This pro-level gimbal unleashed my inner filmmaker with an invaluable feature

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The DJI RS4 Professional gimbal is offered now at Amazon for $1,099. It is also obtainable at B&H picture and the DJI retailer. 
• The RS4 Professional has a weight restrict able to dealing with even cumbersome cinema cameras, makes balancing the digicam a breeze, and achieves silky-smooth footage.
• The RS4 Professional would not have true pan lock, which makes it difficult to realize extra sophisticated pictures.

Years in the past, I purchased a DJI Ronin gimbal, and thought it could be gear I wanted to take my filming efforts to the following degree. Sadly, it suffered from a number of points, and wound up amassing mud. 

With an enormous undertaking on the horizon, nevertheless, I wanted a reliable gimbal that will truly work for me. I used to be hesitant to make one more buy, however I took a threat and sprang for the DJI RS4 Professional. 

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Wow, am I glad I did. The distinction between the Ronin and the RS4 Professional is evening and day. The RS4 Professional is not good (I will broaden on that in a bit), but it surely’s as shut as you will get with out spending tens of hundreds of {dollars}. For filmmakers and content material creators trying to get silky-smooth pictures and get critically artistic with their efforts, this gimbal is a must have.

Earlier than I get into my expertise, let’s discuss specs.

View at Amazon

DJI RS4 Professional gimbal tech specs

• As much as 10-pound weight capability
• OLED touchscreen with Auto Lock
• 2nd-Gen native vertical taking pictures
• Automated axis locks
• Helps wi-fi transmitter and LIDAR
• Battery: 1950 mAh at 15.4V for 13-hour operation time on full cost
• Joystick or Bluetooth Mode switching
• Teflon-coated axes
• Managed rotation velocity: Pan/tilt/roll 360 levels
• Mechanical vary: Pan 360-degree steady rotation, roll -95 levels to +240 levels, tilt -112 levels to +214 levels
• Working frequency: 2.400-2.4835 GHz
• Working temperature: -4 levels F to 113 levels F
• Dimensions: Folded: 271×283×75 mm (L×W×H, excluding digicam, grip, and the Prolonged Grip/Tripod)/Unfolded: 416×223×202 mm (L×W×H, top consists of grip and excludes the Prolonged Grip/Tripod)
• Connections: Bluetooth 5.1 and USB-C (charging port)
• App availability: Android (8.0 and above) and iOS (11.0 and above).
• Price: $1,099 on Amazon (for the combo that features the Focus Professional Motor and extra)

My expertise

The very first thing that impressed me was its steadiness. Of all of the gimbals I’ve ever used, the DJI RS4 Professional was the simplest to steadiness. Even with a payload that pushes the boundaries, I used to be in a position to get my ZCAM E2 F6 balanced in about two minutes. It truly is that a lot simpler. 

The balancing of the DJI RS4 Professional is very easy that I do not hesitate to modify lenses or configuration of my setup. With my older Ronin, I used to be all the time hesitant to make any swaps, merely due to the challenges posed by the balancing course of. What was as soon as a severe frustration has develop into a easy activity. 

Do notice that it’s completely essential that you simply get your gimbal correctly balanced, in any other case you threat damaging the motors. So, take the time to do it proper, and ensure to run the steadiness assessments and auto-tune (which might be initiated from both the gimbal itself or the app). 

As soon as I took care of the balancing, I got down to see how the RS4 Professional carried out within the area. It did not take me lengthy to lose any remnants of purchaser’s regret; this piece of apparatus actually is a game-changer. With little or no apply, I used to be in a position to get some critically {smooth} footage. 

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After further apply, I used to be even in a position to execute a profitable orbit shot. Getting pictures like that with no gimbal can be practically not possible, but it surely’s solely scratching the floor of what the RS4 Professional can will let you do. 

One factor to remember, nevertheless is that as a result of elevated payload help, you’ll be able to wind up with a very heavy gimbal. The RS4 Professional solely weighs .27 kilos, however while you connect a hefty digicam and lens, in addition to LiDAR (as I’ve), focus motors, batteries, and anything mandatory to your pictures, the burden can develop into very taxing. 

For example, after taking pictures two pictures with all of the previously-mentioned gear, my arms have been toast. I do have a vest and arm combo I can connect the gimbal to that makes it significantly simpler to hold and maneuver, however I wished this check to be gimbal solely. 

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With that in thoughts, perceive that your arms are going to undergo it should you load up the gear, and you will in all probability wish to spend money on a pair of aspect handles, such because the Neewer Twin Handgrip. Not solely will the handles preserve your arms from getting exhausted, however they’re going to additionally make it simpler to manage the gear. 

The caveat

All in all, the RS4 Professional is a masterful piece of know-how. However there may be one challenge I’ve with it, and that is pan locking. To realize the unbelievable orbit shot, you actually need to have the ability to lock the pan axis on the gimbal, and that is not precisely attainable with the RS4 Professional. 

Though it says it has a lock (by holding the set off), it would not really lock the pan axis in place, As a substitute, it retains the digicam pointed in the identical route, irrespective of the way you flip the gimbal. That does not actually assist with the orbit shot. 

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To realize the shot with the RS4 Professional, it’s important to focus in your topic and, as you begin strolling round them, slowly transfer the joystick in the other way. It is in all probability the toughest kind of shot I’ve ever achieved to this point, but it surely’s actually definitely worth the effort. In future firmware updates, DJI ought to contemplate including a real pan lock perform so pictures like that are not as difficult to drag off. 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

Even with that one caveat, the DJI RS4 Professional is an absolute should for anybody trying to up their filming sport and would not wish to spend upwards of $10K on gear. With a payload that may deal with even cinema cameras and vastly simplified balancing, this gimbal is difficult to beat. 

The $1,000 price ticket may dissuade some creators, however should you’re severe about enhancing your digicam work, this child will do the trick.