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Zhiyun Crane Gimbal Review - My Favorite 3-Axis Stabilizer

The hardware is all metal, extremely solid, the adjustment is easy, precise, and lightweight given the build quality. Most of my cameras have a flip out screen so I was a huge fan of being able to use it with the motors on the right. Battery life is excellent and I can typically shoot an entire wedding on a single set. But even when a change is needed, simply unscrew the bottom and the batteries are easily replaceable. The charger works with micro usb so charging is also super easy and portable. You can even rotate the gimbal 360 degrees as well on every axis which is amazing and you have no wires or any other loose items to worry about.

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The results are also on par with the best I have seen. On a rare occasion, I did notice some micro vibrations that could have just been the result of not having the camera firmly attached but I did a firmware update just in case and have not seen any issues since. On these single handed models, I do tend to have a bit more up and down motion but Zhiyun-Tech’s dual handle option that I would highly recommend easily takes care of that. It’s very comfortable and I find it helps me with a smoother z axis and takes only a few seconds to install.
As a wedding videographer, finding a gimbal that worked well in high stress, fast moving environments that didn’t break the bank was not easy. With other models, I was configuring poorly documented settings on a computer or through an app, but with the Crane, everything just worked out of the box. The app is also very intuitive so when you do eventually crank some of the settings, it is a painless experience and I have had 0 issues with connection problems in the several months I have been using it.

The hardware is all metal, extremely solid, the adjustment is easy, precise, and lightweight given the build quality. Most of my cameras have a flip out screen so I was a huge fan of being able to use it with the motors on the right. Battery life is excellent and I can typically shoot an entire wedding on a single set. But even when a change is needed, simply unscrew the bottom and the batteries are easily replaceable. The charger works with micro usb so charging is also super easy and portable. You can even rotate the gimbal 360 degrees as well on every axis which is amazing and you have no wires or any other loose items to worry about.
The results are also on par with the best I have seen. On a rare occasion, I did notice some micro vibrations that could have just been the result of not having the camera firmly attached but I did a firmware update just in case and have not seen any issues since. On these single handed models, I do tend to have a bit more up and down motion but Zhiyun-Tech’s dual handle option that I would highly recommend easily takes care of that. It’s very comfortable and I find it helps me with a smoother z axis and takes only a few seconds to install.
As a wedding videographer, finding a gimbal that worked well in high stress, fast moving environments that didn’t break the bank was not easy. With other models, I was configuring poorly documented settings on a computer or through an app, but with the Crane, everything just worked out of the box. The app is also very intuitive so when you do eventually crank some of the settings, it is a painless experience and I have had 0 issues with connection problems in the several months I have been using it.
Overall, the Zhiyun Crane is absolutely unbeatable for the price and not only is this now my main 3-axis gimbal of choice, it has made shooting so much easier for me as a result. If you find yourself frequently shooting with lighter cameras, also check out the Crane M which is more suitable for smaller mirrorless cameras under 1.4lbs while the Crane can go to 2.6lbs or up to 3.9lbs in a heavy duty mode. It is finally time to retire the 3 axis stabilizers of old equipped with counterweights and balancing issues to move to the future of camera 

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