Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Jun 8, 2022 by John Aldred Leave a Comment
Zhiyun has announced the new Zhiyun Smooth Q4 gimbal for smartphones. It comes with some ergonomic improvements over its predecessor with a redesigned arm that lets you deploy and start shooting with it very quickly when you’re out and about. And like many of Zhiyun’s smartphone gimbals, it features a built-in extendable selfie stick for when you want to get a bit more vlogging range with a wider background.
It’s available in two packages. The Standard Package contains the basic gimbal, mini tripod and power cord. The Combo Package also includes a small magnetic LED fill light with gel covers, a wrist strap and a case in which to keep everything safe. The gimbal itself offers a multi-function control wheel as well as intelligent shooting modes and one-click switching between landscape and portrait orientation.
Measuring only 181.7 x 107.7 x 56.3mm and weighing in at 370, it’s a pretty compact folding gimbal that should slip into many pockets or pouches on backpacks. Zhiyun says this newest member of the Smooth Q range “offers unrivalled interactivity and control” with one-handed operation thanks to a multifunctional control wheel. This allows shooters to adjust brightness and focus mid-shot without having to touch the app on the phone screen itself.
The Zhiyun Smooth Q4 runs on a full charge for up to 15 hours. Obviously, the runtime will depend on the size of your phone, how well balanced it is and how hard the motors will have to work to keep it steady. Once it’s flat, it takes 2.5 hours to charge it back up to full again.
The Zhiyun Smooth Q4 also expands the SmartShooting functionality with an updated and dedicated ZY CAMI App and a new Smart Templates BTS (Behind The Scenes) feature. This feature allows the app to demonstrate to filmmakers how to move the gimbal in order to shoot the templates. And once you’ve shot it, you can compare your footage side-by-side with the template on a split-screen to see how well you did and let you see where you need to practice and improve.
Of course, you get all the usual filters, music, special effects that you might already be used to if you’re an existing Smooth Q series user, as well as SmartFollow 3. This feature tracks your subject to make sure they’re always in the centre of the frame. You also get Gesture Control (when using the Zhiyun app) to start shooting with simple movements. A “Live Stream Master” also provides facial tracking to make sure your gimbal always follows you as you move around in front of it.
The Zhiyun Smooth Q4 is available to buy now for $119 in the Standard Package, or you can get the Combo Package for $149 which includes the magnetic LED light, gel filters, wrist strap and case.
Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: Gear Announcement, smartphone video, Vlogging, Zhiyun, Zhiyun Smooth Q4
John Aldred is based in Scotland and photographs people in the wild and animals in the studio. You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.
John Aldred is based in Scotland and photographs people in the wild and animals in the studio. You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube.
Dunja Djudjic is a writer and photographer from Novi Sad, Serbia. You can see her work on Flickr, Behance and her Facebook page.
Alex is a commercial photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She mostly shoots people and loves anything to do with the outdoors. You can see her work on her website and follow her Spanish landscape adventures on instagram.
Adam Frimer is a Guinness World Record holder, producer, and DOP based in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Adam owns a production company that specializes in corporate marketing and brand strategy. His videos have collectively hit over a quarter billion views
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