Ahoj! Zhiyun Smooth Q3 vs Hohem iSteady V2 with optional expandable selfie stick with a remote
vs DJI OM4. The question is not which one is the best? The question is which one is the best for
you? For the new faces, welcome. My name is Zdenka Darula. If you are into photography and video,
consider subscribing to this channel. DJI OM4 has been on the market since last
summer. Summer 2020 to be precise as some of you might be watching this video actually next year.
Well, is DJI OM5 coming out? I've been looking for the information everywhere just like everybody
else and I have no idea. I don't know. But, I know that they usually come out with a new gimbal
every single August. So if it's gonna happen, it should be happening next month. But for now, let's
stay with DJI OM4. This year Zhiyun Smooth Q3 and Hohem iSteady V2 joined the market. Those are the
newer gimbals. They've been on the market for few weeks. This video will be more of a comparison,
hands on comparison of those 3 gimbals as I had a chance to film with them. I know how
they are in hands, how it is to work with them. This is gonna be more of a practical comparison.
If you are looking for detailed information about each gimbal, I have made very detailed review of
each gimbal in the past. I am gonna leave it below the video in a video description. When it comes to
technical specifications, I don’t know how about you but I want to know 2 things. Maximum payload
and battery life. The biggest payload has DJI OM4. According to papers it can handle 230g plus minus
60g… 230 plus 60 is 290g. The other gimbals have a maximum payload 280g. From my experience using DJI
OM4 with iPhone 12pro and Samsung Galaxy S10 plus, I do have a little bit problem with the clamp. The
clamp, the grip is not deep and I simply refuse to take off the phone case when I am filming because
it is a thin Moment case and I attach filters to it or anamorphic lens. I use it for filming.
The problem is not when I am actually filming. The problem is when I am having it in a standby
mode and I am moving from place A to place B. And it is kind of just wiggling around. Sometimes I
have to make sure the phone is in sitting properly because it can slip out. Unfortunately it did slip
out already 3x for me in that year. Excellent grip has Hohem since you can also use action cameras
with it and Zhiyun has quite good grip as well. I don’t see any problems with those 2. DJI OM4
however is the only one which will allow you to add counterweights in case you are using filters,
and lenses like anamorphic lens. Zhiyun is working on their counterweights, Hohem, I have no idea.
For now, you need to come up with your own solution like attaching a clamp to a phone.
How is battery life? Zhiyun smooth Q3 and DJI OM4 will give you 15 hours. Hohem iSteady V2 will
give you 9 hours. Is it an issue? I personally never ran into a situation when I would ran out
of the battery. I never shoot 9 hours. I usually shoot 3 to 4 hours maximum and before I go to the
next shoot, I fully charge the battery anyways. Let’s check the most important and that would be
the stabilization. I’ve shot with all 3 gimbals before in the last few B roll tutorials. I filmed
in real speed 24fps and I left it on purpose RAW. What I mean by that is that I didn't apply
any warp stabilization or heavy editing in a post. There is a strong reason why. Since
I review these gimbals as well, I want you to see the real deal. Unfortunately I have seen
very large number of reviews on Youtube. No names here. Where you can tell right off that there has
been very heavy warp stabilization or very heavy post editing applied to the footage. And I think
if you are about to buy a gimbal, if you are about to decide which gimbal to buy, your right
is to actually see what you are about to buy. Your right is to see how the stabilization really is.
I assume that not all of you are ballerinas or have very steady hands. So let's start.
DJI OM4 goes first. I am just going to do a regular hard walk. Then I am gonna
go deep into my knees. I am gonna do what's call ninja walk. And then fast speed run.
Next up is Zhiyun Smooth Q3.
And lastly, here is Hohem iSteady V2.
My thoughts on stabilization are these. I’ve noticed that the most comments about
stabilization, about poor stabilization I get is unfortunately below DJI OM4 videos.
I get in comments. Wow this gimbal is not that stable.
Well, this gimbal is a year old so the other 2 gimbals are on the market for few weeks. So
you would expect with a newer products that they already improved the stabilization.
I feel that I get better results with Zhiyun Smooth Q3 and surprisingly Hohem is not
bad either and it is such a light and small gimbal. Let's check out again the running shots.
Can you switch gimbal modes in any app? Well, that's a big one. Unfortunately DJI OM4 is the
most annoying one. You can only do that in DJI Mimo app which belongs to this gimbal.
If you are filming in native camera app which would be logical for Android phones
you have to open up DJI Mimo to be able to switch mode, go back to other app, film,
go back again to DJI Mimo switch modes and so on. It's time consuming and it's not fun.
Zhiyun Smooth Q3 has it the best. It is very easy to switch the modes and you can see it on the
gimbal. Hohem has ability to switch the modes too but it is a little bit more complicated.
Zoom buttons are not working in native camera app with any of these gimbals.
Hohem is the only one which has also focus pull available in Hohem pro app.
It is done via zoom button. Let's talk about axis range of motion, let's talk about tilt first. You
will get quite nice movement with DJI OM4, it's very large and Zhiyun Smooth Q3 is not bad either.
The least movement you are going to get with Hohem iSteady V2. When it comes to pan movement,
it is pretty much the same with all of them. It is not full 360 degrees, it's something around 300 I
would say. Inception mode. DJI OM4 has the best one. You can operate it manually with joystick,
selection direction and it is programmed so you don’t see the motor in the shot.
It stops before you see it. With Smooth Q3 you can do the same thing but you will
end up seeing the motor in the shot so you need to crop the video clip.
The same goes with Hohem, you will see the motor so you need to crop the clip and above all that
it is only automatic mode, you cannot do the movement manually with a joystick.
How does it actually feel working with the gimbals? Well, I’ve had DJI OM4 for the longest
time. I have it for a year now and I put it though some rough times. I've loaded it with lot of
things. I've been working with it quite a bit and I can tell you it's been working very well. Here
and there I can feel that the motors are little bit tired now, but it's still, it works pretty
good. This gimbal feels the best in your hands. It is quite big and if you have big hands, it
is just comfortable. Sometimes I have a hard time with certain movements. I have to try to position
it with a joystick where I want to be and still I run into lot of trouble. Zhiyun Smooth Q3 feels
quite comfortable in hands as well but if you have bigger hands I would definitely
say that DJI OM4 is little bit better. I like the way it responses, so far I haven’t had
many issues with the movements. Hohem is quite small and I would say that it is best fitted for
little bit smaller hands. There are limitations with movements such as tilt movement because is
small for example so you do need to get used to it, however there are ways around it. I’ve shown
it in the monopod video. For me, this gimbal is awesome because you can pair it with a remote and
it does give you so much more creative freedom. For me, it is huge. For the small size it is,
surprisingly it is working well and it is easy to work with. Let's talk about the apps. If you
have an iPhone what you are going to get with each gimbal in their apps is 4K, 1080p and 720p
in 24, 25, 30 and 60fps. That would be with DJI OM4 and Zhiyun Smooth Q3. Hohem will give you 24,
30 and 60fps in 4K, 10080p and 720p. All 3 apps will give you Slow motion, Hyperlapse, Timelapse,
Vertigo or Dyna Zoom effect and story feature. DJI and Zhiyun will give you manual filming as well,
in Hohem it is partial manual filming. You cannot select frame rates. Zhiyun will also give
you beauty mode as well and live streaming. Hohem has focus pull feature with zoom button.
I looked at Android Samsung Galaxy S10 plus what the apps have to offer with this phone. Now,
keep in mind that each Android phone is different and some of the Android phones might have even
more limitations. DJI and Hohem will give you only 30fps period, period. No manual filming and
no slow motion. Zhiyun will give you 24 and 30fps in ZY Cami App in 4K, 1080p and 720p…
no slow motion and no manual filming… everything else is the same. When it comes to other
apps such as Filmic Pro, Protake and Moment app, DJI OM4 is compatible with Filmic pro and
Moment App. Zhiyun gimbals can be connected with Protake app as it is offered in hardware settings.
This is how I see it. If you want to do advanced filming and if you want to film in Filmic Pro or
Moment app, then DJI OM4 is still it. The stabilization is not the best right
now. You will have to work little bit harder to get it as stable as possible. The other ones are
more stable for sure. But I would say this is the best choice right now when it comes to advanced
filming. On the other hand if you have very heavy phone and you want to load it with ton
of stuff like filters, heavy lenses and all that, hands down, I would reach for something
like Moza Mini P which has far bigger payload and the motors are super strong.
I like Zhiyun Smooth Q3 for advanced filming as well. But the fact that I can't attach right now
counterweights makes me realize that it is more suitable for automatic filming but once they come
out with the counterweights then I think that this is gonna be quite strong contender for
manual filming as well for advanced filming. It has very good stabilization, it is great
for beginners. I am very curious to see what they come up with when it comes to counterweights. When
it comes to Hohem, I actually like the remote and the AI tracking the most. I also like that
you can get that extendable selfie stick with it. It is not really made for manual filming,
it's just to pop in the phone and film in automatic mode, get whole bunch of features,
whole bunch of stuff. And this is something I carry in my purse. It is amazing for family stuff,
this is what use over the weekends. I don't film in manual mode my family. I just want to catch the
moment, I just wanna pop in the phone, turn it on and done. Right now we are all waiting if DJI will
come out with new gimbal but again, DJI OM4 it is for now. If you want to see again in detail
each gimbal separately to find out all features, I will link those videos in the video description
below. Also all these gimbals will be linked there as well. Hit the thumbs up if you found
this video informative and subscribe to future videos. If you have any questions,
comments, leave it below and I'll see you my friends in the next video, Cau... Ahoj...