This is the new Zhiyun Crane 4, a gimbal that gets back to basics for this brand, which in my opinion is a really good thing.
I’m reviewing it from the perspective of a wedding filmmaker and telling you whether it’s a good gimbal to buy if you film weddings, documentaries, or anything else where you need a reliable stabilizer you can run around with all day.
For the sake of ethics, I want you to know this video is not paid or sponsored by Zhiyun, but they did send me this gimbal early so I could make this review.
The Issue With Weight
Here’s where we are in the world of Zhiyun’s gimbals. Their cinematic universe. Their gimbalmatic universe.
Zhiyun set the world on fire with their first gimbal, the Crane. That thing was extremely lightweight and compact but could still hold a mirrorless camera and lens, and it was pretty darn cool. Unfortunately I was someone filming with a heavier setup with a battery grip, so I couldn’t partake. But thankfully the Crane 2 soon followed with a significantly higher payload, and I still love that gimbal to this day.
Here’s where we take a turn for the worse, into what I like to call the Dark Ages of Zhiyun’s gimbals. Over the last few years we’ve seen the Crane 3, Crane 3S, Crane 2S and Weebill 2, all of which I’ve either used or reviewed. Heads up: this link goes to the newer Zhiyun Weebill 2 Pro. And if I had to choose the common theme between them, it would be that they have an issue with weight. They are heavy, especially compared to the competition. If you’re someone like me who films weddings and prioritizes a super lightweight gimbal you can carry all day, a heavy gimbal is a recipe for backaches after 12 hours.
Much Lighter Than The Crane 3S
Thankfully there’s light at the end of the tunnel, because Zhiyun clearly realized a lot of their gimbals were heavy and started moving toward lightness, which should make you incredibly happy as a filmmaker.
Enter the Crane 4, which comes in at a relatively light 1,673 grams. Much, much lighter than the Crane 3S at 2,472 grams, or even the Crane 2 at 1,877 grams.
The Most Versatile Gimbal Zhiyun Has Made
From an ergonomic standpoint, this feels like one of the most versatile gimbals Zhiyun has made to date.
They got stuck on this thing with the Crane 3 and 3S where they really wanted you to be able to use the gimbal in underslung mode, so the gimbal added a ton of weight and mass to enable it whenever you wanted. Thankfully, with the Crane 4, underslung is merely an option, where you attach a back handle and use it that way, and you can remove that handle if you want the gimbal even lighter.
Talking more ergonomics, Zhiyun introduced a wrist rest on their latest Weebill and I’m so glad to see it here too. It may sound gimmicky, but if you’re holding a heavy gimbal, the majority of that weight rests on your wrist. It makes a lot of sense on a larger gimbal, because the odds are you’re using heavier cameras and lenses with it. And as a plus, it’s removable.
That said, as an alternative to a wrist rest, I wouldn’t have minded if Zhiyun had opted for lighter materials like carbon fiber to make the gimbal lighter, which might have negated the need for a wrist rest entirely. That’s one of the reasons DJI is doing so well with many of their gimbals, because they’re choosing to make them as light as possible.
Another new feature is balance lights. Put your camera on and while you’re balancing you’ll see lights on the motors that shine red if it needs adjusting. Personally I stick to one camera and lens combo when filming, so these are useful for the initial balance and then I’m done with them. But if you’re someone constantly swapping lenses and rebalancing, I can see them being very useful at a glance.
There’s one other light we need to talk about, and that’s the rather large LED Zhiyun included on the front arm. They’ve been experimenting with this on other gimbals and it’s back again here, essentially a bi-color LED to help you light whatever you’re filming. It even comes with a cute little squishy rubber dome you can put over it to soften it further.
Personally I have zero use for this, because the light is going to be too close to the camera, which results in something equivalent to early MTV, where you have a light shining directly on your talent’s face. And if you’re filming weddings, any time you put a light on your camera it’s super distracting to whoever you’re filming, and they get drawn to your camera like moths to a flame. At that point it’s really hard to get people to act natural. People get weird when there’s a light on your camera, and moving it a few inches off onto the gimbal arm doesn’t change that.
If you’re someone who films that way, I think you’ll like it. But it feels like a gimmick to me, and personally I wouldn’t have minded if the gimbal were lighter instead.
Otherwise, Zhiyun says this gimbal now offers you more camera control. Connect your camera and you can change shutter speed and white balance and start and stop recording, so you don’t have to touch the camera once it’s balanced. If you put your camera on a gimbal and leave it there all day, you’re going to love that. But if you’re like me and you’re constantly putting the camera on and taking it off because you want to film handheld, any extra wires or connections just get in the way. That’s why I don’t typically use these features, though I tested them and they work.
Does It Give You Smooth Footage?
We do have to answer a rather basic question in this review, which is: is this a good gimbal? As in, is it good at doing gimbal things, like stabilizing your camera?
The answer is yes. It’s excellent. Just like every other Zhiyun gimbal I’ve used, the Crane 4 gives you smooth footage in either horizontal or vertical orientation, because it supports both. It also gives you all the normal controls you expect, so you get follow mode, pan tilt mode, POV mode and so on.
12 Hour Battery Life
Battery life is quite good as well. Zhiyun says the Crane 4 has a 12 hour battery life, and in my testing I believe that’s pretty accurate. I wouldn’t expect you to have any issues getting through a full wedding day.
Keep in mind that unlike Zhiyun’s previous gimbals, this one does not have interchangeable batteries. You can’t swap the handle for new cells, so you have to charge it before using it. What you see is what you get. That said, Zhiyun says the Crane 4 recharges in 1 hour 50 minutes.
One Last Complaint, If You’re Left Handed
Before we talk price, I have one last complaint, and it’s minor, but it’s annoying for me specifically, because I am left handed. I know I’m an extreme minority on this earth, but I really appreciate whenever things are built so left handed people can still use them.
To be clear, I’m not saying the Crane 4 is unusable if you’re left handed. But if you look at the controls and the orientation, this entire gimbal is essentially built for someone right handed. Hold it in your right hand and you have extremely easy access to the record button and the joystick, all right there ready for your thumb.
On the other hand, literally, if you’re left handed, then other than the button and dial at the front you’re going to have to do a really awkward reach to get to that joystick while trying not to drop the gimbal. It’s a big pain.
Thankfully the wrist rest is swappable to the left side, which is how I have it. But the detachable underslung arm had to go on at a weirder angle, because its mounting point doesn’t rotate 180 degrees. So if you’re left handed like me, I’d probably avoid this gimbal and instead look for one with all the controls centered on the back, so you can reach them more easily.
Price & Should You Buy It?
Zhiyun has priced this at $669 for just the gimbal and tripod base, and $749 for the combo, which comes with the sling handle and the wrist rest.
On the surface that looks pretty comparable to a company like DJI. What you need to remember though is that Zhiyun is typically incredibly aggressive about putting their gimbals on sale and cutting prices, so definitely keep an eye out.
So should you buy it? I think the Crane 4 is interesting. It’s great to see Zhiyun embracing lighter weight gimbals again, and making things like the wrist rest and underslung arm removable if you don’t want them. But I also feel like they’ve crammed in some features that aren’t exactly necessary, like the LED on the front, and balance lights you may only use once if you run the same camera and lens combo every time.
That said, if you’re looking for a gimbal that can handle heavier cameras like a Canon C70 or an FX6, or you find yourself constantly struggling with balance every time you use it, I think the Crane 4 will serve you really well, especially if you can find it for a good price. Just watch out if you’re left handed, because the controls are going to be really awkward for you.
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Thanks so much for reading, and have a great day!