ZHIYUN Smooth 5 Combo [Official] 3 Axis Smartphone Stabilizer, Gimbal Phone for iPhone and Android, with Tripod, Bag, 2 300lm Light and Zoom for Vlog, Youtube and TikTok

Updated 11/4/2022.Very pleased with my new Smooth 5.I did a lot of research on Youtube before buying and I was deciding between a DJI Omni 4/5 or a DJI Pocket 2, the Fieyutek G6 Max, and the Zhiyun Smooth 5.Main priority was for it to work well with my Android Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus smartphone as my camera, although originally I was quite taken by the DJI Pocket 2, that was until I got my new phone and decided I couldn't afford yet another £300.I got a good deal with the Smooth 5 combo set here on Amazon for a limited time discount price of £177!You need to install the free Zhiyun "ZY CAMI" (and optionally "ZY StaCam") apps onto your phone.Cami provides BASIC operation of the phone camera by the various controls on the gimbal, control wheel for zoom, slowmo, timelapse, hyperlapse, vortex, (plus access to some gimbal settings like joystick & wheel controller settings and speed/sensitivity, firmware updates, etc) whereas StaCam provides control wheel for both zoom and focus, plus more Pro features and various other controls, settings and menu options.After installing ZY CAMI, and connecting via bluetooth to the gimbal, the CAMI app detected that the gimbal needed a firmware update which was fairly quick and straightforward. I read another review here by Mark Huntley (in January 2022) who said he experienced a number of problems, but I've not had any issues that he mentioned (balancing, weird motion, choppy recording) so maybe the firmware update has fixed the issues he mentioned? (Or else I've not used the gimbal/apps enough or similar settings to experience those issues yet).I will mention that while experimenting with different camera apps, if I used two different apps together and wasn't careful to fully exit them, that seemed to produce poor performance, e.g. used ZY Cami or StaCam, then switched to using McPro24fps, but StaCam was still running in background/sleep mode, so I needed to use the Close Apps option on the phone to ensure other apps are not eating cpu/memory - good practice really.You get a Zhiyun Prime 1 year membership card included for free which offers a number of online community and video publishing features and video creation templates (interesting/clever but a bit too gimicky for me). However you need to pay extra for a Prime+ subscription for some additional features in StaCam to function (eg professional colouring Look Up Tables - LUTs) which I felt I might use but not until a later date once I've got used to the gimbal and how to use it with my phone.I think iPhones probably have better support with this gimbal than Android but a lot of this is due to Android phone manufacturers limiting some combinations of modes/settings to ensure video is not compromised due to certain camera functions (such as large resolutions / high frame rates data transfer plus image stabilisation plus AUTO-focus/white balance/ISO/aperture, etc constantly making adjustments) all being very CPU-intensive which if too many are used all together at once could result in poor recordings (e.g. dropped frames, stuttering, and similar problems) which would create bad feedback and customer support problems. I'm getting a little too technical here though, and for most people the Zhiyun apps will provide good results.I investigated some third-party apps for recording with my S10 Plus in conjunction with the Smooth 5, e.g. OpenCamera (free), Filmic Pro (£17 plus extra cost for Log/LUT settings), ProTake (poor customer support), McPro24FPS (very good = Filmic Pro in capability but interface not as intuitive to use as Filmic).Update: Filmic Pro now integrates well with the Smooth 5 (from April 2022).I have bought McPro24FPS and its a very good app with a ton of features (and a lot of settings to get used to!!). However, while McPro24fps is not directly compatible with the Smooth 5 gimbal, it provides a kind of workaround where it accepts "simple" control commands from the gimbal (via bluetooth, and the "Volume Keys" setting, read the user guide for pro24 - in a nutshell if your phone can take pics/video using the volume keys then it uses this capability) so you can operate Recording control with the gimbals red record button, or Focus/Zoom (also using record button, unfortunately NOT using the wheel!). Trouble is - Pro24 can only use the record button on the gimbal for one purpose; Record Start/Stop OR Zoom OR Focus.To be fair this is simply McPro24fps trying to offer a way of working with incompatible/unknown gimbals, which is a good idea, but not really the fault of either Zhiyun or McPro24fps. There are so many Android phone models available that making an app compatible with all of them would be a very onerous task, and no doubt prohibitive R&D costs. (I will keep an eye on the update to Filmic Pro for compatibility with the Smooth 5 as this may provide full control using the Zoom/Focus wheel which would be fab).Update: April 2022 the zoom/focus wheel does operate in Filmic Pro on my S10Plus (although note the wheels' centre push button doesn't work the same way as in Cami/Stacam, where the button swaps the wheel action between zoom or focus, whereas in Filmic pressing the push button enables or disables wheel adjustments (so make sure it is set correctly then leave it alone!) - instead you have to swap between zoom/focus action by pressing the corresponding on-screen button in Filmic. It takes a little getting used to, but it does work for my S10).Also don't forget that some phone ULTRA-wide lenses simply don't need any focus control because they act like a pin-hole camera, i.e. they are fixed-focus so you just won't see the Filmic focus control arc appear. If the lens you wish to use is focusable then the focus controls should appear.Note in Filmic Pro the Smooth 5's "adjustment wheel" centre button (normally for turning the Fill Light accessory on/off) performs a different function of switching between 3 different exposure/focus modes for Auto or Manual, and if you have focus set to Auto, then of course the Smooth 5 focus wheel won't have any effect! Sensible really, but can be a little confusing until you've played around and got used to it all.If you want to use the FULL complement of features and buttons of the gimbal as designed by Zhiyun to operate your phone you've got to use either the ZY CAMI app for basic operation, or the ZY StaCam app for the Pro features (although Filmic Pro provides some well thought out additional features and options such as intuitive setting of focus/zoom pulls with speed settings, and selfie/front lens switching by means of the dedicated "Fn" button on the Smooth 5 which may be handy for vloggers to change easily between front scene filming and talking to camera footage).For my amateur videoing purposes I feel the Zhiyun apps will for the most part provide the modes and operation I want to use, but as a techy gadget freak I will admit that I've been seduced by the idea of recording "cinematic, movie-like or filmic" footage using apps like Filmic Pro or McPro24fps, though I'm not sure whether I will actually get round to doing this kind of thing. Update: I've now bought both Filmic Pro and McPro24fps!Probably the most important elements of using the Smooth 5 with any app is going to be able to press the Record start/stop button on the gimbal and the phone operates accordingly, and also the use of the really nice smooth action of the dedicated Zoom/Focus wheel on the gimbal. The various gimbal-modes are independent of your camera and switched using the gimbal Mode button.At the end of the day as a gimbal it works very nicely to steady your recordings. Of course you can setup and operate camera apps on your phone using just the touch-screen operation as you would without a gimbal, but its nice to use the full gimbal/phone integration and some pretty cool gimbal effects if your phone is compatible (with the Zhiyun apps, and/or 3rd-party apps which become compatible with the gimbal in time). Install the Android Filmic Pro Evaluator app from Google Play Store to help you decide if Filmic is compatible with your phone.There is also a ZY Remo app which allows you to (Direct Wifi) connect to ZY Cami on your phone using for example another device like a tablet to view and control your phone camera remotely. I didn't get very good response/control with this but it could have been my older S6 Edge phone acting as the remote control being too sluggish for decent wifi connection to my new S10 Plus? Filmic Pro has a similar "remote control" app available but I've not tried this yet.The Smooth 5 Is virtually silent, so phone microphone shouldn't pick up any gimbal motor noise.It has really nice quality build. Watch the video tutorials on the Zhiyun-tech.com website in the Consumers->Smooth 5 section as they provide really good reviews, beginner tutorial and other information by a couple of independent vloggers who also explain compatibility of the ZY-Cami and StaCam apps with phones.Depending on your phone battery, I recommend getting a short right-angle USB-C to USB-C lead to plug into the dedicated phone charging port on the gimbal. Video recording eats up phone battery, but the gimbal can provide supplementary power to enable longer recording sessions with your phone/camera;https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07H96FWY9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1On the RH side of the gimbal is a dedicated 1/4inch threaded mount hole for accessories, e.g. for a 1/4in to cold-shoe adapter to support a microphone that will plug into your phone/camera.Overall I think the Smooth 5 is a good piece of kit. As other people have said, why do you need two apps? And pity some features are not in the ZY Cami app (eg. focus wheel), and that you have to pay extra for the Prime+ additional features in StaCam (focus peaking, zebra patterns/false colour for exposure, highlight clipping, LUTs, [can download a small number of LUTs for free]). Ah, so that's why its broken out into two apps, to encourage you to pay more. But that's business!

This gimbal is perfect for my iPhone 13 Pro Max. It’s really well made and also feels very sturdy, I have no fears of my phone falling out from the gimbal. Set up is easy and I’m now looking forward to discovering how to use it to start filming. Customer service is excellent, I had a slight issue with the original order, not the fault of Zhiyun I must add, however Zhiyun offered me a couple of extras to compensate me for the inconvenience, top marks to Zhiyun customer services. I highly recommend this item.

As someone who loves capturing videos on my smartphone, I found the Zhiyun Smooth 5 to be a game-changer. The stabilization it offers is remarkable and has significantly improved the quality of my videos. Its compact size makes it easy to carry around, and the user-friendly controls allowed me to switch between shooting modes seamlessly. Integrating the app enhanced my creative options, although I did encounter occasional Bluetooth connectivity hiccups. The face tracking feature, while handy, wasn't always spot-on in capturing fast movements. Despite these minor downsides, the Smooth 5 has undeniably elevated my mobile videography experience.

This gimbal is perfect for my iPhone 15 Pro Max. It’s really well made and I have no fears of my phone falling out from the gimbal. Set up is easy and I’m now looking forward to discovering how to use it to start filming. Customer service is excellent, I highly recommend this gimbal, ease to use and very well made!

Despite the very high level of good reviews, this Smooth 5 Gimbal suffers from very similar issues to its smooth 4 predecessor. that didn't work in pano 3x3 or 180 either.Panoramas, notably 3x3, for which I primarily wanted to use it -if they do get stitched ( none on my first smooth 5, though on the second replacement, about 1 in 3) are appalling quality. Light/tonal variance and totally visible crude stitch lines are just examples.Despite correctly balancing and aligning, for my iPhone 12 Max Pro, using the built in alignment tool, when taking any pano, the camera droops badly off level ( yet aligns correctly for Follow mode, for example. ) The same occurs either in landscape or portrait.The menu item selection would not work with the selection wheel. Pushing menu, would give only the 'presets' or video. No wheel selection between menu items. The camera touch screen was needed to navigate. Awkward in the least with the camera in the gimbal. I caught an early review which pointed out Zhiyun were aware of some wheel selection problems. Well, its still a problem as per latest updates, 18/01/22Both these brand new gimbals, both updated for latest firmware and tried on iphones 12 & 13 max pros, failed with panos and were returned.Apart from that , it is incredibly complex and, if you have 'large paws' - like me, awkward to use. it is not small enough to be compact when folded and not large enough for comfortable use with large hands. I personally found the smooth 4, though still complex, somewhat easier to use physically.I cannot recommend the Smooth 5

Baught this gimbal a while ago and returned as it was not supporting my s21 ultra. Tried varies other gimbal and returned them all and baught zhiyun smooth 5 again. I must say I'm very impressed as it does support the phone very well just have to balance it right. It's the best for portrait or horizontal. Most importantly you can change the modes on the gimbal itself which I'm able to use it with the Samsung native app.