The Best Gimbal For Canon 80D Cameras!
With the huge popularity of the Canon 80d right now, it is no surprise that we see so many people reaching out each month asking for advice on this excellent bit of kit. Due to this, we have decided to publish this article going over what we feel are the best gimbals for Canon 80d camera owners and we have decided to feature three different gimbals for our readers.
All three of the gimbals that we have decided to feature in the article offer you an excellent level of performance. Additionally, the build quality, ease of use, and design of the three gimbals is also outstanding too while they have all rightfully earned themselves an excellent reputation within the community since their release.
As usual, we have a comparison table below for the three gimbals that we are recommending to offer a quick and easy overview of some of the key features for them. Additionally, if you are short of time, the comparison table style is a great way to highlight our recommended gimbal as well as provide a small amount of info for each of the three featured gimbals for your Canon 80s. Additionally, we will be covering the three gimbals in full below the comparison table for those of you who prefer to have a full breakdown and get as much information as possible.
Comparison Table
Last update on 2022-05-29 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
As you can see from the table above, the DJI Ronin S is the primary gimbal that we would recommend to our readers who own a Canon 80d. We feel that it is without a doubt one of the best cameras for DSLR rigs on the market right now and offers some of the best performance and image stabilization that we have seen in a gimbal to date for the DSLR camera market.
Next up we have two slightly more niche gimbals for DSLR cameras that you can use depending on the accessories that you are planning to use with your Canon 80d during use. Although the Zhiyun Crane Plus was predominantly designed for use with mirrorless cameras, if you are not planning to use any heave accessories with your 80d this could be a great budget-friendly gimbal but it does have the lowest payload of the three featured gimbals. As your Canon 80d comes in at around 1.5 pounds, you will have around 4 pounds of payload weight for accessories so this could be a great option for many of our readers.
The final featured gimbal that we will be featuring is the Moza Air 2 that we feel is going to be the best gimbal for heavy Canon 80d setups due to its much higher payload. Now, we know that the Moza Air 3 is now available on the market but the lower payload of the Air 3 means that, in our opinion at least, the Air 2 is better for heavier DSLR rigs. If you are planning to keep your 80d in a camera cage and mount a bunch of heavy accessories on it, then the Air 2 is probably the best option.
The DJI Ronin S
The Ronin S has been designed to be a DSLR camera gimbal but the outstanding image stabilization that is provided has also made it a popular choice within the mirrorless camera community too. That said, it is a popular choice for Canon 80 users all over the world and the Ronin S has an excellent track record with the camera and we only expect its reputation within the community to continue to grow as time goes on.So moving onto the sections where we will be covering each of the recommended gimbals for your Canon 80d in detail we will start with the DJI Ronin S as overall, we feel it is the best product available at the time of writing. DJI are well known for providing excellent quality gimbals that offer the best performance possible, have a professional design, and a build quality to ensure the gimbal lasts. On top of this, since its release onto the market, the Ronin S has also quickly established itself as one of the top gimbals and rightfully earned a outstanding reputation within the community.
Performance And Functionality
As we mentioned earlier, DJI are well known for ensuring that their drones and gimbals offer the very best performance available to their users and the Ronin S sticks to these core values of the company. The Ronin S is able to support a maximum load capacity of 7.94 meaning that there is a good chance that it will be able to support your Canon 80d that is around 1.5 pounds as well as any accessories that you could ever want to mount on the camera during use.
Even if you have to use a heavy lens, external microphone, and video light with your 80d, we are confident that the Ronin S will be able to support the weight of the rig and provide its excellent image stabilization without issue. When it comes to battery life for the gimbal, you will be able to expect between eight and twelve hours depending on the weight of your camera right and how much of the payload capacity you require.
As the 80d is a pretty lightweight DSLR camera, we would expect you to be getting closer to the twelve hours of battery life mark than the eight-hour mark. Additionally, the gimbal can also be fully charged from empty to full in just two hours fifteen minutes ensuring that you have minimal downtime when it comes to recharging the handheld gimbal stabilizer for use.
As we touched on earlier, the DJI Ronin S is also a popular gimbal within the mirrorless camera owning community too so if you do own multiple cameras with a mirrorless camera included, you will be able to use the same gimbal for both cameras without issue. Additionally, the Ronin S and its high maximum load capacity are great for future-proofing yourself against any potential camera upgrades to a heavier DSLR than the 80d in the future too.
User Interface And Control System
You can see the control system in the image above for the Ronin S that is located on the gimbal handle. As you can see, DJI has kept the system as simple and straight forward as possible and this has two main advantages. We know that this is a pretty expensive gimbal for anyone who is an entry-level videographer but on the off chance that this is your very first gimbal, it is extremely easy to operate efficiently due to its simple user interface system.
On the flip side of this, the system is also very similar to what most other modern gimbal stabilizers use so if you are upgrading to the Ronin S from another brand, you will be able to get to grips with its control system in a short period of time. Additionally, although the control system is straight forward, it does offer seasoned gimbal users all of the control that they would be used to having too.
Although it is common practice for modern handheld gimbals these days, the Ronin S control system can be controlled by using just your thumb too.
The control system of the gimbal also ensures that you are able to easily operate the focus wheel on the gimbal handle when required too. This ensures that no matter the situation for your session, you are able to quickly and easily tweak the performance of the Ronin S to meet your needs and capture you the best possible image quality without running into trouble.
The DJI Smartphone App
Any experiences gimbal user will probably know that many gimbal brands have low-quality smartphone apps that often cause problems and simply won’t sync up with your gimbal when needed. Thankfully, DJI is one of the companies that have always ensured that their app is top-notch and will perform flawlessly for you without issue.
This can provide you with some wireless remote control functionality directly from your smartphone while also ensuring that you can quickly and easily tweak some key gimbal settings on the fly. On top of this, the app is free so it is well worth the download even if you don’t expect to be using it much, it is better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Build Quality And Design
If you are a regular user of the DJI gimbal or drone range then you will probably be familiar with the absolutely outstanding build quality and design that DJI is well known for. They take their time in the planning stages of all of their products to ensure that their gear not only looks and feels professional but that it also performs professionally too.
There have been a few gimbal releases from competing brands recently that have had some glaring issues with their build quality that should never have made it out of testing and into the live product. Thankfully, DJI tests their gimbals thoroughly prior to releasing them to their loyal customers to ensure they are flawless.
The design of the Ronin S ensures that your Canon 80d will have a full range of motion during use on the gimbal without issue. Additionally, all of the moving parts of the gimbal have been designed so they can move freely and smoothly without and friction issues that usually end up leading to problems with overheating in the lower quality gimbal brands.
The build quality of the Ronin S is excellent in our opinion and DJI have done an excellent job of making sure that it is as lightweight as possible while also offering you excellent performance during use. Although the 80d is a pretty lightweight DSLR camera unit anyway, the lightweight of the gimbal ensures that you will be able to hold it for any longer videography sessions without your hand or arm cramping.
For a gimbal, the Ronin S is also pretty robust too and will be able to take its share of knocks when in use or when being transported in your photography kit bag. That said, we would always recommend that you try to ensure your gimbal is in a hard case during transit just to ensure it is safe and secure.
Our Verdict
The DJI Ronin S is just an excellent bit of kit and it is hard to find a flaw with it. DJI have done an excellent job of designing it and putting it together to ensure that the end-user gets one of the best gimbals possible for the lowest possible price. We have no doubt that adding the Ronin S to your collection of Canon 80d camera accessories will be a great investment. The image stabilization that the gimbal is able to provide you will do a great job of improving the video image quality that you can capture and help to keep your clients happy with your work.
It is easy to see why the Ronin S has the excellent reputation it has and why it is one of the dominant gimbals in the space at the time of writing. If you have the budget available, we would highly recommend that you pick this up for your Canon 80d.
The Zhiyun Crane Plus
There is no denying that Zhiyun are one of the most established and well-known gimbal brands on the market right now with their only real competition being DJI for the top spot in each gimbal category. Although the Zhiyun Crane 3 is the latest DSLR gimbal offering from Zhiyun, we feel that it is just too expensive for what it offers when it comes to a camera as light as the 80d.The next gimbal that we will be covering for your Canon 80d is the Zhiyun Crane Plus that is actually primarily designed for use with the mirrorless camera weight class rather than the DSLR camera weight class. That said though, as your Canon 80d is only around the 1.5-pound mark, provided you are not using too many heavy accessories on the camera when recording, the Crane Plus can provide you with a great budget-friendly gimbal option for your camera.
The Crane Plus has an excellent reputation within the community that it earned extremely quickly after release onto the market and it has managed to maintain it all the way through to the time of writing and we see no signs of this changing any time soon.
Performance And Functionality
The Crane Plus is able to support a maximum load capacity of 5.5 pounds and although this can be a little tight for some of the heavier Canon 80d setups out there, chances are, if you are on a budget, you will be using a lighter rig anyway helping to bring the total payload down. That said, the Crane Plus offers some excellent image stabilization for your camera and can definitely help to improve the image quality that you are able to capture.
At the time of writing, it is also one of the latest gimbals from Zhiyun have released onto the market so it has all of their latest technology too. This includes a totally overhauled power system that can provide you with a massive 18 hours of battery life from a fully charged set of batteries. Like we said though, depending on the camera accessories that you are planning to mount to your Canon 80d during use, this will drop to around the 12-hour mark if you take up most of the gimbals load capacity.
The Crane Plus is essentially the new version of the Crane v2 and has received many upgrades to its features to ensure that the Zhiyun range remains a dominant force within the market place. This includes an overhauled balancing algorithm, modern gimbal motors, updated point of vide, night lapse, and motion memory modes as well as the best object tracking system on the market at the time of writing.
User Interface And Control System
Similar to the DJI gimbal above, Zhiyun has kept their control system for the Crane Plus pretty basic to ensure that anyone shopping for their very first gimbal stabilizer is able to operate the gimbal efficiently right out of the box. Zhiyun has compounded the knowledge and experience that they have build up over the years to ensure the system is as easy as possible to use and that you will be able to get the most out of it during use.
The Zhiyun Smartphone App
Unfortinatley, the Zhiyun smartphone app is a bit of a let down at the time of writing and has a few problems with it. Sometimes the app will just not pair with your gimbal at all and this is spread across the whole Zhiyun range, not just the Crane Plus. If you do manage to get the app to sync to your gimbal then you can have issues with functionality too.
Thankfully, people have been saying Zhiyun are totally overhauling the app soon so by the time you read this, let’s hope the new version of the app is live and that it has fixed these issues.
Build Quality And Design
As we mentioned, Zhiyun has called on all the knowledge and experience that they have managed to gain over the years from all of their hugely successful gimbals to ensure that the Crane Plus has the best design and build quality available. They have definatley hit the nail on the head and the Crane Plus has been put together very well and offers a very strong and robust build quality for the end-user.
Our Verdict
As this is not our primary gimbal recommendation for use with your Canon 80d, we have just brushed over some sections to save you time. If you would like to read more about the gimbal, we have a full Zhiyun Crane Plus review online that does a full deep dive into the gimbal and what it has to offer you.
That said if you are on a budget and you know that you will be using a pretty lightweight collection of camera accessories with your Canon 80d, the Crane Plus can be a great little gimbal for your DSLR. It offers some excellent image stabilization with some very popular gimbal modes that perform very well and we have no doubt that it will help to offer superior smooth image quality for your videos.
The Moza Air 2
Additionally, the Moza Air 3 is not available with new technology although it does have a lower maximum load capacity than the Air 2. That said, even though the Moza Air 2 is from an older generation of gimbals compared to the Ronin S and the Crane Plus, it still performs very well and maintains its well deserved reputation within the community to this day.The final gimbal that we will be covering on our list of recommended gimbals for your Canon 80d is the Moza Air 2. Like we mentioned back at the start of the article, we are only featuring the Air 2 due to its higher load capacity making it an ideal gimbal for your Canon 80d if you are planning to mount a large number of heavy accessories to it.
Due to this gimbal only being recommended for the heavier 80d setups we will be brushing over it due to both of the gimbals featured above being better overall choices in our opinion. We are doing this to try and save our readers time reading about a gimbal that is only recommended for specific circumstances that we doubt most of you will actually need.
Performance And Functionality
The Moza Air 2 is able to support a massive upper load capacity of 9 pounds meaning that this is the gimbal for you if you are wanting to keep your Canon 80d held in a camera cage during use or if you are planning to need a large number of heavy camera accessories. Even when using these super heavy Canon 80d setups, the Air 2 is still able to provide you with some excellent quality image stabilization without running into any issues.
On top of these, even when using large amounts of the gimbals payload capacity, you can expect between twelve and sixteen hours of battery life from a full charge of the Air 2. This should ensure that you can easily capture all the video footage that you need with the 3 axis gimbal between chances to charge it back up.
User Interface And Control System
The Air 2 actually has one of our favorite control systems on the market right now and it is very easy to use too. The joystick is very easy to use and is extremely responsive, the LCD panel on the gimbal is also very clear and easy to read in low light conditions ensuring that you are able to tweak the performance of the gimbal as required to ensure that you are getting exactly what you want out of it.
The Moza Smartphone App
The Moza smartphone app is also pretty solid and has a decent track record of being reliable and providing you with any wireless remote control functionality that you may need. It has been tested with iOS and Android devices but any other type of phone operating system may be unsupported. The app is very easy to use and we have no doubt that you will be able to get the most out of it without wasting time learning what you are doing.
Build Quality And Design
Although the Air 2 is from the previous generation of Moza gimbals, both the design and build quality of the gimbal have stood the test of time and have held up well to what the latest generation of gimbals provide. The gimbal is very lightweight, especially when you take into account the battery life and load capacity that can offer you.
Our Verdict
As we said, if you know for a fact you will be using a heavy Canon 80d setup when recording, the Moza Air 2 is probably the gimbal of choice for you. That said, it does have older technology when compared to the other two gimbals on this list and you can tell this ever so slightly when it comes to the response times to movements and the technology of the various modes the gimbal supports.
Wrapping It Up
That brings us to the end of our article going over what we feel are the best gimbals for the Canon 80d. We hope that you have found it helpful and now see why we feel that the three featured gimbals are the best options available at the time of writing. We also have an ultimate guide to the best gimbals for DSLR cameras online where we compare five of the best gimbals on the market together that may be helpful for you.
