In-body image stabilization, or IBIS, has become quite good in providing stabilization for photos at a slight low shutter speed. But IBIS is not very good for handheld videos, and this is where video gimbals come. These handheld devices use very large motors to provide additional stabilization, which means very smooth video. I recently tested one of the latest DJI’s latest gimbals, one of the DJI RS4 mini, one of the less expensive options that still fit a full -sized mirrorless camera. How did it perform?
Video gimbals explained
Video gimbal Stabilize video footage and excel when the camera is shaking, paning, and bending into a variety of dynamic angles. They look like complex sticks, on which you attach your camera:
DJI has recently become a big name in the video zimbal industry. Some of their gimbals are small and for light cameras or phones; Other heavy, high-ending equipment, which are for strict use with large cameras and lenses. Even their drone cameras are stabilized with gymbal. The RS4 Mini is somewhere in the middle and supports the camera tool of up to 2 kg, which is very much for most users.
Building basic features and quality
My first belief was that RS4 Mini is a strong tool. It is made of plastic and teflon-coated metals, and knobs and locking switches are solid. Nothing, including mini tripods and briefcase handles, does not loose or stagger.
The camera connects to the gimbal through an Arca Swiss plate system. The axes have easy-to-read measurements that allow you to keep your camera in exactly position, and to pay attention to the measurement so that you do not balance your setup again to switch to a separate camera or switch lens every time you do not balance your setup again.
Talking about – Once a camera is installed on RS4 mini, you need to balance it with each axis to work properly of the gimbal. The process is very easy, and is a final fine-tuning feature that improves performance by automatically adjusting the stress of axes. It has also found a good adjustment knob for the camera, which helps to balance a large load.
Options on the gimbal can be accessed from the touch screen. From there, you can control the accountability of how gimbal speed, PAN speed and some buttons follow the functions. There is also a dedicated switch to the right that controls the axes are closed – so you can, for example, control whether the camera is bent or not, if the zimbal is bent.
The RS4 mini also has some buttons to control the camera. To use them, you have to connect to the camera using a cable or Bluetooth. Supported cameras have been listed Web page of zimbal – Although this is not widespread, because the original Nikon Z6 has worked properly, but is not listed. If your camera is not supported, and you intend to use these buttons, you may need to buy a custom cable separately. (Said that, all new cameras with USB-C port will work with a provided cable.)
Once you connect the camera, the record button on the gimbal will start and stop the video recording. With multiple camera models, you can also draw focus using dials on the gimbal front. While you can still control these tasks on camera itself, if you want, touch the camera or lens, while the gimbal operation will ruin the lubrication of the video.
Note that for pull-focus, you will need to use a cable, as the pull-focus does not work through Bluetooth. More recent mirrorless lenses will work beautifully with bridge-focus as Air Force Motors of such lenses are usually designed keeping in mind the video. On the other hand, most old customized DSLR lenses will be difficult to use pull-focus easily with remote controls due to their jerky motors.
In addition to using it for pull-focus, you can also configure the front dial on the gimbal to replace ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, or simply keep it to control the pan or bend of the gimbal. Personally, I found that aperture control is very easy, as it is one of the most often changed settings in the video.
The gimbal also has a large trigger at the front side, which can be used to lock the current direction that is facing the camera. This is useful when you want to contact a subject and then lock the camera towards your subject. Pressing the trigger twice will resume the gimbal position.
Briefcase handle and mount
The DJI RS4 mini comes with an additional attachment known as a briefcase handle. This little accessory is necessary for many types of shots where you change the height of the camera. You can accommodate the angle of the handle using the rosette-style locking system, which is very useful.
The hand itself is a good shape and works well. You use it by holding the gimbal with one hand and holding the handle with the other. This helps to stabilize the system at any time when you want to hold the camera on the waist level or less. Otherwise, it is very difficult to catch the gimbal, which becomes almost horizontal.
Even with less difficult shots, the handle is useful for a long time of shooting. It is more comfortable to have one hand on the handle and a hand on the bottom of a gimbal, as shown in the above image. Note that Mount for the handle is a standard NATO Mount, and thus it can also be used for other items such as light or microphone.
Intelligent tracking
The intelligent tracking system of RS4 Mini is a cool concept, and not present on several gimbals. It is a small camera module that can be connected to the gimbal with basic human subject-affairs. Once connected to the gimbal, it will automatically transfer unlocked axes to track the theme in the frame.
Its tracking can be adapted. You can control its follow -up speed and whether to maintain the current composition or keep the composition in the center. It can also be activated and inactive with hand gestures, so that the person in front of the camera can activate it.
I found that module is very good in tracking, even when I tested it inside the house with a very slow lamp. It helps in the following topics that you are filming, and it can also be useful for filming Vlog with a gimbal mounted on a tripod.
Stabilization system
Once I balanced my camera on RS4 mini, the stabilization system was also very good when I moved the camera around in quite strange pan, tilts and rotation.
The footage I received was very smooth, but did some practice to learn how to use this gimbal. It is not comfortable to use as a smooth video fluid head, and you have got to run as easily as possible. This is true about all video gimbals in this small size category, but it is worth knowing.
RS4 mini also has some control that should make dynamic types of footage easier. For example, you can rotate it for pan and tilt using small joysticks. The speed here was very smooth in my experience. And because the gimbal is transferred by smooth motors, it is easier to pan than a decent fluid head, such as my Manfrito Nitrotech 408.
Talking about motors, the zimbal is silent on its own. This means that if you are using a small on-camera microphone, you will not get the noise of additional background from a gimmal operation-although in the best cases, a microphone should ideally be off-the-camera anyway. But beyond the anxiety of the microphone, it is more fun and less distracted to use a silent device in this way.
RS4 Mini also has two supporting modes:
- Orbit Mode: A mode that makes spherical and arc movements smooth
- Sport Mode: A mode that increases the follow -up of the gimbal so that you can track more easily and incorrectly running subjects. For slow speed, it can be great when used in combination with high frimits such as 60fps or 120fps. It can be activated by clicking only one button.
The declared capacity of this gimbal is 2 kg, but in practice, it is always best to live under that weight to perform the performance of the gimbal and to maximize the battery life. The maximum weight I used was about 1kg with my nicon Z6 + ftz II + 50 mm f/1.8 + variable ND filter, and it worked very well. However, if you regularly get very close to 2 kg or probably want to cross it a little, then the big DJI RS4 will be a zimbal for you; Its capacity is 3 kg. For users with really heavy duty, DJI RS4 Pro supports 4.5 kg.
Weaknesses
It was difficult for me to find any weaknesses of DJI RS4 Mini, because every time I picked it up it used to work well. However, I wish for a removable battery. The battery life was not bad – it can only be used throughout the day after four hours of continuous use of four hours – and for most people, it can be used without charging throughout the day. But a interchangeable battery will allow you to keep shooting even during long trips where charging is not an option. And eventually the battery, like all batteries, will become old and at the same time will not keep a charge.
Another thing that can be improved is the placement of the tracking module on the gimbal. On small cameras, the tracking module strap blocks the strap so that the camera can only go so far into the plate. This makes the camera a little more difficult if you have to remove it.
If necessary, you can remove the nose of the strap on your main video camera. And even if you don’t, you can still use any camera with the gimbal. Just keep in mind that the camera may have to be reborn when the tracking module is attached (which is a good idea anyway, as the module slightly replaces the weight distribution of the setup).
The only negative point is that the gimbal requires activation using the smartphone app when you first get it. It is true that once you activate it, you never need to reuse the app or phone, but in my opinion, users do not need to activate the gimbal in the first place.
In addition, you do not need to be an expert to install it. You can immediately remove it too far, and it does not require the previous experience of shooting with video gimbal.
conclusion
DJI RS4 Mini is an excellent video gimbal. If I need to use a word for RS4 mini, it will be: fun! It is an impressive piece of equipment for videographers. And although it takes more space than something like a DJI Omoso, it is good to get additional video quality using your big camera setup. If I was going on a trip and making a video about it, I will definitely bring RS4 Mini together.
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