Zhiyun Smooth Q2 Gimbal Stabliser

I take quite a few photographs and as a teacher often get roped into filming the concerts and shows we put on. I think they assume the maths department can when it comes to things like this.

Well looking at the poor quality footage produced over the last few years I decided as a complete novice really, to try my hand with a Gimbal.

For those of you hearing this word for the first time it’s a bit of kit you can slot an iPhone or more complex set ups even a more professional 35mm camera into and they range in price from a couple of hundred quid right up to several thousand.

There are loads of different ones available, I read a few reviews and decided to opt for the Zhiyun q2 smooth 2 axis final stabiliser which is hailed as the smallest and most versatile gimbal.

I have included the You tube tutorial I followed to get going. I have to say this is not the kind of thing you will pick up and get results immediately. It’s definitely a skill and there’s a knack to it. For the first couple of attempts I really struggled even getting my phone installed properly and balanced and if you don’t achieve this you’re not shooting anything.

The second issue I encountered using my iPhone 12 max pro is moving from landscape to portrait shooting, it’s a kinda flick of the wrist but if you are not careful it can happen when you don’t want it to. The third problem is getting the phone perfectly installed so you don’t actually see the gimbal arm in the shot.

I’ve had six or seven goes now with it and I am getting better. The footage I am shooting is way way way more professional looking and the potential I can see is huge if I stick with it.

My final position would be if you are looking to have one of these, use it on the go and are expecting to have beautiful footage without any work it’s not a miracle product in that regard, however if you are the person like me who gets roped in to film stuff because there is no one else to do it and you are happy to commit some time to the learning curve, a bit like learning a new language, really tough at the beginning but gets much easier as you get the hang of it, it’s a really nifty bit of kit for a relatively small investment. Loads available 2nd hand. I guess the reason is people buy them and then don’t want to put the work in to master how to use it.

It’s still a bit of a challenge for me but after about an hour I get in the swing again.