mikedent Loc: Florida

Hi all- looking for advice on a handheld stabilizer (gimbal?) for a cell phone or a small bridge travel camera, so that videos will be stable and not bouncing up and down with movement. Can one unit be used for both? Any special features to look for? Would use this while onboard cruises and while walking/hiking. Thanks!

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Don't need one on a cell phone. Most of the newer phones have a built-in stabilizer that works well.

Google 6 sample handheld https://www.rongnongno.info/RGG/video/croixcassee.mp4

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

The built in stabilization on current phones is very good. I have a Samsung S23. However, mounted on a DJI OM 4 it is more than magic. The newer DJI OM 6 is supposed to be even better. I think my OM 4 is now called a DJI Osmo Mobile SE.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1746905-REG/dji_cp_os_00000214_01_osmo_mobile_se_smartphone.html?sts=pi

Besides the stabilization, there is some functionality and features built in. For example, you can put it the gimbal on a tripod, draw a box around the subject and it will track the subject while you record.

Because of the extra functionality of the DJI phone gimbals enabled by the DJI app, they are dedicated to phones. DJI does make some gimbals that suit small cameras like the RS 3 Mini. It costs a lot more and doesn't do things like tracking the subject.

User ID

If you carry a gimbal along with a bridge camera, isnt that equally as much bulk or baggage as just carrying a slightly larger camera with excellent IS, such as an OM ?

bnsf

Sony has it built into the cameras. It is called Clear Image Zoom.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

On my Sony camera Clear Image Zoom and stabilization are separate items in the menu. The do different things.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

Clear Image Zoom, or CIZ, is a type of digital zoom that enables the camera to effectively double it’s zoom range with little to no loss of image quality. It only works in JPEG mode. It is not part of the camera’s image stabilization function.

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Questioning whether Leicas crop to zoom "feature" is as sophisticated as Sony CIZ. Does the Leica extrapolate and replace lost pixels like CIZ does ?

Interesting but not critical. Both systems do *nothing* that isnt best done in PP anywho.

End result is always a jpeg regardless of whether created in-camera or in PP.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Gimbals are bulky. Their purpose is different than built in IS. IS is excellent for helping you improve on the hand held rules.

It used to be that the rule of thumb was that, if you had stead hands, you could hand hold with a shutter speed that matched the lens length. If you had a 105mm or 135mm lens on, you needed to have a shutter speed of 1/125th. Now with good IS, like in the Olympus cameras you can do up to 5 stops better.

Gimbals can improve upon that, but so do monopods and tripods. You can use a gimbal like a moveable tripod for still shooting, but that is not their primary use.

Gimbals are for introducing camera motion in videos. Old school methods had you mount your video camera on a slider, dolly or boom. Following a moving subject was hard. Mechanical gimbals were expensive, complex, heavy, large and needed skills. Now we have electronic, 3 axis gimbals invented and made in China.

The OP, mikedent, wants "videos [that]will be stable and not bouncing up and down with movement". Camera IS is very limited for that. Gimbals let the videographer move freely.

My favorite is one where the camera is borrowed from a drone and mounted on a gimbaled handle with controls. It is called the "DJI Pocket 2". Any "old man tremors" disappear when shooting and following moving subjects is intuitive.

User ID

While many rather smallish cameras offer IS via the body, lens, or both, if one desires the video gimbal effect that youve described, but wants it built into the camera body, then the choice narrows waaay down and the singular (AFAIK) choice is the not very compact GH6.

I hope that our in-house GH-series guru will clarify this beyond my "AFAIK" version. Im guessing that the video-specific IS of the GH6 is very gimbal-like but not fully the equal of an actual gimbal. Just guessing, even as a GH6 user (but only for stills).

jonsailhob

I have a 7” tripod with metal coil legs the bend every-which-way. It has the standard screw connector for cameras or cell phone bracket. Think it came from B&H Photo 10 years ago. When the legs all point straight down it provides a great grip stabilizer.

User ID

I think you meant to post this in the Leica Q3 thread next door.

mikedent Loc: Florida

Thanks all - on recent Antarctica cruise many folks were using small gimbals with their cellphones. The videos I made with Samsung S20 while walking the ship or on the snowy land were still bouncy. My GoPro 10 had a better smoothness look so probably don't need it for that. Also have a small Canon HS740SX with 40x optical zoom that I would use the gimbal on, to help steady tele wildlife videos. Don't want to buy another camera, wife would frown...Looking for a unit that I could use with both cell and Canon.

bnsf

I have the new Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. It has a Clear Image Zoom along with wonderful stabilization for shooting night time photos and videos in any kind of light.

MrPhotog

Since the ‘zoom’ feature is just using fewer pixels, the file sizes get smaller. You’ll get more pictures on a card. Since you only get a few discrete choices for frame size, it is nothing like a zoom lens. It is not an option I’ve ever bothered to use.

I don’t believe Leicas add any interpolated data when using a cropped mode. But I can do that in photoshop.

I have been using my 28mm and 35 mm lenses more as my daily carry choices, knowing they are sharp enough to allow massive cropping. So, no need to carry the 50mm and 90 mm lenses as well. I can crop ( and pseudo-zoom) in photoshop. Or use the full frame.

You are right. Photoshop is an easier alternative. But you are wrong about the output always being a jpeg. I can get raw or jpeg or both.