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Many cameras and smartphones use a mix of hardware-enabled OIS (Optical Picture Stabilization) and software-powered digital stabilization to easy out bumps and shakes in handheld footage. OIS makes use of a gyroscope to detect digicam motion, which it then counteracts by bodily shifting components within the lens or digicam sensor. Digital (or ‘enhanced’ stabilization) crops the shot barely after which transforms the picture to counteract shake frame-by-frame. Certainly, with a contemporary smartphone, such because the iPhone 16 Professional, you may produce tripod-steady pans and tilts when filming handheld, or seize easy monitoring pictures as if utilizing a digicam mounted on rails. So why hassle shopping for a gimbal, such because the FeiyuTech Scorp Mini 3 Professional?
Effectively, for starters, a gimbal lets you use the complete body of footage (with out it being cropped across the edges by digital stabilization). It may be a problem to carry a digicam degree whereas making a transfer, resulting in tilted horizons (which you then should straighten within the edit). The roll motor on a gimbal mechanically rotates to maintain the horizon degree always, so you may concentrate on making the appropriate digicam strikes and capturing an aesthetically pleasing composition.
What I actually like about utilizing gimbals is the way in which that they free you to make cinematic digicam strikes, equivalent to pans, tilts and monitoring pictures, in addition to extra artistic POV (Level of View) pictures, the place the digicam can tilt, pan and roll in a extra natural ‘floaty’ approach! Take a look at the video within the Efficiency part beneath to see how the Scorp Mini 3 Professional will help you unleash your internal Kubrick!
The Scorp Mini 3 Professional is designed to hold smartphones, motion cameras, and mirrorless cameras as much as a payload (digicam and lens mixture) of 2kg (4.4lbs). In case you have a very heavy DSLR payload, then take a look at our heavy-lifting gimbal shopping for information. Alternatively, we even have a shopping for information devoted to smartphone gimbals.
FeiyuTech Scorp Mini 3 Professional Package: Specs
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Supplies |
Artificial macromolecular resin, aluminum alloy |
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Rotatable Vary |
Tilt 313° (with limitation); Roll 315° (with limitation); Pan 360° (limitless) |
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Display |
1.3-inch OLED touchscreen |
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Max Payload |
About 2kg / 4.4lbs (nicely balanced) |
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Shutter Connection |
Mirrorless / Compact Digital camera – Cable and Bluetooth; Smartphone – Bluetooth; Motion digicam – Bluetooth |
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AI Monitoring |
Constructed-in AI monitoring module 4.0 with 15% Wider Monitoring View; 0.003s Response Time; approximate monitoring distance as much as 18 meters |
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Battery Capability |
4500mAh (approx 14 hours) |
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Weight |
1kg (2.2lbs) |
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App |
Feiyu SCORP |
FeiyuTech Scorp Mini 3 Professional Package: Worth
The official retail value for the FeiyuTech Scorp Mini 3 Professional Package that I examined for this evaluate is US$299. The Package model comprises extras equivalent to a padded carry case, an LED to mount on the gimbal, and an extension pole for capturing higher-angle views when performing strikes equivalent to a low-to-high-angle crane shot. Nevertheless, the extras shipped with the Package model aren’t important, so it can save you $30 by buying the usual Scorp Mini 3 Professional for US$269.
The Scorp Mini 3 Professional prices US$70 greater than the older Scorp Mini 2, however I feel that the additional price is nicely value it. The newer mannequin encompasses a vary of upgrades, equivalent to the power to hold a heavier payload (4.4lbs on the Scorp Mini 3 Professional versus a punier 2.7lbs on the Scorp Mini 2). The newer mannequin’s model 4.0 AI monitoring module is simpler than the tracker on the Mini 3, too – see the Design and Dealing with part beneath for extra data on that helpful characteristic.
When you’re on a finances and are primarily a smartphone person, then the older Scorp Mini 2 is value contemplating. It has the same-sized 1.3-inch OLED touchscreen discovered on the Mini 3, although a barely shorter battery runtime of 10 hours (in comparison with the Mini 3’s 14 hours). For alternate options to the Scorp Mini 3 Professional, take a look at my Alternate options part close to the underside of this evaluate.
FeiyuTech Scorp Mini 3 Professional Package: Design & Dealing with
Let’s begin by evaluating the FeiyuTech Scorp Mini 3 Professional with its predecessor, the Scorp Mini 2. The newer mannequin can carry a heavier payload of as much as 4.4lbs in comparison with the two.7lbs of the Mini 2, which ought to make the Scorp Mini 3 Professional extra engaging to mirrorless digicam customers in addition to smartphone filmmakers. The Scorp Mini 3 Professional ought to carry out for longer, too, with a claimed runtime of 14 hours (in comparison with 10 on the Mini 2). I carried out two take a look at shoots with the Scorp Mini 3 Professional, certainly one of which spanned a day-long occasion, and there was by no means any subject with it working out of juice!
You management each Scorp Mini fashions with an identically sized 1.3-inch OLED touchscreen. This lets you swipe and faucet to summon a spread of taking pictures modes (equivalent to Pan/Comply with), or make the gimbal carry out an auto-tune to make sure that the pan, tilt, and roll axes are completely balanced together with your digicam.
Each Scorp Minis have a built-in AI sensor that causes the gimbal to pan and tilt to comply with your each transfer. Nevertheless, the newer Scorp Mini 3 Professional has the upgraded 4.0 AI sensor (in comparison with the Scorp Mini 2’s model 2.0). The model 4.0 sensor can carry on monitoring you as much as a distance of 18 metres, whereas the model 2.0 sensor solely has a spread of 8 metres. The Scorp Mini 3’s AI sensor additionally has a monitoring vary that’s 15% wider than the Scorp Mini 2’s tracker. One actually helpful design characteristic that has been added to the Scorp Mini 3 Professional is a group of standing lights that show you how to extra clearly see what mode you’re taking pictures in, in addition to exhibiting Bluetooth and battery standing. Good contact!
The Scorp Mini 3 Professional is a barely heftier little bit of equipment than the Scorp Mini 2. While you take it out of the field, it feels satisfyingly strong and heavy, courtesy of its artificial macromolecular resin and aluminum alloy construct. The Scorp Mini 3 weighs in at 1kg (2 lbs), which is a bit of heavier than the 852g (1.9lbs) of its predecessor. Nevertheless, as soon as the digicam is mounted on the gimbal and also you maintain it with two arms – one grabbing the grip and the opposite supporting the load through the underslung deal with – then it’s nearly easy to maneuver the gimbal-mounted digicam via a spread of strikes. Certainly, with my iPhone 16 Plus connected to the Scorp Mini 3 Professional, I used to be in a position to comfortably cling the entire rig from one finger through the underslung deal with.
The hook-shaped underslung deal with is a good design characteristic because it lets you carry out actually low-angle monitoring pictures or crane up from a low to excessive angle. It additionally has a joystick in-built and a touch-sensitive OLED display screen to regulate numerous modes and presets. Not like the underslung deal with on the Scorp Mini 2, the newer mannequin’s deal with could be utterly indifferent. This lets you use the joystick to remotely pan and tilt the gimbal-mounted digicam from a distance when it’s standing on its mini-tripod. That is one other modern design enchancment for the Scorp Mini 3 Professional, although admittedly, I didn’t encounter a state of affairs the place I wanted to manage the gimbal remotely throughout my testing of it.
FeiyuTech Scorp Mini 3 Professional Package: Efficiency
I began my Scorp Mini 3 Professional take a look at at certainly one of my favourite haunts – the Barbican Centre in London. Right here I recorded the intro to my video evaluate: by popping the Scorp Mini 3 Professional onto its mini tripod, I may discuss to digicam from a distance.
The gimbal ships with a common smartphone mount that slides into the primary gadget through a quick-release mount. I used to be intrigued and happy to see that the smartphone mount had a built-in fan that’s powered if you plug it into the gimbal through the mount’s USB-C cable. When taking pictures on my iPhone 16 Professional on earlier events, it has sometimes overheated and quickly stopped working, so the smartphone mount’s built-in fan may save the day, particularly in a heatwave! To report my voice clearly from a distance, I plugged in a receiver from the Boya Mini Package into my iPhone. The receiver is so small and light-weight that it didn’t trigger any steadiness issues when the iPhone was mounted on the Scorp Mini 3 Professional.
After making an OK hand gesture to the gimbal, the Scorp Mini 3 Professional was in a position to pan and tilt to comply with my each transfer, courtesy of its built-in AI tracker. This gave me the liberty to stroll and discuss whereas the gimbal acted as a digicam operator, shifting the digicam in a easy and natural approach, although the AI sensor did generally tend to place my face within the centre of the body, after I would have most well-liked to have much less house above my head. I attempted manually tweaking the angle of the gimbal with the joystick, however this composition was overridden by the AI tracker. I’ve since discovered that you would be able to practice the AI-sensor to just accept a re-framed comparability by making a ‘Double-L’ gesture, although I didn’t know this on my shoot.
To make some cinematic strikes with the Scorp Mini 3 Professional, I met up with an everyday mannequin I work with, Maddy, at Canary Wharf in London. I used to be a bit nervous about taking pictures in Canary Wharf as a result of, not like the Barbican Centre, it isn’t a public location, so I used to be extra more likely to be ‘moved on’ by safety personnel. Safety guys are often ‘triggered’ by seeing bigger mirrorless or DSLR cameras – particularly on a tripod or stabilizer – so I made a decision to mount my more-discrete iPhone 16 Plus on the Scorp Mini 3 Professional.
My first shot concerned Maddy strolling backwards via the crowds of commuters. I deliberate to reverse the footage in order that she could be strolling forwards whereas the world walked backwards, like within the film Tenet! I set the Scorp Mini Professional to PTF (Pan, Tilt, Comply with) mode in order that it will simply tilt as much as a skyscraper on the finish of the shot. When the footage was revised we began on the skyscraper, then tilted right down to stroll backwards whereas Maddy walked in the direction of the digicam. Take a look at the video to see the shot.
I carried out quite a lot of traditional digicam strikes whereas filming Maddy in a spread of areas. These included sideways monitoring pictures, dollying forwards or backwards, and dramatic cranes from low to excessive angles. In addition to PTF, I attempted out numerous modes equivalent to POV. This causes the digicam to roll in addition to tilt and pan, so it captures an efficient Level of View clip. You may change modes by tapping and swiping on the sling deal with’s OLED display screen, however I discovered it faster and simpler to faucet the bodily mode button. Little icons on the physique of the gimbal lit as much as point out which mode was at present chosen. I additionally discovered the little joystick very helpful for fine-tuning composition, particularly after I was taking pictures very-low-angle pictures of Maddy strolling below an enormous metal crane.
I’ve typically seen, when filming with an iPhone mounted on a gimbal, that the little horizon degree indicator within the Digital camera app is barely tilted. This may be annoying, as I do know that I’ll should rotate the clip barely in Closing Lower Professional to straighten the horizon. The Scorp Mini 3 Professional has a useful management wheel that you would be able to program to fine-tune the lean, roll or pan axes. I set the wheel to manage roll through the touchscreen menu, so I used to be then simply in a position to hold the horizon degree. You may also management a variety of gimbal properties through the companion Feiyu Scorp smartphone app, equivalent to altering modes or fine-tuning steadiness. You may even remotely management the pan and tilt axes by panning and tilting the smartphone!
After taking pictures Maddy in London, I took the Scorp Mini 3 Professional to movie a traditional automotive occasion in Scotland. The placement was very crowded, and I seen one videographer struggling to lug a big tripod and chunky digicam round within the baking warmth. By utilizing my iPhone mounted on the Scorp Mini 3 Professional I used to be in a position to transfer across the location with out getting in the way in which (or breaking right into a sweat!). Take a look at this evaluate’s supporting video to see my gimbal-assisted cinematic footage of Maddy and my documentary-style footage of the automotive occasion. I’m certain that you simply’ll be impressed with its efficiency!
FeiyuTech Scorp Mini 3 Professional Package: Verdict
I liked utilizing the Scorp Mini 3 Professional. It enabled me to carry out a spread of cinematic digicam strikes effortlessly, equivalent to pans, tilts, rolls, tracks, and cranes with my iPhone Professional Max. This freedom of motion impressed me to get artistic on location and seize a group of clips that I may edit collectively to inform a narrative in a cinematic approach. My mannequin, Maddy, additionally loved contributing concepts for composition and digicam strikes. I discovered that having the liberty to make a spread of easy digicam strikes was a springboard to artistic experimentation.
The Scorp Mini 3 Professional was additionally helpful for capturing extra typical videography, equivalent to recording ‘speaking head’ interviews. By not being constrained by a chunky tripod, I may add refined digicam strikes to make typical interviews look extra attention-grabbing. Because of its mini tripod and AI-tracker, the Scorp Mini 3 Professional also can act as an impartial digicam operator, which is nice in the event you prefer to work alone when taking pictures intros to your social media channel. Some gimbals generally is a wrestle to steadiness however the Scorp Mini 3 Professional was up and working in seconds, and there was no trace of judder or shake at any time throughout my a number of take a look at shoots.
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Options ★★★★★ |
The upgraded model 4.0 AI tracker has a 15% wider monitoring view than the earlier Scorp Mini and may hold monitor of you as much as 18m away. |
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Design ★★★★★ |
The OLED display screen lets you take management through faucets and swipes, or you need to use bodily buttons to vary modes and fine-tune the roll, tilt and pan axes. |
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Efficiency ★★★★★ |
The Scorp Mini 3 Professional enabled me to ‘float’ my iPhone 16 Max via a variety of cinematic strikes with none shake or judder. |
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Worth ★★★★★ |
The Scorp Mini 3 Professional prices about the identical as the superb Hohem iSteady M7, however its extra strong construct provides it the sting. |
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