A gimbal is a terrific technique to capture smooth and cinematic material when shooting video with your smartphone. While today’s smartphones have stability, gimbals offer this and more to let you be more creative with your video material.
When I was looking for a smartphone gimbal, two names quickly came to mind: DJI and Zhiyun. Gimbals/stabilizers for cameras and cellphones are made by Zhiyun. Smooth is the brand name for its smartphone models, and I’ve been using the Smooth Q3 for the past few months.
The Zhiyun Smooth Q3 costs $89 or $109 if you opt for the combination bundle, which includes a storage bag, a ZY Cami one-year premier service card, and a wrist strap. The zipped carrying/storage case alone is well worth the extra $20. If you want to improve your smartphone video results, the Smooth Q3 is a wonderful introductory gimbal.
Internal motors in gimbals provide 3-axis stability after you mount your phone and then switch on the gimbal. The gimbal provides numerous controls on the gimbal to pan, zoom, and navigate between multiple camera options while stabilising tilt, pan, and roll. Your smartphone is connected to the gimbal through Bluetooth, and smartphone software assists you in capturing content from unique views. The gimbal may also be used as a selfie stick or a tripod, making it an indispensable tool for videographers.
Hardware
The Zhiyun Smooth Q3 is similar in size to the DJI Osmo Mobile 4/5, but it is also less expensive. Its compact size makes it simple to take the case and gimbal with you wherever you go. A tripod adapter for the bottom of the Smooth Q3 also functions as an extended rod for holding on to the gimbal. The tripod base is very wide, providing a stable foundation for using the gimbal without having to hold it.
Remove the gimbal from its packaging and charge it with USB-C. I strongly advise you to watch the Quick Start Guide, which will walk you through fully unlocking, extending, and setting up your gimbal for use. To set up the hardware, just slide up the main vertical arm and tighten the screw, rotate the tilt axis fixing buckle, and then rotate the roll axis fixing buckle with the smartphone mounting bracket attached. Slide the rubber braces on either side of the smartphone clamp apart and insert your phone with the cameras pointing away from you.
One thing to keep in mind regarding the vertical arm screw is that it is not intended to entirely lock the vertical arm, so don’t overtighten it. It’s used to fine-tune the slide slot’s smoothness and lock in the contact points so that electricity may flow to the motors throughout the rest of the gimbal.
You can undertake some manual balancing before turning on the gimbal. Move the phone left or right within the phone clamp in landscape mode until it is steady and virtually level with the ground. In portrait mode, you can actually slide the phone mount left or right, thanks to metal bars between the two clamp sections that slide left to right in the mount until it’s practically level with the ground. Because the gimbal will align everything when turned on, you don’t require perfect balancing, but it helps to keep the balance close so that the phone isn’t uncomfortably positioned or the gimbal has to work too hard to maintain balance.
When your smartphone is in landscape mode, there is an LED light above it that can be rotated 180 degrees so you may use it to capture selfie videos. Tapping and holding on the top of the light turns it on, and tapping it again toggles between three brightness settings. The built-in light is a fantastic feature that the DJI competitor lacks.
The power and trigger buttons are located on the back side of the gimbal handle. The zoom rocker is on the left side, with the USB-C charging port on the right. There are indicator lights, a mode button, a capture button, and a directional joystick on the working face of the gimbal, all of which are accessible and operable with just your thumb while holding the gimbal.
With a single, double, or triple push on four of the buttons, you can access different tasks. With a single push turning on/off Smart Follow mode, a double press adjusting the phone to centre it, and a triple press switching between landscape and portrait orientation, the trigger button is one of the most used. PhoneGo mode is also toggled by pressing and holding the trigger. Investigate the many button possibilities for the mode, capture, and power buttons. You can move left, right, up, or down with the joystick.
Specifications
- Light: Integrated LED with 180 degree rotation and three brightness levels
- Smartphone capacity: 150 to 280 grams
- Battery: 1300 mAh for 7-15 hours of battery life and three hours to fully charge
- Dimensions (folded): 45 x 154 x 180 mm
- Dimensions (unfolded): 90 x 127 x 279 mm
- Weight: 340 grams
Software
You may use the gimbal as a stabiliser for your phone without the bundled software, but you won’t get all of the additional effects and creative alternatives. The ZY Cami software is available for Android and iPhone models and offers a complete capturing and editing alternative to your phone’s camera software. Video, photo, pano, dolly zoom, timelapse, hyperlapse, and smart choices are all available.
The main purpose of a smartphone gimbal is to capture video material, and the gimbal’s mode button is dedicated to this purpose. The tilt and roll axis motors are locked in pan follow mode (PF), and the pan axis follows the movement of the stabiliser handle. In this mode, the joystick is utilised to control the tilt and pan axes. The three motors are locked and will not follow the movement of the stabiliser handle when Lock mode (L) is selected, with the joystick controlling tilt and pan once more. The roll axis motor is locked in Follow mode (F), while the tilt and pan axis motors follow the movement of the stabiliser handle.
The Point of View (POV) mode is unique in that it allows all three motors to follow the movement of the stabiliser handle. The POV indicator light flashes while in Vortex mode, which may be accessed from either the POV or PF modes. Press and hold the rear trigger button to activate PhoneGo mode. When this mode is engaged, the F indication flashes, and the camera pans and tilts quickly in response to the stabilizer’s movement while the roll axis is locked.
In addition, the ZY Cami app has a robust editor that allows you to fully modify your captured content right on your phone. Trim, add music, subtitles, stickers, alter playback speed, reverse the video, zoom, rotate, apply filters, adjust colours, and more may be done with your video. The Prime service, which comes with the combination plan for a year, gives you access to online editing, video storage, and more templates for sophisticated video editing. The ZY Cami app contains user instructions, tutorials, and material created by other people. Viewing other people’s material can inspire you and give you ideas for how to better your own.
Experiences And Conclusions
With a OnePlus 9 Pro, Google Pixel 5a, and TCL 20 Pro 5G, I filmed videos with the Zhiyun Smooth Q3. My Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 has an unusual form factor that prevents it from working on the gimbal, as planned. The phone clamp kept the phones securely in place, and the rubber inserts protected the phones’ finishes. If the case is not too bulky, you can even mount your phone in it.
The Smart Follow feature, in which you place a green box on your subject and the gimbal follows them wherever they go, was quite remarkable. When utilising the tripod to record yourself performing activities in front of the camera, this is also beneficial.
Because you can place the Smooth Q3 down on a stable surface, select pano in the app, and then push record to watch the gimbal interact with your phone to take a flawlessly aligned pano photo, the panoramic mode with the tripod is fantastic. When I try to capture them with just my phone, I always seem to move up or down a little.
The dolly zoom option is a fun effect we’ve seen in movies before and is frequently referred to as the Hitchcock effect. While zooming in the other direction, you move nearer or away from the subject. In Jaws, this effect was used to great effect on Chief Brody. The smart/template choices were particularly entertaining because they provided a simple way to experiment with filters and approaches by simply selecting a template and shooting the video.
Overall, I was pleased with the performance, pricing, and strong shooting/editing software of the Zhiyun Smooth Q3 gimbal. The light is a nice touch, and the gimbal is rather small. While Zhiyun claims a battery life of 7-15 hours, in my experience, 7 hours is more average and should be expected. That said, you’ll have plenty of time to capture video content throughout the day.
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