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Zhiyun Smooth Q3 Review: Can my friend figure this gimbal? // Best video accessory for your phone?
Is the Zhiyun Smooth Q3 the best accessory for your phone to get smooth and cinematic video? At only 89$ the Zhiyun Smooth Q3 is definetily a great gimbal that will allow you to step-up your mobile filmmaking game!
Thanks Gabrielle & Noboru!
➡ Noboru's Instagram https://geni.us/insta-noboru
➡ Gabrielle's Instagram https://geni.us/insta-gaby
🔗Buy the Zhiyun Smooth Q3 https://geni.us/zhiyun-smooth-q3
✨ WATCH NEXT ✨
- DJI Pocket 2 Review https://youtu.be/j35Xy3ibRxc
- DJI Pocket 2 vs your phone https://youtu.be/ufs2ywGasC8
- 10 truths about starting a YT channel https://youtu.be/ialdZd6sQLA
#zhiyun #phonegimbal #iphone
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📖 CHAPTERS 📖
00:00 - Introduction
00:19 - Demo B-Roll
01:12 - Why use a gimbal?
02:18 - Setup with Noboru
03:44 - Gimbal modes with Noboru
06:19 - Gimbal test
07:37 - Photos mode
08:37 - Built-in light
09:04 - AI follow
09:51 - Hyperlapse & time lapse
10:18 - Gestures, glamour effects, dolly-zoom, live, editor & more!
11:01 - Should you get this gimbal?
12:48 - Conclusion
🖼 SHOP FOR PRINTS 🖼
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📸 GEAR I USE ON YOUTUBE 📸
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- DJI Pocket 2 Creator Combo https://geni.us/dji-pocket-2-combo
- 128 gb MicroSD card https://geni.us/sandisk-extreme-128gb
- Canon 6D Mk https://geni.us/canon-6d-mkii
- Google Pixel 4a https://geni.us/google-pixel-4a
- Canon ZOOM LENS EF24-105mm F4L IS II USM https://geni.us/canon-lens-24-105
- Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 Lens https://geni.us/canon-lens-16-35
- Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L-IS II USM Lens https://geni.us/canon-lens-70-200
- VANGUARD VEO 2 265CB CARBON FIBER TRIPOD https://geni.us/vanguard-veo-265cb
- DJI MAVIC AIR https://geni.us/lba-dji-mavic-air
🌍 MY PERSONAL WEBSITE 🌍
- 0:00 Introduction
- 0:19 Demo B-Roll
- 1:12 Why use a gimbal?
- 2:18 Setup with Noboru
- 3:44 Gimbal modes with Noboru
- 6:19 Gimbal test
- 7:37 Photos mode
- 8:37 Built-in light
- 9:04 AI follow
- 9:51 Hyperlapse & time lapse
- 10:18 Gestures, glamour effects, dolly-zoom, live, editor & more!
- 11:01 Should you get this gimbal?
- 12:48 Conclusion
am i the only one that is kind of amazed that just five years ago you needed something like this glidecam to get some smooth snack footage but now all you need is your smartphone and a small gimbal like this saiyun smooth q3 let's start with some b-roll because that's the best way in my opinion to judge if a gimbal is worth it [Music] oh [Music] [Music] for those of you who are new to this channel i'm like ben mahalford a young photographer and filmmaker on a journey to become better at desired now let's talk about why phone gimbals like the zhiyun smooth q3 can be so useful if you're wondering why using a gimbal is so useful is that it allows to get much more stable and dynamic shots which is very important to get some synonym footage this works by removing all the jitter when you're turning around your hand or when you're moving your arms and then as you can see in the examples right now it's much more stable than simply using the camera inside of your hands another pretty great advantage that i realize when testing with nubuck is that if you want to get much more complex shots it allows you to get them in a much simpler way so for example if you want to get really close to the ground you can simply turn around the gimbal and it's going to turn around the camera then you can bring it back up and if you want to get like moving shots it's a lot easier to use the gimbal to get these types of shot and get a very smooth result in the end it still isn't a perfect solution because you still get some of that up and down motion while walking around with the gimbal inside of your hand and it's also limited to the video quality of your phone but i'm going to talk about more of these limitations inside of my next video and how to remember it when we compare this gimbal with the dji pocket 2 and talk about which one is the right choice for you if you're starting out and want to get some more professional looking videos now let's go meet my friend nobuhu to see if he can figure out how to set up the gimbal and how it actually works all right let's go um so this is my first time using an actual gimbal it's a little bit hard it's a little sturdy a little bit tight is that how it works i think i just try to have it like level yeah so this is level that seems to be good okay all right well i have to turn on the power does the power switch somewhere oh it's in the bottom back down on the table and just press it okay can i turn on is it working yeah there's like a green light on the oh look it moved yeah it's like upside down yeah so the first thing like moving around something to tell you because it's yeah the thing is that the lens is here so i see like the part of here like in the okay turn around [Music] okay i think it's pretty good yeah so i now i can press it for a bit longer than you expect now it's turned on oh good so if i want it sideways one two three there you go okay so if you can walk through the different modes so the first mode you have right here is a pf which is for pan follow okay so take it up so if you turn around like the handle here it's going to turn around the whole gimbal okay and if you just move the camera like up and down it keeps the camera like in the front here so i can like move like that and all that and like it will keep like okay yeah yeah the second mode l l it's for lock mode so can you guess what happens for that one i guess this doesn't move yeah yeah oh damn oh this is so oh yeah it keeps it this is crazy oh my god wow next mode f is for follow to bring it back to your like initial position double tap on the button here one two and this brings it back and now if you like turn it around it's going to follow what you're how you're turning around and if you bring it up down ah okay so this is like this i think this is the basic mode right it's like just to stabilize your shots basically yeah it really follows like what you're doing okay i see it's like more intuitive than the um the other two yeah okay definitely now the next one purev pov i think you know what it is yeah i think so [Music] can you explain what it's doing um i it's hard to tell like it's kind of similar to like the f what's the f ready follow follow yeah it's kind of similar to follow but yeah let me just check what's the difference okay here's the point of view it's literally like it follows your movement like really straight like follow it's like there's a lag between your movements and the uh the gimbal it's like you know like following it's like really following yeah but it's really like if you move it it's gonna move with you but it's gonna like kind of reduce the i think the biggest biggest difference is like if you like turn it around like turn it on sideways here yeah pov is gonna turn around with this but if you're unfollow it's gonna keep your camera yeah always stay on pov yeah okay and then i'm gonna do follow oh by the way if you click double click on mode it's going to go back exactly yeah that was one thing i was going to tell you so you understand the difference yeah yeah it doesn't oh yeah this is good click again on mode okay it's not flashing can you guess what's this mode so i'm gonna tell you play with the joystick oh what that's vertex mode so you can like turn it around while filming wow hello are you ready to go shoot some shots let's go [Music] yeah so i'm trying to like flip the um the gimbal so like i can film like this way the problem is that it doesn't want look look look at it like it's it's moving you know look it's it's like it's alive it's like no i don't want i don't i don't want to i don't want to move you know i don't want to change direction bring it back so we'll come back up like calibrate it okay try turning it this way this way does that work yeah okay so this works okay uh you have to be like okay there's like a specific way to turn it foreign hello [Music] designing smooth q3 also has a companion app that allows to unlock a lot of features including some photo modes selastic normal photos also allows to take some panoramas at 180 degrees 240 degrees and also has a mode where you can duplicate yourself inside of the image i was a little bit disappointed with all of these modes because the image quality just isn't great so i wouldn't use it for these modes but i would use it definitely as a selfie stick because you can simply take it around here and use your rear facing cameras that are always better than the ones that are front facing you can also use a joystick right here to arrange your shot and then use the trigger button here when it's connected using bluetooth to take your shot so you can really easily get some better images by using your back camera instead of using your front-facing camera when you want to take pictures of yourself or of other things another good advantage is that if you're taking pictures when it's a little bit darker by using a gimbal it's going to keep your camera even steadier so you get even better results in low light situation talking of low light there's a really neat feature on this gimbal and it's that it has a lamp at the top here so you can simply touch it it's going to open the lamp and you can even turn around the lamp it's a bit hard to do it one-handed and point it on each direction as you wish and get some fill lighting it's not the most powerful light but it's good enough if you're taking a selfie or filming some videos to get some light in front of you as quickly as possible and it's already built into the gimbal so it's a nice little addition to the gimbal one reason why you should definitely be using the zeitgemi app is for its ai follow function so by simply pressing the button right here once you're gonna track anything that is centered inside of the shot now you can create some very complex move by turning around the gimbal and the gimbal is gonna follow the object for you this is especially great if you're following someone or something like that and you want to make sure that they're always centered inside of the shot if tracking that spot is a little bit too small for you you can simply draw a rectangle around any object inside of the frame and then the gimbal is gonna start tracking it automatically for you afterwards that's how easy it is to track objects using this gimbal which is pretty neat to get some more complex shot without having to do a lot of the work of keeping limbo perfectly centered on that subject the zeitgem app also has some hyperlapse and timelapse mode but both of them were a little bit disappointed because the image quality wasn't the greatest and you don't have any advanced options or like a pro mode that allows you to customize the settings or get some jpeg or raw images for the time lapse that would allow to get much more professional results but i think that by keeping everything very simple it's a great option for people that are just starting out and don't want to be overwhelmed with a lot of options and just want to get the results as quickly as possible there's also a lot more useful features inside of the zeitgeist app for the zhiyun smooth q3 that are pretty useful so for example you have a gesture mode that allows you to start and stop recording without even having to touch your phone then there's another mode that allows you to get some glamour effects there's also a mode for certain dolly zoom which is a pretty trippy effect that i'm not going to show inside of this video finally there's also a mode for live videos we can even use the ai function we sought to follow you around when you're moving around which can be pretty useful if you're doing some live videos and finally you even have a built-in editor that allows you to get everything inside of one package and this is very useful if you're starting out because you don't have to install multiple apps to get all of these effects everything is already pretty much built inside of this app now the big question is should you get this gimbal at only eighty nine dollars it's really easy to recommend the zion's move to free because it allows you to get smoother images and better images for under a hundred dollars this is a great addition to your video filmmaking gear if you're using your phone as your primary device the zeitgeist has plenty of features inside of it that allow you to get more complex shots without having to understand how to set up the settings or anything like that plus is also a drawback for me because it doesn't have any pro mode that allows you to customize the setting and get the video you really want to get but there's an easy fix for that is installing another pro app to get some video but you're losing some of the functionalities like the follow mode the good news is that you still get some options like using the trigger via bluetooth to start and stop recording the inside of another app on your phone these video problems are not the fault of the gimbal the default of your phone but i would say the designs move to free really perform well and allow to get some more smoother shots once you understand how to use it now let's go see what nubu has to say after using it for the first time yeah so i felt like you know in the beginning that the plastic was kind of cheap and the controls like it was a bit unclear to me like know how many times you have to press the button etcetera and also like you know i was struggling to like put it upside down and all that but at the end like you know once i get hang of it it's kind of very easy to use it um and you know you can do super crazy shots only with this i don't think this is super like expensive either i think it's very um affordable so um it's definitely an option for like you know for new um people like you know who wants to film on the phone um while not spending too much on like you know expensive gear and all that so um i probably would buy it for my own purpose um so yeah i think it's a it's a very good product for uh for for anyone who wants to just start you know get into the game so i just realized i completely forgot to introduce my friend nobu a big thanks for helping me out in this video uh do you want to present yourself and is there anywhere people can find you uh yeah so you guys can like check me out on instagram i think the the account is gonna be in the description um also um i'm thinking of like starting like a youtube channel i do have some other projects i'm doing on the side but like you know starting my own youtube channels uh maybe like not like lyric with the gears and all that but like you know maybe like more in a food because i love i like cooking and all that so if you guys are interested please check it out and uh we very appreciate it if you enjoyed this video please let me know by hitting the like button below and also consider subscribing for more content on designing smooth to free photography and filmmaking in general see you in the next one bye [Music]
Video Links
- ➡ Noboru's Instagram
- ➡ Gabrielle's Instagram
- 🔗Buy the Zhiyun Smooth Q3
- DJI Pocket 2 Review
- DJI Pocket 2 vs your phone
- 10 truths about starting a YT channel
- Instagram: @loic.bellemare.alford ()
- TikTok
- My online store
- Affiliate link for Epidemic Sound
- https://kit.co/loic.bellemare.alford/youtube-gear
- DJI Pocket 2 Creator Combo
- 128 gb MicroSD card
- Canon 6D Mk
- Google Pixel 4a
- Canon ZOOM LENS EF24-105mm F4L IS II USM
- Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 Lens
- Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L-IS II USM Lens
- VANGUARD VEO 2 265CB CARBON FIBER TRIPOD
- DJI MAVIC AIR
- http://bit.ly/loicba
What is this video about?
The Zhiyun Smooth Q3 is one of those accessories that makes you realize how far phone filmmaking has come. Just five years ago, you'd need a dedicated glidecam to get smooth footage. Now, for under $100, a small gimbal like this one can handle the job. But can it actually live up to the hype?
To find out, I brought my friend Noboru in to test it. He'd never used a gimbal before, so we could see if it's as intuitive as Zhiyun claims. The good news: once you get past the initial confusion about the different modes (pan-follow, lock, follow, POV, and vertex), it's pretty straightforward. The gimbal removes jitter and lets you pull off complex shots—getting low to the ground, smooth tracking movements, everything—without needing steady hands or expensive equipment.
What impressed me most wasn't just the stabilization, but the companion app. It unlocks a bunch of features: AI-powered object tracking that keeps your subject centered automatically, hyperlapse and timelapse modes, gesture controls to start recording without touching your phone, built-in fill light, and even a basic editor so you can finish your videos in one place. For someone starting out, that's a lot of value in one package.
There are trade-offs, though. The image quality from the app's photo modes isn't fantastic—I wouldn't rely on those. The app lacks a professional mode where you can tweak settings manually or shoot in RAW. And like any phone gimbal, you're still limited by your phone's video quality. You also get some up-and-down motion when walking with it, which you won't get with something like the DJI Pocket 2 (which I'll compare in another video).
But at $89, it's genuinely hard not to recommend. If you're using your phone as your main camera and want smoother, more cinematic shots without breaking the bank, this gimbal does exactly what it promises. Noboru summed it up well: it's affordable, easy to learn, and opens up creative possibilities you wouldn't get holding your phone in your hand. That matters.