm using my voigtlander lenses, i need to practice.

Nice work!

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On 1/1/2017 at 10:10 PM, Zak Forsman said:

I blame everyone in this thread for this impulse purchase. But love you for it too. This thing is so much fun.

eGvvvmK.jpg

Zak, how did you balance the tokina and micro?

I tried and failed... 

Its logical that it should work, but it is too front heavy atm.

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5 hours ago, HelsinkiZim said:

Zak, how did you balance the tokina and micro?

I tried and failed... 

Its logical that it should work, but it is too front heavy atm.

 
 
 

two scenarios. with freshly charged batteries, it can hold this front heavy setup for about an hour. then it starts to fail. but i've since added weight to the back to balance it for real so that it will last for the hours.

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Hi Guys,

I bought the Zhiyun Crane because of all your helpful reviews, so I thought I would share my experience so far. This is the first project I shot with the crane (and Panasonic GH4): 

So far it has worked great. Easy to use and quick to set up. As you can see in the video it is not always perfect (far from it sometimes), but I think that has more to do with my lack of experience with gimbals than the gimbal itself. Especially the pan movement in the default mode is not always smooth. It is also a bit heavier than I thought, so I had to pause every 10 minutes or so or the footage would get shaky. As for the batteries, they last very long. I used the gimbal for two projects with the same set of batteries without charging, about 4 hours of continuous usage and they still weren't empty. 

Well that's all, it's a great gimbal, thank you guys for making me buy it!

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Not sure if this has been answered but I am having a very tough time balancing my gh4 on the roll axis. I get it balanced so that it stays horizontal but when I move it up or down, it does not stay in position, and returns to the horizontal position. I have tried so many different configurations but no luck. Has anyone got any clues?

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24 minutes ago, mrpoust14 said:

Not sure if this has been answered but I am having a very tough time balancing my gh4 on the roll axis. I get it balanced so that it stays horizontal but when I move it up or down, it does not stay in position, and returns to the horizontal position. I have tried so many different configurations but no luck. Has anyone got any clues?

Which lens are you using?

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I've just had a quick look at this thread, as I've recently bought a Zhiyun Crane and used it on an important music video shoot with the A6500 yesterday with no prior experience or practice.

I've had a BeSteady, a Ronin-M and a DJI Osmo RAW. The latest, the Osmo RAW is a great idea but needs a lot of work to justify the price tag. There were too many issues and the movement wasn't that great, although the video quality is stunning in controlled lighting. 

The Crane is a breath of fresh air. Very high quality, not heavy, easy to set up, long battery life, great gimbal movement, simple and responsive settings. I've only used it for a day and I'd say (for the money / value), it's the best gimbal you can buy right now. 

Love it. 

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1 hour ago, Oliver Daniel said:

I've just had a quick look at this thread, as I've recently bought a Zhiyun Crane and used it on an important music video shoot with the A6500 yesterday with no prior experience or practice.

I've had a BeSteady, a Ronin-M and a DJI Osmo RAW. The latest, the Osmo RAW is a great idea but needs a lot of work to justify the price tag. There were too many issues and the movement wasn't that great, although the video quality is stunning in controlled lighting. 

The Crane is a breath of fresh air. Very high quality, not heavy, easy to set up, long battery life, great gimbal movement, simple and responsive settings. I've only used it for a day and I'd say (for the money / value), it's the best gimbal you can buy right now. 

Love it. 

Glad to hear it's working for you Oliver.

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