Hey guys!
I wanted to show you this new Zhiyun Tech Rider M GoPro gimbal.
It's a new gimbal on the market and I just kind of wanted to give you my thoughts and
over view, show you how some of the functions work and some sample footage.
I've got a Zhiyun Tech Z1 Pround handheld gimbal and a Rider from Zhiyun Tech.
So, I've had a little bit of experience with these.
In the interest of full disclosure, they sent me this model to test.
I bought these two myself.
So obviously the Rider-M is a totally different form factor.
It's much more compact and you don't have all of these cords.
Really interesting new product from them.
The base of the Rider M has a 1/4-20 threaded hole so you can put this on all sorts of tripods
and all sorts of camera accessories.
That's a pretty universal thread.
They also give you a GoPro adapter so this threads into the bottom and then you can mount
this on all sorts of other GoPro accessories just like normal.
One of the major differences between these three gimbals is where the batteries are.
The new Rider M has the batteries in the unit itself vs. a stick that might be separate
or attached.
It really makes it nice.
This is the power button right here.
Turn it on and it blinks a blue light right there and then on this side, there is a button.
Hold that down and that turn the gimbal on.
So it works just like a normal gimbal.
This is also the mode button on the side so if you press it then it will change modes,
change following modes.
If you press it three times quickly, it swivels around 180 degrees.
Goes back around.
So pretty nice compact unit.
Over here on the side, you've got the audio, excuse me, the video output.
So this comes with, these gimbals come with a cable that attaches to the gimbal right
here and then it runs over and attaches to, plugs into the GoPro.
It's got two cables.
This one has four wires and it will handle video.
So it pulls video out of the GoPro, sends it into the gimbal and you can get it out
of this port right here.
This is a 3.5mm standard mini pin.
And this definitely works.
The only thing is that it gives analog video so a lot of the monitors these days have HDMI
inputs and I have not figured out a real clean way convert this output to a HDMI input.
So what this really converts to easily is a RCA coax output.
But anyway, if I figure something out, I will let you know on that.
One of the other things that you might notice is that there are no buttons on the unit anywhere
to adjust the angle.
So you do that is just take the camera and move it and then hold it there and it will
keep that angle.
It's really easy.
It works well.
You're kind of fighting the motors for a minute but then it locks in and holds that angle.
So, a pretty nice setup.
You can kind of feel a tiny little click and that's where it locks in.
Another interesting feature about the Rider M is that it has Bluetooth built in so you
should be able to connect your phone to the gimbal.
Right now it's just available for Android but probably by the time you watch this it
will have the iPhone app out.
That will let you control things like pitch and roll and do different adjustments like
that.
I've also heard that they are going to have a remote control coming out for these.
So that would let you adjust those things without the app.
So some thoughts about mounting: Between the 1/4-20 stud here and the GoPro
adapter, you should be able to mount this anywhere.
Really flexible.
The cool thing is that you can put a handle on the bottom here really easily.
This is the DIY GoPro handles that I build, I've got a video for it.
This particular one has a battery inside so you can charge the GoPro.
I'll put a link up here.
Just take the GoPro tripod adapter off of the top and then it's got the 1/4-20 stud
there and just screw it into the bottom.
It really goes on easily and you know, it's even more compact than the other handheld
gimbals from Zhiyun Tech.
So really, pretty nice setup.
If I had the money to buy any of these, I think I would go with the Rider M.
I'll give you some sample footage here real quick.
It operates like a standard gimbal but here's a look at what it can do.
Here's an area that I wanted to do some test footage in because it's so rocky and rooty.
These are two three four foot step ups and big boulders that I've got to walk over and
you can tell that the footage is pretty darn smooth.
It could be smoother if I was concentrating a little bit more.
This is a view of the setup.
That's my DIY folding GoPro tray with the Rider M attached and using my phone as a viewfinder.
It works really well.
You can see how shaky the footage is right here because it's unstabilized.
This is from a different GoPro.
Here's a shot just walking along a kind of a shelf cliff level.
Fairly smooth but compared to hand held without a gimbal, this is really smooth footage.
Without it, you get all sorts of twisting and tilting motions that show up.
This is just some low footage with the gimbal held down by my feet.
It still stabilizes it just the same but I'm holding it close to the ground.
And it's really easy to get these kind of low shots.
Here's a sinking shot.
Starting up high with the gimbal over my head and then just dropping it down real slow.
It works really well.
Get's some great shots.
And then you end up with the camera way down by your feet.
And this is what it looks like from the second GoPro that is unstabilized just to show you
the whole rig.
You can use just a hand grip on here but the tray gives you a little bit more stability
with two hands.
So those are my thoughts on the gimbal.
I would really recommend that you look at all of these closely but this is this new
Rider M is a quality product.
Something that deserves a close look.
I appreciate you guys watching.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
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