Gimbals for Travellers

It is always best to physically stabilise video in-camera, as opposed to the limited stabilisation that can be achieved with some, primarily higher-end, cameras, or in post-production when editing footage. As shown in the image above, there are three types of solutions to consider, so what are the pros and cons of each? 

Mirrorless/DSLR camera gimbal

The gimbal on the left, a Ronin RS3 Mini, is designed to stabilise a camera such as a mirrorless or DSLR. The RS3 Mini is, as the name implies, one of the smaller and more compact camera gimbals. Yet, it is still somewhat bulky and certainly not very inconspicuous in use. When used among people—say, when shooting street photography—it will attract some attention, which is a major drawback. It is also the heaviest of the options and strenuous to carry around for any extended amount of time.

The upside is that you can take advantage of all the camera’s capabilities, such as the use of different lenses. This smaller gimbal is, however, restricted to a combined weight of 2.5kg, so if heavy zooms or telephoto lenses are to be used, an even bigger gimbal will be required. The gimbal comes with a lot of useful and fun features and can be operated remotely using a phone or tablet connected via Bluetooth and a free app. This combination produces the best video, but I always weigh whether it is worth bringing on a trip because of the added bulk and limited usage. In most cases, I left it at home and never really missed it. The price range for these options is around US$/EU€250-350 for the basic kit.

Phone gimbal

If you have a high-end iPhone or Android phone, a gimbal for the phone (as shown on the right) is both a relatively cheap and certainly lightweight solution. The phone connects to the gimbal via a free app and Bluetooth. I had a lot of fun with mine, and it helped me learn the basic techniques and principles of shooting video, for which there are plenty of good instructional videos on YouTube. One can really do a lot with these gimbals, which also extend telescopically like a selfie stick.

But the results are predicated on the phone and its capabilities. In my case, I only have a mid-range Android phone because I also have a high-end iPad, and after using this phone-and-gimbal combination for some time, I found that the phone was too limited in its dynamic range, among other things. Time and time again, I could not get the footage quality I was hoping for, but that was the fault of the phone, not the gimbal. As of this writing, the app for iPhone also offers more options than the app for Android. I don’t know why. In any case, if you have a high-end phone, you can do a lot with a gimbal like this. The price range for this option is around US$/EU€100-200, which is the most affordable by a quite wide margin.

Osmo 3

The drawbacks of the two aforementioned solutions ultimately led me to invest in the Osmo 3 pocket, the small camera in the middle of the photo above. One reason I chose this model is that it was cheaper than buying an expensive high-end phone to go with the other gimbal.

It is by far the option I have been most pleased with. It is very compact as it does indeed fit in a pocket. Yet it records 4K at up to 60fps and in many smaller formats. It took me a while to get used to and learn how to operate it, as the interface is quite different from everything else, but it too comes with a wide range of features. One of my favourites is face tracking, which means I can leave the camera on a tripod and walk around it, while it tracks me. It can also do time-lapses, hyperlapses, slow-motion and plenty of other stuff. 

This is my favourite video camera because it is so lightweight, fires up instantly and switching between horizontal and vertical filming is as easy as just twisting the little monitor. It does, however, have a couple of notable downsides. 

On a practical level, I found the gimbal head a bit delicate. One surely has to put it back in the protective sheath when not in use. The other limitation is the fixed lens and aperture. One can, however, mount a native wide-angle lens or some third-party telephoto lenses on the gimbal, both of which attach magnetically.

Natively, it comes with a 2x digital zoom, which should only be used with the 4K settings to ensure sufficient resolution and sharpness in the video. One can also attach ND filters, also magnetically, as a workaround for not being able to step down the aperture. The Osmo Pocket retails for around US$/EU€800 and around US$/EU€1,000 for the “Creator Combo,” which includes an excellent microphone, battery pack, tripods and some filters. Go for the latter. The extra US$/EU€200 is definitely worth it.

Comparing gimbals

All of the mentioned products are made by DJI. This article is, however, not meant as any implicit endorsement or recommendation of this particular brand over other quality brands, of which there are several. I just happened to have purchased these three over time. The sole purpose of this article is to compare the three types of gimbals used for recording video on the go and list the pros and cons of each type in use. ■

^{Sources: DJI, Amazon}