The Best Gimbal For Canon T5i Cameras!

As the Canon T5i is a very popular entry-level DSLR camera body that has proven to be a hit within the community and has a large customer base, we are always seeing people reaching out with various questions such as what the best gimbal for Canon T5i cameras is. Due to this, we have decided to focus this article on what we feel is the best gimbal for the T5i to try and help as many of our readers who are thinking of adding a gimbal to their camera accessories as possible.

Now, as the T5i camera body comes in at just over one pound of payload weight, you actually have a large number of options available to you with regards to handheld gimbals. Now, at the time of writing, the Zhiyun Weebill S has just been released onto the market and it has quickly established itself as the dominant gimbal stabilizer for mirrorless and lightweight DSLR cameras.

It has all of the latest technology and offers the absolute best performance possible with outstanding image stabilization to ensure that you are capturing the best footage possible when recording. On the flip side of this though, being a brand new gimbal that has literally been available for a matter of weeks at the time of writing, it also has the price tag to match.

As the Canon T5i is an entry-level DSLR camera, we know many of our readers may be on a tighter budget when it comes to picking up a gimbal for their rig. Due to this, we feel that the Zhiyun Crane Plus is probably the best budget gimbal for the T5i on the market right now. It has been available for a few years, has an excellent reputation, and has had a number of price reductions over the years as newer variations of it have been released.

We feel that realistically, these two gimbals are going to be your best options depending on your circumstances. If you are on a tighter budget then go with the Crane Plus but if you are doing paid videography gigs with clients then the Weebill S is the way to go. Due to this, we will be focusing on the Weebill S for the rest of this article but if you are wanting to know more about the Crane Plus, we have our own dedicated review of the gimbal online and there are also a number of independent reviews available that you can read too.

Performance And Functionality

As you would expect from Zhiyun the performance and functionality of the Weebill S are excellent and have improved on the Weebill Lab in every way helping to ensure their dominance in the mirrorless and lightweight DSLR camera weight class. Over the last ten years or so, Zhiyun have just gone from strength to strength and pretty much held onto the top spot constantly with the only real competition coming from the DJI Ronin SC and more recently the Moza Aircross 2.

The Weebill S also has one of the largest maximum load capacities available of all gimbal stabilizers in its weight class coming in at 6.61 pounds of payload support. When you factor in the tiny size and lightweight of the gimbal, this is probably the best gimbal weight to supported weight ratio to date by a long shot too. This massive 6.61-pound load capacity means that it is easily able to support the 1.28-pound weight of your Canon T5i as well as a large number of heavy camera accessories too.

On top of this, the massive load capacity also ensures that if you do choose to upgrade your DSLR to a mid-level or professional level camera in the future that is heavier, there is a very good chance that the Weebill S will also be able to support it too. This means that you are able to upgrade your camera in the future without having to shell out and upgrade your gimbal too.

Zhiyun has also managed to make a few nice upgrades to the battery in the Weebill S over the one in the Weebill Lab too. The maximum battery life has been updated from ten hours on the Weebill Lab to fourteen hours on the Weebill S. We are confident that fourteen hours will be enough for any of our readers who own the Canon T5i to capture all the footage they need before they get a chance to recharge their gimbal but there are ways to extend this even further.

Many videographers and vloggers working in niches like travel where they may not have access to a power outlet for days at a time have started to add a high power, high output USB power bank to their collection of T5i camera accessories. Provided the output is high enough, you are able to use this to top up the juice in your camera, gimbal, and any other devices while you are out and about from a regular wall based power socket.

That said though, we would imagine that the fourteen hours of battery life will be plenty for most of our readers anyway. When the battery on the Weebill S is empty, Zhiyun have added their rapid charge technology to the gimbal as standard and allows you to recharge it back to full in just over three hours.

The overview video of the Zhiyun Weebill S above offers a great insight into the potential of the Weebill S as well as shows off some great sample video footage too. As you can see, the levels of image stabilization provided by the 3 axis gimbal head are absolutely outstanding and it is easy to see why it is the dominant gimbal in its space.

The rapid, butter-smooth image stabilization is achieved via a three-step process involving the next generation Zhiyun gimbal sensors and gimbal motors as well as their industry-leading balancing algorithm. The sensors are able to pick up even the slightest movement in the gimbal head before the gimbal processors that information via its balancing algorithm. The high torque gimbal motors then rapidly make the correct counter-movement of the gimbal head to ensure that your Canon T5i is kept level while mounted.

The whole process is so seamless and rapid that it happens at lightning speed. Even just a few years back, the leading gimbals like the Zhiyun Crane v2 had a few issues with movement lag. Thankfully, brands like Zhiyun, DJI, and Moza are set on being the best in the gimbal space and working hard to push their products forward. This results in better and better products for videographers and vloggers for the most competitive prices possible.

The Weebill S also supports all of the same gimbal modes that the Weebill Lab does with a few updates to its point of view, manual, and vortex modes too. Although DJI used to be close to the point of view mode that Zhiyun offers, the updates blow them out of the water and ensure you are able to capture some natural-looking image stabilization from Weebill S even though older gimbals can have that robotic look to their footage.

It really is easy to see why the gimbal has become so popular within both the videography and vlogging spaces in such a short amount of time. On top of this, a number of glowing reviews have been posted by third-party owners of the Weebill S showing how highly the community thinks of it. Moza has just released their Aircross 2 to try challenge Zhiyun but we feel that the Weebill S pushed out ahead of it and if the DJI response is anything like the overpriced DJI Ronin SC then we feel that Zhiyun will keep their top spot for the foreseeable future.

User Interface And Control System

Zhiyun has been improving on the standard control interface for the handheld gimbal for almost a decade now with many competing brands essentially using variants of what Zhiyun has developed. The image above shows the interface for the Weebill S with the optional smartphone mount attached and depending on what you are planning on using your gimbal and Canon T5i for, the smartphone mount can be very valuable. The majority of Weebill S bundles come with the smartphone mount included as standard and to our knowledge, the only packs without it at the time of writing is the bare bones gimbal only package.

Now, as we mentioned earlier, the Canon T5i is an entry-level DSLR camera meaning many people who own the T5i may never have owned or even used a gimbal previously. Thankfully, the Zhiyun control system for their gimbals is very easy to learn and we would imagine most people can pick up the basics within minutes.

This means that if you are an entry-level gimbal user you don’t have to waste time working out how to actually use your gimbal and can quickly pick up the basic stuff. You are then free to learn the rest as you use the gimbal or in your free time. On the flip side of this though, if you are a more advanced gimbal user then the same system offers some great advanced features and gimbal customization options too.

The control interface on the Weebill S is based around the standard interface of using a joystick for the manual control of the gimbal head when needed, a few buttons to select the various options, and an LCD panel to display and relevant information. The system has been put together very well and the LCD panel is great for use in low light. The joystick is very responsive too offering you superior control of the gimbal head even in wet or cold conditions too.

We feel that Zhiyun has done a solid job with their control system and love how it is able to meet the needs of both entry-level and advanced level videographers. The Weebill S and the Moza Aircross 2 are way out ahead of the competing gimbals when it comes to their control systems and ease of use in our opinion leaving DJI, Evo, and Feiyutech some serious catching up to do.

Smartphone App

Now, until a few months back, the Zhiyun smartphone app had a bunch of issues making it a total pain to use but thankfully, Zhiyun totally overhauled it a while back fixing all of its issues. All of the syncing problems are gone and the bugs that used to cause the app and your gimbal to randomly disconnect have also been fixed. In addition to this, Zhiyun gave the app a makeover while updating it and its navigation menu is now much easier to use.

This makes the app a solid little free gimbal accessory that is definatley worth downloading to your smartphone. As you would expect, it does have some wireless remote control features that allow you to control the movement of your gimbal head from your phone but for both the Weebill S and Weebill Lab it also makes the intelligent object tracking system much easier to use.

Depending on what you are planning to do with your Canon T5i, you may use the intelligent object tracking technology on a regular basis or never use it at all. That said, if you are planning to use it, the Zhiyun tech is a little further ahead of the competition and it performs very well. If you do plan to use the tracker then the smartphone mount covered earlier in the article is well worth attaching to your gimbal handle as it makes it much easier to use.

In addition to this, the smartphone app also offers quick and easy access to most of your gimbal settings and we feel that this is an underrated feature of the app. If you are a professional videographer and know you are going to be tweaking your gimbal settings on a regular basis, being able to make changes on the fly within seconds via the app rather than minutes via the physical interface saves you a bunch of time.

Build Quality And Design

As we mentioned earlier in the article, Zhiyun has been one of the dominant gimbal brands for around a decade now and it really does show when it comes to the build quality of their latest gimbals. They have taken advantage of recent developments in plastic polymers and metal alloys to ensure that the Weebill S is as strong, robust, and lightweight as possible.

This coupled with the small size of the gimbal ensures that it is the perfect camera accessory for anyone who knows that they will be traveling via air on a regular basis. The small size means it takes up barely any luggage space when compared to something like the DJI Ronin S and its lightweight means you have plenty of luggage allowance too.

Zhiyun has also taken a bunch of constructive feedback onboard about the handles of their gimbals to ensure that the handle on the Weebill S is as comfortable as possible. So many people, even those who are experienced gimbal users often overlook the importance of a comfortable handle. When you factor in that you may have to hold the gimbal for hours at a time depending on what you are doing with your Canon T5i, a comfortable handle can be a godsend.

When it comes to the design of the Weebill S, it essentially follows the design of the Weebill Lab with the quick and easy hot-swappable handle. This ensures that you are able to go from traditional handheld gimbal mode to underslung gimbal mode within seconds. We love this innovation in design from Zhiyun and the native functionality means that you don’t have to purchase any additional third-party accessories either.

Our Verdict

That brings our article going over what we feel is the best gimbal for Canon T5i cameras to an end. Although the  Zhiyun Crane Plus is an excellent budget-friendly gimbal option, in our opinion, the Zhiyun Weebill S is the best option for optimal image quality. If you are doing professional-level work then the Weebill S is definatley the way to go with your Canon T5i.

If you are yet to make your mind up then there are also a number of independent reviews online that you can read that have been posted by third-party videographers and vloggers. Even just spending a few minutes skimming those reviews can provide you with a great insight into the performance of the gimbal and how it can help your work with your Canon T5i.