Over the last few weeks I've been playing with a device that's pretty well know out there but it was something I wanted to try and here is why. I record a lot of outdoor video content about treasuring hunting, coin shooting, relic hunting etc. When I record those videos I often find that my audience sometimes getting a little edgy with me and they complain about the videos being too shaky at times. So one day, I starting doing some research on gimbals and if there was a gimbal out there that was affordable and wouldn't break the bank.
Hello world let me introduce you to my little friend the "Smooth Q" by Zhiyun
For around $99 on Amazon I picked up the Smooth Q and at first I had a little trouble getting my Galaxy S7 balanced correctly but I eventually figured it out.
Wow this thing is amazing...
Once I powered the Smooth Q on it was wild. I had never used a gimbal before especially a motorized one. This thing was pretty smooth. It took a little bit of time figuring out the different modes and how to properly position my phone in the right place to avoid picking up the Q in your frame of view. But once I did, it was clear to me that the quality of my videos was about to improve immensely.
There are some issues with the mobile app called ZY Play
Like everything else that's out there...yes there is an app for the Smooth Q and its called "ZY Play"
Yeah I'm not a big fan of the app but maybe it will get better but the one thing I did want to use in the app that works but doesn't work is the tracking feature. You can actually draw a box around an object in your field of view and the Q will follow it and it works! However, for some reason on my phone I can not record video using tracking feature so I'm really irritated. Hey maybe one of you out there knows why I can't record video using the tracking feature...if you do please leave me a comment I would love to get that feature working.
Its a little hard carrying this thing around in the field...
Its also a little clunky to carry around. I would love to stow it away while I'm in the field but I just haven't found a good way yet that I'm comfortable with yet. The Q does come with its own traveling case but I found it a bit annoying and not really useful for me. Again do you have any suggestions? I would to hear what how you take it with you.
Comparing video against one of my other cameras the Olympus TG5
The video below is only a few weeks old. I shot part of the video with the Olympus and the other half with the Samsung Galaxy S7 using the Q. I think you can clearly see a difference and an improvement in the quality of my videos using the Q but time will be the determining factor. For now, I'm interested in hearing what you think about the Q. Check out the video below and let me know what you think.
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. I really appreciate it. You can find more of my videos over on my MentalMetal channel on Youtube by clicking here