- I have the Removu K1, and we're gonna see if
this gimble/camera combo is a good camera to get.
(upbeat electronic music)
So, I'm actually really surprised by this camera.
I took it to Vietnam with me, traveled around.
I've been shooting off and on with it for a while now,
and I just wanted to get a feel for
how this camera performs
and if it's a good camera to use.
Now, I think this camera definitely sits in
the class of vlogging cameras,
because you have a nice, stabilized camera.
It's got a gimble on it, it's got a screen,
it's got a little microphone attachment,
and it's very easy to use,
so it's something that you could
kind of have on you at all times,
pick up, and go.
And it feels pretty sturdy, so I've been
throwing this in my bag with no protection.
I've been just throwing it in the top or wherever,
and as we've been traveling, it's been getting bumped,
it's been getting hit, and I haven't damaged it yet.
Now, before we get into some of the footage,
let's just talk about this camera in general
and what it has to offer.
So, this camera is 4K, it shoots 12 megapixel stills,
it's got an aperture 2.8 lens,
it's got slow motion features,
it's got a three axis gimbal on the top,
and it's got a place for an attachable microphone.
It's got a trigger on the front that changes the mode,
it's got a menu button, it's got a button for taking videos,
a button for taking stills, and it's got your joystick
which controls the camera and also
flips through the menu settings.
There's not a ton of extra buttons on this gimbal,
which is one of the reasons I really like it.
It just works, you turn it on,
and you get going right away.
One thing I do love is that it has a QC sticker on the side
so I know that it was quality controlled.
Another cool feature of the K1
is it's got two different types of locks.
It's got one that locks the pan feature,
and then the other one here,
you just click the camera into place and it's locked,
and as you move it around, the camera does not move.
It's also got this cover, which makes it really easy.
It's just a little plastic cover.
But it keeps your lens nice and clean
so you never get scratches or anything
because it's pretty durable.
And it's got a removable battery
so you can bring extra batteries along.
It's also got a nice little base
that this sits into so that you can charge it standing up,
you don't have to stick it on the gimbal,
or you can just charge it right here
using the port in the front.
So, all and all, this gimbal has
everything you need to get up and running
to shoot some cool footage and stills.
Now let's go see how this camera performs.
So, we're gonna go out, I'm gonna do a little vlogging,
and I'm gonna show you how this
compares to something like this.
This is just my GoPro on a stick.
In terms of size, it's about the same,
so it's a good way to kinda determine
how this camera performs against something, say a GoPro.
They have similar lenses in terms of the width,
and they have similar functionalities,
except for obviously this one is a gimbal,
so you're gonna get smoother footage
than just with a GoPro.
But I thought this would be a good comparison,
because if I was out shooting a vlog
and I was just bringing along a camera of this size,
I would be deciding between the K1 or, say,
something like the GoPro on a stick,
which I've done a ton of vlogs like this
way before this thing came out,
and you can definitely vlog on a camera of this size
and still get awesome footage for vlogs.
Also, in terms of footage, both of these are shooting 4K,
and they both shoot 120 slow-mo,
so we're gonna see how that looks,
and then I wanna compare audio,
just so you have something to compare the Removu against.
The Removu?
I don't really know how to say it.
The Removu K1.
All right, let's go.
All right, so we are outside.
It's nice today, it's a beautiful day.
I usually go down to the water
to do these kind of reviews,
but I decided to walk around the streets.
Check it out here.
So, we are just in Santa Monica.
You see all the nice palm trees?
All right.
I wonder, it's a little slow to follow me,
but I wonder if I speed up the settings,
let me try this.
Okay, so now I've sped it up.
Let's see.
Definitely is much faster.
So that's one thing, there's definitely some options
to change the settings within your gimbal.
You get to tweak 'em to fit whatever you're using.
I have the microphone plugged in,
so I'm using that microphone.
And I'm in a pretty high contrast scene,
so that's one of the things I wanted to show you guys
is how the footage compares.
Now, one of the really cool things about
vlogging on this camera is that
you have a screen that you can actually see yourself,
so you know if you got the right shot,
whereas if you're using something else,
a lot of times you don't have the screen.
Say, if you're using like a GoPro or something,
you definitely can't see yourself,
so that's one huge bonus here.
Okay, so now I'm on the GoPro,
just to kinda show you guys a quick difference
between holding a selfie stick out with the GoPro
and vlogging on the Removu.
So, obviously, you don't have the screen,
you don't have the microphone that comes with it,
you just have the GoPro.
But still, you can see the difference.
Now, I'm shooting 4K on both of these.
The issue with the GoPro is you do have that wide,
kind of bubble look.
You don't get that with the Removu
because it actually has software that corrects it
in-camera with the lens,
and they've actually updated the software recently so that
it gets rid of the issue where
it made your face really skinny in the middle.
So, they've updated that,
which I think that was really important that they did that
because I saw a lot of footage before
that had kinda this weird center
that was slim on the Removu.
Okay, so now I've got both cameras on
so you can see the screen of what it is that I'm recording.
And one of the weird things is, say, here's my left hand.
If I showed up on the screen,
it shows up as your right hand.
It doesn't mirror the screen,
and that's one issue for me, in terms of vlogging.
If you wanna use your left hand,
on the screen, it's right.
So, when it comes to vlogging,
you kinda can only use this to center yourself up
and make sure that you have a shot,
but you just can't really on it too much because
there's gonna be a lot of issues if you try to,
you kinda get messed up on your directions left and right.
It's a quick software fix and I really hope they do fix that
because it would make this so much better,
just giving the ability to mirror the screen.
Okay, so I'm completely using the auto settings right now.
You can fine tune it, you can change the white balance,
you can change your exposure value
and things like that in-camera,
so there is a little ability to tweak your settings,
but all in all, you're basically
at the will of the camera.
You don't have a ton of settings,
but it's enough if you're just doing vlogs.
All right, so after playing around with this camera
and comparing it side by side to the GoPro,
there are definitely some few advantages
in comparison to this camera, and disadvantages.
One disadvantage is just that
this camera does not shoot raw photos,
so if you're trying to do photography with this camera,
you're not gonna get the best photos,
you're not gonna have a lot of room to edit them in post.
This is definitely more of a video camera,
and it's more of a vlogging style camera.
The one issue with vlogging is the mirrored screen.
They just need to fix that mirrored screen,
and then it would make it so much easier to shoot yourself.
It doesn't have to record mirrored,
it just needs to play back mirrored so that,
when you raise your left hand on the screen,
it shows the left hand, and it's not opposite so you're not
dodging back and forth trying to get the
centered frame properly.
Other than that, the audio is decent, it works.
It's not the best in the world,
but it will get you your footage,
and it's better than, say, the GoPro,
which has the mics on the camera itself,
so that any time you touch
anything on the camera, you hear it.
And also, this has a nice little dead cat on it,
(meowing)
so you don't get a ton of the wind sounds,
and you get decent sound.
When I was out in Vietnam, I was using this
with the microphone here,
and I definitely used sections of that
in my vlogs from Vietnam.
Now, they obviously aren't as good as, say,
my GH5 with my microphone.
However, they are usable at those times
where I just needed to grab a few shots
and I didn't wanna pull out my bigger camera.
- Go to the Long Bien Bridge.
- Oh, yes, we wanted to do this.
This was on my list.
- All in all, my thoughts on this Removu K1 is that
I think it's a great beginner vlogger camera.
If you're getting into vlogging,
if you're getting into shooting content,
this is like pick up and go,
you'll be able to get good footage.
Just leave it on the auto settings
and you'll get some decent stuff
that's ready to start cutting,
because the most important thing when you're shooting
any piece of content is that you're telling a story,
and this can definitely help you tell a story because
you can get footage, you can get decent audio,
and you can tell your story.
And so, if you're using other cameras,
you might struggle a little bit.
You might try to add on stuff.
This, you just get decent audio,
you get a decent image, and it keeps it stabilized,
and your footage is gonna look
that much more professional and better
when you're using, say, this camera,
because you have stable, silky smooth footage,
which looks great in vlogs.
When you're talking to the camera,
it's not shaking all over the place.
People aren't gonna be saying things like,
why is your camera so shaky?
You're not gonna be so worried about
stabilizing your footage using other methods.
For me personally, I don't know how often
I'm gonna end up using this camera.
Like I said, I brought it to Vietnam
and I ended up using it in situations
where I didn't wanna pull out a bigger camera.
This was great in busy areas of Hanoi,
and when I was told by the guide to put our cameras away
because of the theft in the city.
People will just ride by on a motorbike
and grab a camera out of your hands.
So, this was much easier to pull out and get good shots
and not have to worry so much about having bigger gear.
Also, this is small enough
that you can just throw it in your pocket.
I had it sitting in my back pocket all the time.
So, there's definitely times when I feel like
I will use this and I will take it with me because
it's easy, it's compact, it will get a decent image.
It's not the best thing in the world.
It's definitely a tool to tell a story,
it's not a tool to get cinematic, awesome footage.
And there's a difference there.
If you're looking for something
that's gonna get you awesome footage,
you're gonna need to have more control over your image,
more ability to do some color grading,
more options to add lenses and different elements to it.
This is just a wide lens, which is perfect for vlogging,
it's perfect for telling your story,
no matter what it is that you're doing.
So, for those of you that are interested in vlogging,
those of you who are newer to filmmaking in general,
I'd say this is a great choice.
You can get some awesome footage with this.
You'll be able to do a lot with this little camera.
Now, for those of you who are using bigger cameras
and you're just thinking about
maybe this would be good for, say,
getting some stable footage,
I would say look at some other options.
If you're shooting on a point and shoot,
if you're shooting on a mirrorless,
if you're shooting on something like a DSLR,
definitely consider looking at
gimbals for that camera that are gonna be
around the same price as this
because you'll get better footage in the long run
than you would if you just got one of these
to try to be on the side.
Now, if you're looking for a camera that's non-intrusive
and something that you can just kinda throw in your pocket
or the top of your bag, definitely a good choice.
So, it all comes down to what it is that you're shooting
and the situations you're gonna be in.
And the last thing I wanna cover is this
compared to, say, the Osmo.
Now, I've definitely worked with the Osmo
in different situations,
and my biggest hang up with that is that
you have a monitor off to the side,
so you have your phone like this.
And I just, that's annoying to me,
and it's big, and it's bulky,
and the WiFi doesn't necessarily work all the time,
or the Bluetooth, or however it connects.
I personally would rather use this than an Osmo.
Now, you might get better footage with the Osmo
because the camera's a little bit better.
However, as a whole, I think it's more of a pain to use.
I would much rather use this.
This is an all-in-one package and it's pretty small.
All right, guys, I hope this was helpful.
I'm giving you some information about this camera.
I think it's a good choice, depending on your situation.
I would love to hear your thoughts on
what you think about this footage
in the comments below.
Guys, if you haven't already,
make sure you hit that subscribe button.
There's a lot of awesome content on this channel.
I've got other reviews, some filmmaking tutorials.
Also come find me on Instagram @JevenDovey.
And guys, I'll see you on the next one.
(upbeat electronic music)