Having been bought a GoPro Session for my birthday in July I really wasn’t sure I’d get the use out of it. I’ve seen mates record hours of footage and then never edit any of it.

However, I’ve found myself really enjoy trying to think of new angles and capturing other aspects of an adventure, to piece together an edit. I’ve made loads of edits of a whole range of things since July and while I’m no professional, I feel like my footage could be improved with a wearable gimbal.

I’ve done some reading up on them and I’ll be doing some more, but has anybody got any experience with a gimbal? I see the GoPro Karma but that’s more than I’d like to spend. I’ve seen cheaper gimbals for anywhere between £90 – £180 but I wonder how good they really are.

Has anybody got any recommendations, good or bad? Should I buy new or could a good condition used gimbal be reliable? I saw CEX had some used gimbals so I’m going to do some reading on those brands and look for reviews.

Thanks for any pointers 🙂

DJI, but not cheap.

Feiyu Tech 3 axis Wearable Gimbal here, it works so well I will not film without it. They now have a v2 which is waterproof.

I have a test video here:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLvX7EQYmKo[/video]
Please forgive the terrible riding, it was only a test video!

These things look great, but I worry about landing on it.

I love my Feiyu. Works great.

Are they all battery operated, and do they use the GoPro battery or an independent one?

Independent but can power the GoPro.

If your gopro is a session then I’m pretty sure you need the Feiyu Tech WG2 as it has the session adapter.

I use a Feiyu Tech WG2 with my gopro hero 5 session. However, the session is crap for sound and picks up all the noises of the gimbal motors. I use a secondary sound recorder and splice them together.

Isn’t the WGs designed for the session?

wgs yes for fitment – wg2 does session and black.

I have ordered this as the price is nuts.

https://www.tomtop.com/p-d2815.html

I paid £120 delivered, hopefully it turns up

A mate has the predecessor and it is awesome.

predecessor? that’s a WG unit, its pretty old hence the price (not that it doesn’t do the job)

my apologies, I have this unit on order the WG-2

https://www.tomtop.com/p-d4787.html

been some pretty scathing reviews of the WG2 on youtube that puts me right off getting one.  hope you don’t get stung on import charges.

Aren’t you a little ray of sunshine

Thanks for all of the links to videos and advice.  The WG2 does seem to be the best value that I keep looking back at.

Nwmlarge, I’d be interested to hear how you get on with it, when it arrives, if you get chance.

Cheers guys.

chase me up in a month and i’ll feedback.

I have had the despatch notification but it all depends on when it gets here.

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<div>Totally lol. Not enough recent user reviews. Look forward to seeing what you think.</div>

Zhiyun-Tech Rider-M is now £105 at Drones for less. Exactly the same gimbal as the Evo SS which goes for £255.

I have been using one for a while and its a great gimbal. Tha main advantage is that you can adjust the settings via the App.

http://dronesforless.co.uk/action-cameras/zhiyun-tech-rider-m-3-axis-mini-portable-stabilizer-for-gopro/

Good price – you’ll need an a adaptor if you have a session.

Interested in this. How are people getting on with their WG2s?

Are any of these gimbals waterproof/able to resist the elements?

And do you need to buy any extras. I.e. can you mount directly to a chest strap, or use handheld, etc?

WG2 is water proof (not salt). they have threads to put them on a chest mount or hand hold.

could you link the adaptor needed?  tempted to get one too

I have the WG2 which has been out in damp conditions, tbh there is little point filming in the rain.

I mount mine directly to a Stuntman chest harness, it is a lot more stable than the chesty type mounts.

I cut down one of the adaptor bolts so I could bolt straight through into the Gimbal, this keeps the unit as close to the body as possible to capture some of the bars in shot.

I’m finishing off an edit with a fair bit of Gimbal action I will upload it here later.

Looking forward to seeing it.

Here is the video from Windhill Bikepark.

Feiyu Tech WG2 Gimbal

Stuntman harness with direct to plate mounting.

Go Pro Hero 4 Silver

Some footage is from an I phone 8

Linky to the session adapter

https://www.amazon.co.uk/EVO-Gimbals-Session-Adapter-GP-PRO/dp/B01MRBI741

Also meant to add i am using a stuntman chesty and it really is very good. Might try thr Hero 5 on it with image stabilisation on next.

Save a couple more quid on that Rider M here:

https://www.tomtop.com/p-d3437.html

doesn’t look like it was suffering from any of the issues of the early firmware which is good.

how you finding the stuntman harness?

Got my Zhiyun Rider M gimbal last week. Played around with it a little bit. Then a couple of days ago I upgraded the firmware to 1.51. Played around with it some more. Noticed jittering movement accompanied by a strained motor noise. Was worried it was pure coincidence it happened after the firmware upgrade having been a bit ham fisted with it after not reading all the warnings in the user manual (the warnings in small print which don’t stand out from all the rest of the text).

Anyway, after some searching, found video suggesting it was the firmware and to email Zhiyun tech. I did so, explained what happened, they sent me the previous firmware which I’ve flashed and no more jittery grindy motor movement. Phhhhhhhheeewwwwwwwwwwww. Hopefully they’ll update the firmware without ballsing it up next itme. Will upload to google drive if anyone wants it.

Hey sirromj, I’ll need to check what version of firmware I have but I take it the reinstallation of the older firmware is pretty easy??

It’s exactly the same process as installing new firmware. Download drivers/software/firmware. Install drivers. Run s/w, select firmware, click upgrade. I don’t know what version I had before 1.51 as didn’t check. 1.50 fixed the motor glitch but now when it turns on it’s inactive and I need to hold the mode button for a couple of secs to activate it.

Cheers buddy, I’ll have a look at mine on Sunday when I get home.

Sirromj, same problem. Upgraded to 1.51 and I can hear the motors struggling. 1.50 seems to have killed it completely. Wish I hadn’t bothered now.

Infact scratch that. 1.51 kills the motor. 1.50 works a treat. As long as you press the mode button after start up.

I had a weird wee wobble with version 1.10 that happens on rough terrain. I think 1.50 has sorted it now.

What a great bit of kit when it works.

Some footage of me on my Bird Zero TR on some trails a drive down the road away. Yi 4K camera 1080/60. Rider M gimbal. Stuntman chest mount.

Wondering if full suspension might be better for filming!? Or should I just do straps up tighter on harness (they felt reasonably tight as it was, wouldn’t want to go much tighter)?

The gimbal is mounted rotated 90degress forward so it’s not ideal – wondering if I mounted it the intended way up via extra mount beams/bars it would handle the bumps better…