5 Of The Best Gimbals For DSLR Cameras!
Today we are going to be going over what we feel are the best gimbals currently available on the market that are suitable for use with the heavier DSLR camera rigs. Now, keep in mind that we have tried to include something for everyone as some DSLR users will not need an absolutely massive payload capacity on their gimbals whereas others will need as much load capacity as they can get.
Our hope is that this article will be able to help any of our regular readers or anyone who finds us via Google or social media who are looking to pick up a gimbal for their DSLR camera. As usual, we have included a quick and easy to read comparison table below for those of you who are short on time. This allows you to quickly and easily go over each of our recommended gimbals and see how they all measure up to each other.
On top of this, we will also be covering each of the gimbals in detail below the comparison table for anyone who wants to know more about a specific gimbal that we have featured and how it is able to help improve your image quality via the gimbals image stabilization.
Comparison Table
Last update on 2022-05-29 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
As you can see from our comparison table above, we feel that the DJI Ronin S is the best gimbal for DSLR cameras at the time of writing. We feel that the vast majority of our readers will have camera rigs that its 7.94-pound load capacity can easily support and the technology on the Ronin S is excellent.
Next up in second place, we have the Moza Air 2 that we feel is a pretty close second to the Ronin S and will serve the vast majority of DSLR gimbal rigs very well. It just drops a few points over the DJI gimbal due to the Ronin S have better tech that can provide slightly better performance than the Air 2. We also have the Zhiyun Crane 3 coming in at joint second place and although we would not recommend the Crane 3 for anyone who is using a low weight DSLR setup, it is an excellent bit of kit for those who need its massive 10.14 maximum load capacity for their work.
Finally, we have the Evo Rage 3 and the Feiyutech AK4000 both coming in at joint third place. Although the AK4000 does have some known issues that are holding it back from climbing to second place, we feel the Rage 3 comes in at third place as its price tag is just too high for what you actually get compared to the other gimbals.
The DJI Ronin S
So, our winning gimbal when it comes to DSLR cameras is the DJI Ronin S that has only gone from strength to strength since its relase onto the market a few years back. Chances are that if you have invested the money into a DSLR camera setup then you have been in the photography and videography space for some time now and you will likley have heard of the DJI brand.
Although they are well known for their drone range, they have also managed to establish themselves as one of the top two gimbal brands in the world too. Over the years they have managed to build up an excellent reputation for themselves within the community that only shows signs of continuing to grow at a steady pace as time goes on.
This is largely due to the DJI gimbal range offering you some of the best possible performance available with a build quality and design that is second to none, additionally, the price tag for the gimbals are fair for what you are actually getting. This is why we feel the Ronin S would be an excellent addition to your collection of camera accessories for your DSLR camera but let’s take a closer look.
Edit – As we mentioned above, the Moza Air 3 has been released onto the market since we published this article and we would consider it to be joint first with the DJI Ronin S when looking for a gimbal for DSLR cameras. The Moza Air 3 is actually around $100 cheaper than then Ronin S too helping to sweeten the deal too and the Air 3 has quickly built a great reputation for itself.
Performance And Functionality
At the time of writing, the average DSLR camera body will come in at around 1.7 pounds with no accessories mounted to the camera. If you do choose to go with the highly recommended Ronin S and you use an average DSLR camera then you will have 6.24 pounds of spare load capacity for all the accessories that you could ever want.
This ensures that you are able to load the handheld gimbal stabilizer up with your camera and mount all of your required accessories to your camera and still get the best possible image stabilization for your video footage.
On top of this, the Ronin S also boasts a 12 hour battery life that should be more than enough for the majority of people out there. When using a heavy DSLR rig it is rare that you will be in a situation where you will not have a chance to recharge your gimbal, especially one with a 12 hour battery life.
Speaking of charging your gimbal, the Ronin S can go from totally empty to full in as little as 2 hours 15 minutes. At the time of writing, this is the quickest charging time of any gimbal on the market ensuring that you are able to get back out there and capture more footage as quickly as possible.
This ensures that you are able to easily use heavier DSLR cameras as the Canon 80d is actually a pretty light DSLR as well as heavier lenses too. You are also able to use additional accessories such as lighting units or external microphones and the Ronin S will keep its excellent performance.
On top of this, the various gimbal modes available on the Ronin S are second to none. DJI have custom coded their various modes as well as their balancing algorithm to ensure the very best performance for their users. On top of this, the hardware in the gimbal has also been developed specifically to ensure that the gimbal performance flawlessly when used with a DSLR camera rig in a similar way to how the Ronin SC has been developed for mirrorless cameras.
User Interface And Control System
The system is based around an easy to use thumbpad shown in the middle of the image above that allows you to control the gimbal when used in manual mode. DJI has ensured that it is perfectly placed on the handle of the gimbal to allow you to quickly and easily tweak it as required using just your thumb.
As DSLR camera rigs are the heaviest setups going, this allows you to ensure that the rest of your hand is focused on supporting the weight of the gimbal and camera to keep it safely supported while your thumb does and control tweaks you need. This not only ensures that your equipment is safe and able to get the maximum amount of support possible from you during use but it also ensures that there is no change in the image quality you are capturing while your thumb is tweaking the gimbals settings.
The Smartphone App
As most videographers will always have their smartphone on them anyway, we prefer to use the app as it adds no additional weight or space to our photography kit and it is very easy to use. It provides all the key functions you would expect while also allowing you to tweak a number of settings on the gimbal too.
It has been designed to be as easy to learn and as straight forward as possible to set up so we really don’t foresee you having any issues when it comes to pairing the app with your gimbal either.
Build Quality And Design
The actual build quality of the Ronin S is second to none when it comes to DSLR gimbals in our opinion. Not only is it surprisingly lightweight when you take into account what it is able to provide you but it also has a pretty robust build quality for a gimbal. Now, we are not saying go out and throw your Ronin S at a wall to see if it breaks but it is nice to know that it will be able to take any knocks during use or when in transit without having issues.
Although the Ronin S is not the lightest gimbal we have featured in this article, when you balance the weight of the gimbal and the features and performance that it offers you, DJI has done an excellent job of keeping it as low weight as possible. This is great for a gimbal that will be used with DSLR cameras as you want to keep the total weight that you have to support as low as possible. This ensures that you hand and arm don’t end up cramping up when using your rig due to it being so heavy.
Our Verdict
It is no surprise that the DJI Ronin S has managed to earn and maintain the reputation it has. We would really struggle to find fault with the gimbal when it comes to use with a DSLR camera as we feel everything aligns perfectly making this the obvious choice and the best handheld gimbal for DSLR cameras in our opinion.
The image stabilization is excellent and will ensure that you get the best possible build quality during use. The build quality is great and the interface is very simple to use. All in all, we feel that the Ronin S will make an excellent addition to your collection of camera accessories and that it is well worth the investment for anyone who is looking to pick up a gimbal suitable for DSLR cameras.
The Moza Air 2
Now, like we said back at the start of the article, we are big fans of the Moza Air 2 and feel that it is a great 3 axis handheld gimbal for DSLR cameras. That said, we feel it just misses out of the top spot by a small margin due to the slightly better build quality and technology on the DJI Ronin S. If you are unable to source the Ronin S in your area then the Moza Air 2 will make an excellent alternative for your DSLR.
The Air 2 offers you some great performance with some solid image stabilization for some of the heaviest DSLR rigs available right now. Additionally, coming from Moza, you can rest assured that the gimbals build quality is spot on too. We love the user interface for the Air 2 and you could argue that it is actually better than the one on the Ronin S but it will come down to personal preference. All of this adds up to a great little gimbal and it is not surprising that it has managed to earn itself a solid reputation within the community in a short period of time.
As we have mentioned above, since we initially published this article, the Moza Air 3 has been released onto the market and it is an outstanding gimbal. Although its maximum load capacity and battery life are lower than the Moza Air 2 we feel that it holds the joint first position alongside the Ronin S. Unless you specifically need the higher load capacity or battery life of the Moza Air 2, we would recommend the Air 3 over it.
Performance And Functionality
Even when supporting these heavy payloads, the Air 2 is able to provide you with 12-16 hours of battery life per fully charged set of batteries. That said though, as we would expect the majority of our readers to be using a more average or medium weight DSLR setup on their gimbal, we feel it is safe to assume that you will usually get closer to the 16 hours of battery life mark rather than 12 hour.
On top of this, this solid little handheld gimbal stabilizer can be charged from empty to full in only 4 hours. Although this is a longer time frame than the Ronin S, it does have a higher maximum battery life duration and load capacity so it does kind of balance itself out in our opinion.
The Air 2 also supports eight different operation modes that ensure that the handheld gimbal will be able to meet the needs of your session and provide whatever is required to your DSLR. If you are doing any type of paid videography work then this ensures that you are always able to meet your client’s needs no matter what requests they make of you and your gear.
User Interface And Control System
The LCD panel on the interface is clear and accurately displays any data that you may need to see and it is also easily visible in low light too. This helps to ensure that no matter the conditions you find yourself in, you are always able to quickly and easily adjust the performance of the Air 2 to whatever you need for your session.
The Smartphone App
As you can see in the image above, the design is clean and easy to read and ensures that even if you are new to using a gimbal, you will be able to open the app and get it to do what you required. We feel that the actual design of the smartphone app for the Moza gimbal range is probably the best out of the five featured gimbals as it really is so easy to use.
Build Quality And Design
You can see how sleek the design team have been by how clean the user interface panel looks in the section above and we feel they have definatley put the groundwork in to ensure anyone will be able to use the Air 2 with ease. As we mentioned above though, we would imagine that most people who invest in a DSLR camera setup will have used a gimbal previously but if you haven’t, the Air 2 is very easy to pick up and use without issue.
Our Verdict
As we mentioned at the start of this section of the article, the Moza Air 2 is a great bit of kit that is a very close second to the Ronin S. We feel it will make a great addition to anyone’s DSLR camera accessories and easily provide you with all the image stabilization that your setup could ever require.
Note – As we have mentioned a few times in this article, the Moza Air 3 is now available and is an excellent gimbal stabilizer that is well work checking out and we are confident that it will meet all your needs.
The Zhiyun Crane 3
Next up on our list is probably the best gimbal for heavy DSLR rigs on the market at the time of writing, the Zhiyun Crane 3. As we mentioned earlier in the article though, we would NOT recommend this to our readers if you are using an average weight DLSR camera setup as it is a waste of money and either of the gimbals above will get the job done with a lower price tag.
That said, if you are using a super heavy rig and need the load capacity of the Crane 3 then it can make an excellent investment. With the gimbal coming from Zhiyun, you know that it is going to be one of the best gimbals around but unlike the Crane Plus and the Crane 2 that are more of a general-purpose gimbal, the Crane 3 seems to have been designed with a more niche market in mind, the super heavy DSLR market.
Although it is the most expensive gimbal out of the featured gimbals for this post, it does offer outstanding performance while it also has an excellent build quality too. The Crane 3 also had a bunch of hype around its launch that ensured that it was able to get off to a solid start and quickly earn its excellent reputation within the community.
Performance And Functionality
The battery life of the Crane 3 is also the lowest of the gimbals that we are featuring coming in at just 7 and a half hours for a fully charged set of batteries! In all fairness though, this does seem to be a guideline that is based around you using heavier DSLR camera setups and with a more average setup, you can expect more battery life out of the handheld gimbal. Still though, for a modern electronic gimbal for DSLR cameras, it is a little low as the covered above offers almost as much payload with a much better battery life.
The Crane 3 is also one of the latest generations of Zhiyun gimbals at the time of writing that has an updated balancing algorithm, overhauled gimbal motors, a new and improved point of view mode, a new night lapse mode, an updated motion memory mode, and some of the best intelligent object tracking currently available on the market at the time of writing.
All of this ensures that although the Crane 3 is expensive, it can ensure that you are able to capture whatever you need to with your DSLR no matter the conditions and no matter what requirements your clients ask of you.
User Interface And Control System
We would recommend that you use your dominant hand to hold this top handle as in our opinion, it is more comfortable to have your stronger arm supporting the most weight. That said though, it will come down to personal preference so give it a try and see how you feel.
All in all though, although the control system for the Zhiyun Crane 3 may seem a little confusion than the other systems from our featured gimbals, it is actually pretty straight forward when you get used to it.
The Smartphone App
By the time you read this, the update may have been released and the app may work fine. At the time of writing though, Zhiyun has one of the weakest apps out of our featured gimbals for DSLR cameras.
Build Quality And Design
Our Verdict
As we mentioned at the start of this section, although the Zhiyun Crane 3 is without a doubt an excellent gimbal that offers some of the best performance available at the time of writing, its price tag will simply price it out of the race for many of our readers, especially when the DJI Ronin S and the Moza Air 2 are so much cheaper.
That said, if you are using a heavy DSLR camera setup, the Crane 3 is perfect and will easily provide you the image stabilization that some other gimbals may struggle to support. This ensures that you are always getting optimal image quality from your gear and that you are able to do all that is required during your sessions.
The Evo Rage 3
Next up, we have our joint third place gimbal, the Evo Rage 3 that we feel is just a little bit too overpriced for what you actually get for your money when compared to the other gimbals that we have featured above. That said, the Rage 3 definatley does have a number of loyal customers who use the gimbal with their DSLR camera of choice and it also has a solid reputation within the community although it is not as popular as the gimbals above.
Now, on paper, the Rage 3 may seem like it can hold its own against the higher-rated gimbals but in practice, the gimbal is not as responsive and just doesn’t feel as snappy as the three covered above. It does provide some solid image stabilization though and continues to grow at a steady pace with more and more people adding the Rage 3 to their camera accessories each month.
We feel that if the gimbal received a price reduction then it would be more competitive against the more dominant gimbals by service as a budget gimbal for DSLR cameras. Unfortunately though, at the time of writing, there is no sign of this happening so we feel it is left out of the running for the main recommendations.
As the Evo Rage is coming in at third place on our list of featured gimbals, we will be skimming over it below to save our readers time rather than going as in-depth as we did for the other gimbals above.
Performance And Functionality
User Interface And Control System
The Smartphone App
Build Quality And Design
Our Verdict
As we mentioned at the start of this section, the Evo Rage 3 is a pretty solid one hand gimbal for DSLR cameras and although we do feel it is able to provide some solid image stabilization, we would recommend the DJI Ronin S be added to your DSLR camera accessories instead of the Rage 3.
The Feiyutech AK4000
The final gimbal on our list that we are going to be covering is the Feiyutech AK4000 and although it is the cheapest gimbal for DSLR cameras on our list, we would not recommend that you purchase it in its current state due to a few bugs that the Feiyutech AK range are having at the time of writing. The main one is that around a fifth of all AK range gimbals from Feiyutech are having issues with vibrations during use ruining the image stabilization. Although Feiyutech has released a fix for this, it does not always work.
In addition to this, there are a few reports claiming that the AK4000 is not able to support anywhere near the advertised maximum load capacity but on the flip side of this there are plenty of reports to say that it can. This could be down to something similar to the confirmed fault above where only around a fifth of the gimbals are having the problem. To date, there is no official confirmation of this from Feiyutech and no fix is available.
That said though, the AK4000 does have a decent reputation within the community and there are plenty of reports from people confirming that their AK4000 performs perfectly and does not seem to have the issues that we mentioned above. Again, as the AK4000 is not a primary recommendation for use with your DSLR camera we will be quickly skimming over this section to save our readers time.
Performance And Functionality
The battery life of the AK4000 is listed as 8-12 hours and the gimbal does seem to be pretty consistent when it comes to the battery life that it is able to provide for you. The charge time is a little random thought and the time required to charge the gimbal from empty to full seems to change each time you charge it although the average is around the five-hour mark.
User Interface And Control System
The Feiyutech Smartphone App
Build Quality And Design
Our Verdict
Although the Feiyutech AK4000 did have the potential to be the best affordable gimbal for DSLR cameras, we feel that in its current state any of the other featured gimbals on this list would be a better addition to your camera accessories. We see no reason to spend this much money on a gimbal and risk it having problems with random vibrations or not being able to support heavy camera setups when you can go with the for a very similar price tag that does not have these problems.
Wrapping It All Up
We hope that you have found our article on the top gimbal for DSLR cameras helpful and are now in a better position to choose what gimbal you will add to your collection of camera accessories. Realistically, any of the first two gimbals will make an excellent addition to your camera accessories whereas the third gimbal is great if you are going to be using a heavy camera setup but we would shy away from purchasing either of the last two gimbals covered.
