For today’s article, we are going to be going over what we feel are the most important things to look for in a modern mirrorless camera 3 axis gimbal stabilizer as they are increasing in popularity at an almost exponential rate. More and more professional level videographers are adding a gimbal to their collection of camera accessories while many vloggers and social media influencers are also choosing to add a gimbal to their collection too.
This has resulted in an increasing number of people reaching out to ask about what they should be looking for in any potential gimbal purchase. Due to the high price tag, we have decided to publish this article to try and help any of our readers in this situation.
Price
First up we have the price of your gimbal, although this may sound like an obvious thing to consider, we always see people purchasing an expensive gimbal when something almost half the price will be able to meet their needs while also saving them hundreds of dollars. For example, the Zhiyun Weebill S is one of the most recent gimbal stabilizers to be released onto the market and it has a price tag of around $439. As you would expect, it has all of the latest features available and is an excellent addition for a videographer but it is usually overkill for your average vlogger.
If you are looking to purchase a gimbal for vlogging then something like the Zhiyun Crane v2 that retails at around $279 depending on retailer should easily be able to meet your needs. Although it is older and is definitely showing its age for professional-level videography, it offers all of the core features that your average vlogger could ever need.
Load Capacity
Next up we have the maximum load capacity of your gimbal as this is another thing that we often see people massively overestimate, especially when using a mirrorless camera setup. One of the most popular mirrorless cameras at the time of writing is the Sony A6000 and many people purchase a gimbal for it (https://gimbalgarage.com/best-gimbal-for-sony-a6000/). The a6000 has a camera body that comes in at around 0.76 pounds and the majority of lenses for the camera are under 0.5 pounds too. Factor in any additional camera accessories such as an external microphone or video light and you are probably looking at around two to three pounds worth of total payload weight to support.
The leading mirrorless camera gimbal at the moment is probably the Zhiyun Weebill S that we touched on earlier in the article and in addition to its massive price tag, it also has a huge maximum load capacity of 6.61 pounds of camera payload weight whereas the Zhiyun Crane v2 offers around 4.4 pounds. As you can see, the Crane v2 can meet the payload requirement of many mirrorless camera users while also being a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Weebill S.
Battery Life
The final factor that you should seriously consider when looking to purchase a gimbal for a mirrorless camera is the maximum battery life. You will have to factor in what you will actually be doing with the gimbal as many people working a studio or regular nine to five type job can get away with lower battery life and save some money. On the flip side of this though, if you are a travel vlogger then you may be out and about for days at a time without having access to a power outlet.
If you are working in a niche like this then something like the Zhiyun Crane Plus is probably the best option as it has the longest battery life on the market at the time of writing offering up to eighteen hours. That said, the majority of modern gimbals will provide you with a maximum battery life of around twelve hours with some of the cheaper ones being as low as seven hours so think ahead of what you will need for your own niche.
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