Zhiyun Crane

What I am reading here about the CAME TV gimbal is the exact reason I bought the Crane. It seems to be only low cost, semi-pro gimbal that you just take out of the box and it works. Everything else seems to require you to tweak, adjust, learn third party software and in general, seems to be built more for the hobbyist who has a lot of time to nerd out to get the gimbal to work properly. I received the Crane from Amazon on a Tuesday later afternoon. The next morning, I put my 80D on it with the 10-18 STM IS lens and shot a nice sequence with Marilu Henner and Derek Hough, rehearsing for Dancing with the Stars. Full body length Tango rehearsal, I was circling them, and doing moves right along with them. The sequence went to air the following week and looked really good, the producers were happy, I was happy. If I can get good, solid usable results the first time I take it out of the box, that make me money, why would I even consider any other gimbal? I wish they made a slightly larger, heavier duty version that would work with heavier cameras and lenses but then you are getting into stuff that is more like the Ronin-M. Hassle to transport, setup, balance and use although it can obviously give good results. The beauty of the Crane is that it is cheap, simple to setup and use and it gives pretty professional results with minimal fuss. Definitely the best camera accessory I have bought this year, I love it.
 
Can the zhiyun gimbal be used in close proximity to an actor and not have any sound that will interfere with dialogue?
Say, just a moderate move back and forth in head shots between two actors talking.
Mic is boomed or lav.
 
Erik Naso said:
How does it compare to the Came-TV Single?
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I just got the Crane and have had the Came-TV Single for awhile. I need more time with the Crane to solidify a preference. And I may not be aware of all the features of the Crane. But this is what I would say.

Crane PROS:
- Can work with flip-out screens. Although the right-side gimbal doesn't allow a lot of room for balancing. My GH4 with 12-35 lens is basically right against the gimbal. And the left-right adjustment only has a few more mm left. If a camera was heavier on the left-side it wouldn't work at all. And I wonder what a heavier lens would do.
- Replaceable batteries. Of course this means they can get lost. But having gone through a bad battery on the Came-TV Single, I guess replaceable is a good option. The charger it comes with though is pretty rinky-dink.
- Seems smoother. Occasionally I'd get the shakes with the Came-TV Single, which would require a restart. Of course I tend to use it unbalanced a lot (by zoomng the lens). I'd say the Crane works better unbalanced.
- Price. Can't beat the price.
- Packability. It packs flat.

Crane CONS:
- Defaults to Tilt-locked mode. I tend to prefer Tilt-follow mode. It's also a bit fussy changing modes. If you don't push the joystick with the exact right cadence it won't switch.
- Joystick doesn't change positions in Tilt-follow mode. It only changes the roll, which I rarely want. And it's easy to knock it off level. Sometimes I want the camera tilted up AND have it follow my tilt. You can't really do that with the Crane.

CAME-TV Single Pros:
- Joystick works no matter what mode you are in. It gives you more control over the positioning of the camera.
- Hold and stick mode. I love just being able to grab the camera and move it into the position I want and have it stay there. Crane can't do that.
- Easier to change modes.

CAME-TV Cons:
- Can occasionally get the shakes, especially when unbalanced.
- Handle can accidentally become unattached. This happened to me and I almost lost a camera. Miraculously it survived it's plummet onto concrete.
- Built-in battery. I had to replace it once, but it's worked solid since then. I've never had it run out of power on me. Most trips I don't even bother to take the charger.
- Packability. It's a bit difficult because it can't go flat.

So bottom-line I'd give the Crane the edge on execution, but the CAME-TV Single the edge on features. If I were buying new, I'd probably save the money and get the Crane.
 
brettsherman said:
- Hold and stick mode. I love just being able to grab the camera and move it into the position I want and have it stay there. Crane can't do that.
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this is probably the best feature cametv single have, very easy to adjust the camera horizontal level when middle of recording.

brettsherman said:
I've never had it run out of power on me. Most trips I don't even bother to take the charger.
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agreed. when the battery does not died. it pretty much last me whole day shooting without charging.
 
Hi everyone, i am wondering if someone could explain us how to fine tune the simplebgc to get the best smooth responsive settings for cinematic shots ? I love the smooth effect at start and final of a movement.
Thanks in advance. Cheers from france.
 
No SimpleBGC is one of the biggest advantages. That software is not anything one would like to fiddle with. The Crane on the other hand just works without any stabilization issues and no tweaking is needed.
 
Indeed. Even if it worked, I'd be terribly afraid of opening SimpleBGC to change this and screwing up all the magic that makes it *just work*.
 
And I'll probably be on that boat next. Selling the nebula because of a lot of reasons Samuel talked about a few pages back. Since the crane fixes that and its price, I'm looking into it. Does anyone know how small it folds down to as I would love to make it part of my travling shooting kit.
 
ReelFilmGeek said:
And I'll probably be on that boat next. Selling the nebula because of a lot of reasons Samuel talked about a few pages back. Since the crane fixes that and its price, I'm looking into it. Does anyone know how small it folds down to as I would love to make it part of my travling shooting kit.
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It comes with a very slick plastic case that measures about 14" x 11" x 6", pretty easy to drag along to shoots. The case holds the Crane, four batteries, charger, charger cable, manuals, mine came with the wireless remote too. As long as you are using a camera/lens combo that meets the weight limit, there is nothing else on the market that touches it. Not perfect but very good.
 
It folds down flatter than the N4000, but if you don't disassemble the handle it's a lot longer. I'm not using the case it came in: good to have if you're putting it in your luggage on a plane, but for moving around in my city I just put it on a regular bag (much lighter, much smaller).
 
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