Zhiyun Crane 3 vs DJI Ronin S - Best Gimbal in 2019??

What's up everybody my name is Alex Cheung and today we are talking about one of the most popular gimbal comparisons of 2019 and that is the Zhiyun Crane 3 versus the DJI Ronin S. When it comes to these two gimbals there are a lot of different factors that distinguish them from each other and they each have their own strengths and weaknesses and today we're going to see which one is the right one for you. So a couple of fun facts before we begin the name Zhiyun means intelligent cloud in Chinese and it's like the camera is sitting on a cloud and it's moving super smoothly and super smartly and the DJ in DJI stands for Da Jiang which means big land or big earth because when DJI first started they made drones and it meant that their drones could see and fly across every part of this big earth. So there you go just a little fun fact about each company's name. Now just as a disclaimer I am a Zhiyun ambassador and they were kind enough to send me out a Crane 3 to test out but that has absolutely nothing to do with this review. I make these videos to help you guys decide on which gimbal you should get and it would be a little unfair if I had a bias towards one or the other. So with that out of the way let's get into it. Number one design. Now this is probably the most important part of what separates these two gimbals and it really bleeds into the other parts of the video. So the DJI Ronin S is the more traditional gimbal you hold it with two hands at the bottom there is a battery grip that doubles as a handle and the tripod feet at the bottom which also can collapse into part of the handle. And with the Crane 3 you can already tell it's a really really new design it's got this handle in the back right here and the tripod feet at the bottom. It's a smaller grip at the bottom but it sacrifices that to give you a new handle so that it's easier to get low angle shots using their underslung mode by simply lowering down the gimbal. On the Ronin S the only way to do it is to flip it upside down and it's not very convenient or very intuitive to use either. Some people will argue that you can get a wooden handle from SmallRig that you can clamp onto the Ronin S and that will do basically same thing as the Crane 3. However that wooden handle is a dead handle meaning that there are no controls on that handle whereas on the Crane 3 they've built in a lot of features into the handle itself. Another difference in design on the Crane 3 is the locking mechanism for the axes. By simply flipping a switch you have a much easier time locking down each arm as you're balancing it or when you're transporting it you can close everything down like I have right now. On the Ronin S there's nothing like that and while it's not too big of a deal when it comes to balancing the gimbal it does become a huge problem when you're trying to travel with it or transport it around. A lot of times the arms are just flinging around when you're moving with it and it can become dangerous as it can hit things or people and by hitting something you can accidentally ruin the or the arms itself or even your camera if your camera is still mounted on the gimbal. There's a velcro strap that they give you that you can use to tie down the gimbal but it's not that convenient to use it's kind of slow and you have to kind of figure out what's the best way to sort of wrap the velcro tie around the gimbal. On both of these gimbals there is a dedicated focus puller with the one on the Crane 3 being a little bit bigger than the one on the Ronin S and the one on the Crane 3 glows in the dark which you know cool. But the Crane 3 can also support a zoom controller and there's a dedicated button on the back of the handle which allows you to zoom in and out of your lenses. Both of these gimbals have a normal joystick and not like the button joystick that you find on the Crane 2 or even the newer Weevil Lab. The base plate of the Crane 3 is worth mentioning as well and while it's not as long as the Ronin S there is an additional lens support system that you can extend or collapse depending on how big your lenses are. And while it's not really necessary to have one it does give it a little bit more security when you have your camera on the gimbal. One last thing to mention is that the Crane 3 has two quarter inch rosette mounts one at the front right here and one at the back near the handle. And that gives you a couple more mounting options when it comes to the Crane 3 versus the Ronin S where you have to buy another accessory from SmallRig that goes around the neck of the Ronin S and that's the only way that you can add other accessories on top of it. Number two, stability. Now this is something that obviously a lot of people are going to care about and you don't want to buy a new gimbal and have it produce a lot of shaky footage when you're running around with it or even just lightly using it. And that all comes down to motor strength and thankfully both these gimbals have really really strong motors. However I would give the Crane 3 just a slight edge because of the new design. You're now holding this gimbal with two points of contact one in the back and one at the bottom instead of just one point of contact with both hands at the bottom of the Ronin S. And having multiple points of contact will naturally give you smoother footage on the gimbal. The payload amount that they both support is very similar with the Ronin S at 7 pounds and the Crane 3 at 10 pounds. There's so many different camera and lens combinations that you can mount on both of these gimbals and they'll both produce a very smooth footage. Both of these gimbals have some sort of extreme mode where it sends the motors into overdrive and you are able to catch like action shots really fast. It makes the arms and motors very fast and very fluid. On the Ronin S it's called sport mode and all you need to do is hold down the M button as you move. And then on the Crane 3 it's called phone go mode and you hold down the go button as you move. Number three, battery life. Probably the biggest difference that separates these two gimbals besides the obvious design change is the battery life. On the Ronin S you can get up to 12 hours of battery life while on the Crane 3 you're only able to get seven hours of battery. Now this might be a problem for documentary shooters or people who are shooting for longer periods of time like on weddings. I was recently on a wedding not too long ago and I was using the Crane 3. We were scheduled to be there for nine hours and I was using it for pretty much the whole day until the end of the night where it ran out of battery and I still had about 90 minutes of stuff to shoot. Especially when you don't have time to recharge your batteries make sure you have a second set of spare batteries for the Crane 3 when you're on longer shoots. Now obviously if you're not shooting for a very long time in one day then you can ignore everything that I just said. Number four, portability. Being able to break down the gimbal to a small size and pack it up really quickly is a huge plus for people who are traveling with their gear. The Ronin S can be broken down into three easily manageable pieces with the tripod feet and the battery grip and then the rest of the body itself. However on the Crane 3 it's not that easy. You have this entire huge body that can't be broken down into smaller pieces and then you have the tripod feet and that's it. Even with something like a Lowepro backpack I can't fit this body neatly inside it so that means I usually have to carry my case as I'm traveling which you know sometimes can be a huge hassle. But one of the great things about the Crane 3 like I mentioned before is the fact that it can lock down its axes. When you're taking it out or putting it back into your backpack or the case nothing is moving around and you're able to neatly carry the gimbal if you're walking around. Number five, ease of use. To me this is a really important part of the user experience of a gimbal. How easy is it to use, how fast can you set it up, does it take a long time to learn, and etc. Now on the Ronin S you have the joystick, you have the mode button, a record button, and then you have a trigger up front, the follow focus. But that's pretty much it, there's no LCD screen, no other recording functions, and it can't really talk to the camera other than the record button on the front. But on the Crane 3 you get so much more and you can access pretty much everything through the handle. So on the side of the gimbal you have these three buttons, the first two allow you to switch gimbal modes, the reset button on the third one is the one that allows you to reset the gimbal to its original place, and then on the front you have the OLED display, the record button right here on the side, there are three little buttons that allow you to change the shutter speed, the aperture, and the ISO of the camera. And then you have a little control interface right here that allows you to access different parameters in the gimbal itself, you can even change the motor strength of the gimbal, you can change a lot of other options inside the gimbal. And this is the go button that allows you to access the phone go mode, and then on the front of the gimbal you have the dedicated zoom control button right here, and then you have another dial that you can use to change the camera settings. There are so many more physical features on the Crane 3 versus the Ronin-S. However, where the Ronin-S really beats the Crane 3 in terms of ease of use is the app. The DJI app detects and connects to the Ronin-S on the first try without having you to try it over and over and over again like on the ZY Play app. There's features in the DJI app such as autotune and balance test which adds another layer of awesomeness to the whole overall gimbal experience. The ZY Play app is super clunky to use, especially on Android phones, and it's kind of confusing when it comes to adjusting the parameters of the gimbal on the app itself. Number six, camera compatibility. Both of these gimbals support a wide range of cameras from Canon, Panasonic, Sony, Nikon, and even Blackmagic on the Crane 3. For a full list of which cameras and lenses each gimbal supports, make sure to head down to the links down in the description below. Number seven, price. Now I can go on and on and on about what specs each gimbal has, but at the end of the day, everyone looks at the price tag and their bank account to see which gimbal they can afford. With the Ronin-S coming in at $500 and the Crane 3 coming in at $900, there's definitely a huge price difference. After seeing that price tag, a lot of people might say, forget it, I'm just going to go with the Ronin-S since it's a lot cheaper, it's one I can afford, I'm not going to even think about the Crane 3, which, you know, is totally fine and I totally understand. The Crane 3 is one of the most expensive single-handed gimbals on the market right now and it's up to you to figure out whether or not the features on the Crane 3 justify you spending an extra $400. However, keep in mind that there are a lot of accessories for the Ronin-S that allow you to rig it out to attach extra monitors, a microphone, other handles, and stuff like that. But as you buy those accessories, the price point of the Ronin-S gets closer and closer towards the Crane 3, which already has a lot of these features built right in. Number 8. Conclusion. Which gimbal is the right one for you? They both perform pretty similar, but with the Crane 3 being a little bit newer, it definitely has an edge over the Ronin-S. If we're purely basing it off of price alone, then of course the Ronin-S will have the Crane 3 beat anytime, anywhere. However, there's a lot of functionality features on the Crane 3 that the Ronin-S doesn't have and that might be super appealing towards some people. Once you rig up the Crane 3 properly, you literally don't need to touch the camera when you need to change the shutter speed, the ISO, the aperture, pull focus, zoom in and out. There's a lot of things on the Crane 3 that allows you to have an easier time when you're shooting. However, the Ronin-S is also a very capable gimbal. It's got a longer battery life, it's got very strong motors that can hold up to 7 pounds, and it's got the traditional design that most people are used to by now. Whereas on the Crane 3, you've got a little bit of a learning curve when it comes to how you hold the gimbal, how you position it, how you actually move around with it. But with the Ronin-S, it's a lot more familiar. Ultimately, whether you get the Ronin-S or the Crane 3 depends on what you need out of a gimbal, what you're shooting, and what your budget is. So that's it guys, I hope I helped you make a decision between these two. Thanks for sticking around to the end, and if you have more questions, leave them down in the comment section down below. If you like this video, please hit that like button, make sure to subscribe, turn on the bell to get notified of every video that I post. I will be making more videos on the Crane 3, the Ronin-S gimbal videos, other filmmaking tutorials, so make sure you're up to date. My name is Alex Chung, and I'll see you later. Bye!