Zhiyun Weebill 3E Cinepeer Gimbal Evaluation: A Nice Beginning Level for Content material Creators

Gimbals have develop into a vital instrument for filmmakers and content material creators who demand clean, professional-quality footage whereas on the transfer. With the Weebill 3E Cinepeer, Zhiyun continues its legacy of reasonably priced, compact, and surprisingly helpful stabilizers that provide high-end efficiency at a mid-range value. However how does it maintain up in real-world eventualities?

Maintaining with a continuously altering and shifting technological panorama may be extremely costly, particularly for these getting began in video. Gear is expensive however high-quality, secure footage is crucial. That is the place Zhiyun and the brand new Weebill 3E Cinepeer gimbal is available in. It could not provide all of the bells and whistles of its dearer “skilled” friends, nevertheless it does pack a whole lot of punch in an reasonably priced $249 package deal.

Full disclosure: Zhiyun despatched us a evaluate unit to evaluate. It had no enter on content material, and all opinions shared are these of PetaPixel.

Taking its namesake from one of many smallest chook species present in Australia, the compact and light-weight Weebill 3E Cinepeer gimbal can easily pan, crane, tilt, and monitor a digital camera system weighing as much as three kilograms (6.6 kilos) for as much as 16 hours earlier than needing to recharge. This feat, together with its small price ticket, makes it one of many extra engaging digital camera stabilizers in the marketplace in the present day.

Design and Construct High quality

At first look, the Zhiyun Weebill 3E Cinepeer doesn’t look that totally different from its predecessors aside from just a few minimalistic design options and the lighter gray plastic physique. It comes contained in a foam journey case (which I get for transport, however a journey case/satchel can be a lot better for each day use); the system itself strikes a good steadiness between portability and sturdy development, as nothing appears to be “wasted house” with the construct, together with the packaging.

The gimbal weighs just below 1.1 kilograms (2.4 kilos), making it mild sufficient for prolonged use with out inflicting fatigue, nevertheless it nonetheless feels stable and reliable. The construct arguably appears fairly modern with the brand new shade scheme, however I’d nonetheless wish to preserve issues “manufacturing black” with most of my gear. Zhiyun has integrated an non-compulsory Sling Mode 2.5 deal with (not included with the mannequin I examined), making it extremely ergonomic — preferrred for run-and-gun videography.

The Cinepeer design follows Zhiyun’s conventional two-handed format, with a removable tripod base that doubles as a secondary grip (when not utilizing the non-compulsory Sling deal with). This will add additional versatility for low-angle pictures or time-lapse recordings and saves pressure in your forearms. Belief me, this doesn’t look like a lot at first, however after a protracted day of filming, you’ll be pleased about it.

Whereas this can be a newer launch from the corporate, the scaled-down gimbal is lacking just a few options from its friends, which accounts for the price financial savings, just like the built-in fill mild and microphone on the Weebill 3S. The system encompasses a single USB-C port for the digital camera management situated on the steel arms and one other on the grip for charging the two,650mAh battery. A helpful replace is that the gimbal may be charged whereas in use (utilizing a direct battery pack or direct line to the wall for charging) and may present a cost for the digital camera. With sufficient juice, you may preserve your system working for a very long time with out interruptions.

The buttons and triggers are well-placed, permitting for fast mode adjustments or changes with out shifting your grip, and a fairly easy-to-see show even when the system is in use. Whereas linked utilizing the included USB-C cable, primary controls like beginning and stopping recording with the digital camera may be accessed by these on-gimbal controls, and with some cameras, customers may even use their smartphones to manage the gimbal and digital camera mixture, permitting for a gimbal operator and digital camera management duo.

Like most gimbals, the 3E Cinepeer has a number of steadiness modes that may be shortly modified by the mode button on the rear of the grip. These embrace Pan Observe (PF), Observe (F), Level of View (POV), and Vortex modes, together with a thumb stick and jog wheel, permitting customers to pan and tilt the digital camera for added management manually.

Moreover, utilizing the 0.96-inch OLED display, you may navigate by the extra menus within the gimbal for extra precision settings and changes and an “auto” mode for a fast calibration as soon as your digital camera has been mounted and manually balanced for elevated accuracy and precision. The display doesn’t have contact capabilities, and navigation may be irritating at first, nevertheless it turns into second nature with slightly follow. Both method, you’ll wish to use a tripod or the tripod grip mount to position the gimbal on a flat floor earlier than working the calibration.

It’s price noting that the bottom of the gimbal has a number of screw/mount factors making it simple to attach with quite a lot of tripods and different equipment, additional increasing the gimbal’s usefulness do you have to resolve to go down the highway of extra add-on purchases.

The design function that was essentially the most attention-grabbing to me was exactly the one this method was made for: content material creators capturing vertical video. Whereas many methods have customized rigs and mounts to have the ability to suit your cameras vertically, the Cinepeer system has a quick-release mount that permits you to pop off the appropriate and slide it again in utilizing a clamp on the aspect of the bottom. You’ll wish to shortly rebalance if you do that, however this method can avoid wasting critical time for creators who must do a whole lot of forwards and backwards with their movies.

Usability

The Weebill 3E Cinepeer is designed to deal with some heavier digital camera setups, supporting as much as three kilograms (6.6 lbs) of weight. This makes it suitable with a variety of digital camera and lens combos, particularly when utilizing mirrorless methods. Throughout my testing, the motor energy was greater than able to stabilizing each a full-frame mirrorless digital camera (Nikon Z6 II) with a typical zoom lens (Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S), delivering surprisingly clean footage in all eventualities.

The easy 3-axis stabilization is the place this gimbal shines. Strolling, working, and even tilting produced nearly no jitter as soon as I used to be balanced accurately and calibrated because of the surprisingly robust motors. In environments the place you’re shifting quite a bit, the gimbal carried out fairly nice, holding each shot clean with out overcorrecting or inflicting any noticeable lag. Simply keep in mind to show off your in-camera stabilization; in any other case, you’ll often get some relatively wonky outcomes.

Key Options

As talked about above, one of many standout options of the Weebill 3E is the straightforward management panel. The OLED show affords real-time suggestions on battery life, motor energy, and working modes, making it simple to observe the gimbal’s efficiency when deep right into a recording. Switching between modes—comparable to pan-follow, lock, or POV—solely takes just a few seconds, guaranteeing you’re by no means removed from the appropriate setting.

Battery life is one other shocking spotlight. The Weebill 3E Cinepeer comes with a built-in battery rated for 16 hours of steady use, greater than sufficient for a full day of capturing. Charging is fast, with the choice to fast-charge by way of USB-C, which means you’re again up and working in only a few hours.

Lastly, whereas the gimbal might not be as feature-rich as its friends and siblings, it does include some helpful instruments crammed into its $249 package deal. No, it doesn’t have the skilled instruments to make use of focus pulling and video transmission, however the system isn’t geared toward these skilled customers. What it does have is an attention-grabbing Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity that can allow you to join your smartphone to the ZyPlay app (on the Apple or Android retailer), providing you with an elevated degree of management, and relying in your digital camera system, even the power to manage your digital camera. Sadly, I couldn’t take a look at this function out because it presently doesn’t assist Nikon methods, however I’m informed it really works properly for what it’s price.

If it did work, nevertheless, you could possibly elevate your management by accessing options like timelapse, panorama, and sluggish/sync movement modes, which offer performance for pictures, not simply videography.

Limitations

Whereas the Zhiyun Weebill 3E affords wonderful efficiency total, it’s not with out its quirks. Whereas extra easy than in earlier fashions, the balancing course of nonetheless requires a little bit of fine-tuning, particularly if you happen to’re utilizing heavier lenses. Additionally, the non-touch-capable OLED display is small and tough to see in vivid out of doors situations, which could decelerate changes.

One thing price noting as properly is the battery is in-built, which means you may’t swap it out do you have to drain quicker than deliberate on a job. So, even with its lengthy battery life, you wish to have some energy packs as backup and absolutely cost the gadget earlier than heading out to shoot.

Moreover, whereas the gimbal is compact, it might really feel barely top-heavy with sure digital camera setups, particularly when capturing for prolonged intervals. This isn’t a dealbreaker, nevertheless it’s one thing to contemplate if you happen to work with bigger rigs.

Are There Alternate options?

The excellent news is that, to today, there are tons of alternate options in the marketplace for gimbal customers, starting from low cost to costly skilled ranges. These embrace the DJI Ronin-SC for $279, the Moza Air 2 for $599, the DJI RS 3 Mini for $279, the Zhiyun Crane M3 for $299, the FeiyuTech AK4500 for $549, and the Hohem iSteady Professional 4 for an reasonably priced $109.

Ought to You Purchase It?

Sure. In case you’re a budding filmmaker or content material creator in search of a conveyable, decently highly effective, and really reasonably priced gimbal, the $249 Zhiyun Weebill 3E Cinepeer is a wonderful alternative. It affords sturdy stabilization, intuitive controls, and a surprisingly lengthy battery life, making it a perfect instrument for content material creators and a few skilled videographers.