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Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott, and I'm here today to give you a comparison between two motorized three-axis gimbal systems
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And one is one that I reviewed almost exactly a year ago, the ZEwing crane
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And those of you that saw my review of that, note that it is in many ways that's an excellent
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motorized gimbal and very handy particularly if you're using you know smaller bodies it really does
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excellent job it can produce some stunningly good footage if you calibrate everything and use it properly
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I'm comparing it to a newer competitor and this is the Moza Air and it is also a three-axis motorized
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gimbal stabilization system for shooting video and both of them are about the same price
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at B&H photo. The crane is actually a little bit more expensive, but it's discounted at the moment
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and so they're both in the same ballpark there. Both of them, by the way, have apps for them
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that you can download to your smartphone or your tablet for free. It gives you a lot of additional
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functionality there, and both of them can be remotely controlled via a smartphone app, and I find
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that a very handy application for some of the stuff that I do. And so beyond that, the most
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to air does add a few extra features in that it does allow you to do to actually program in
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time lapse and if you want to incorporate movement into some time lapses you can actually
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program in advance kind of the arc or the path you want the stabilizer to follow for that so it's
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a cool feature and i'll throw a link up to a demonstration of how that works here if you want to
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check out that feature for yourself for the sake of time i'm going to focus more on comparison
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in between the two. Now let me just jump back to the crane here for the moment. Now, say that if you're
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looking for something that is really compact for travel in terms of the, both them come with a nice
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you know, hard case that has, you know, kind of custom fitted inserts inside. So that's a nice feature
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Obviously, the Moza Air's box is quite a bit larger. And so if you're just looking for something
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really compact and you're using lighter gear, the crane may be a good option for you. We'll get to the
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Moza Air in just a moment, but there's a reason why the package is bigger, as we're going to find out in just a second
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But if you are looking for a quick hit, let me just give you a few highlights of why the crane
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might be a good one for you. Number one, it comes with two sets of batteries for it. And so while the
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batteries don't have as long of life as what the Moza Air batteries do, the fact that it actually
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comes with an extra set means that as a result, you can actually get a bit more
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more total time. You can get up to 12 hours using the batteries where on the Moza Air you're going to
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get up to eight hours. Beyond that, however, there aren't a whole lot of other natural advantages
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that I can point to, but you'll see that the gimbal assembly, mostly what's in the box is extra
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batteries, the gimbal parts, and then a few other spares. If you want to incorporate in
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here you have a micro USB, which would allow you to both do some charging. If you want to charge
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right in the handle. It also allows you to do some firmware updates. There is a little lens
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stabilizer piece if you're using a lens that sticks out a little bit further and you want to
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you know just add some stability to that You got that the option of doing that here Now one I going to point out a few ergonomic features that I like better on the MOTS air And one of those has to do with the actual tightening knob here thumb screw that kind
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of holds the camera, goes to the tripod mount, and holds your camera mounted to the system
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And that this one is, it's not quite as heavy duty, number one, but secondly, it doesn't actually
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stay attached. And so there's a greater risk for losing it also, you know, just a small amount of
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time and taking it on and off. Now, some people will solve this by adding a quick release plate
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into the assembly, but that's something that you need to bring in addition to that. Now, the crane
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itself, both of these, by the way, are very nicely made. They're well constructed. These are not
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cheap either, in any sense of the word, not cheap in construction and not particularly cheap in
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price either. The approach that Ziuang has gone with this is that it is a, it's a metal body
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and they used kind of a diamond texturized surface. I think somewhat similar to sometimes a
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for example, a manual focus ring on a vintage lens that might have this kind of texture
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or even sometimes even like the rotary wheels on the back of cameras
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It's kind of that pattern and that's what it relies on for grip. Now, as I said, the emotive air has a different approach to batteries
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It takes three of these batteries, obviously that it comes with. And it also comes with a charger
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Ironically, the charger actually has room to charge four batteries. And so obviously you could perch additional batteries
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And if you're on site and you need a longer life. The emotive air, its approach to this is that it comes with a lot of soft touch materials here
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And so it's a little bit friendlier, say, in cold conditions as a result from that
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I live in Canada. That's one of the things that I note. One very, very cool accessory that it comes with that I find helpful
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a lot in calibration is it comes with this little kind of tripod legs that will fold out
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and allows it the whole assembly to stand up while you actually go about in the calibration process
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And so that is something that I really, really like. Also, unlike the quick release or the mounting platform, I should say, on the crane
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you'll see here that while this knob can be removed, you can screw it out and choose
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a couple of additional slots there. It stays attached and that means you don't have to go hunting
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for it. It is there. Another kind of, you know, there's a few clever features here that I want to
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point out on the Moza Air that I really like. And one of those is that it's a subtle thing, but on each
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one of the different areas that you can use for calibration, you'll find that there are actually
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markings that are included. And so it allows you to, after you get calibrated for a certain
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camera and lens combination, you can actually look at each one of those positions and see where
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kind of the optimal balance was. And so what I've done is I've actually started a spreadsheet
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where I record different camera lens combinations and what those settings were. And so, you know
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there may be a subtle shift in between different settings for one reason or another, but at least
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you have a really great starting out point for doing your calibration. Now, for the sake of time
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I'm not going to, you know, run you through the complete calibration process
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Once again, I'll throw a link here to a video where you can see how to properly calibrate
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with one of these three-axis systems. Now, when I was doing the ZU-N crane review, actually during that review process
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ZUane actually released a firmware update to where they raised the maximum payload from
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1 grams up to 1 and now I see it listed at 1 grams and so of course that allowed you to move into a completely different kind of class of camera system
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Namely that, you know, of course, and at that point I was really intent on the 5D Mark 4
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which can produce some really amazing video footage. And, you know, and even more so now that I've actually done the update to where I now have access to C-Log on there
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And so we're able to get some pretty amazing video footage. and I wanted to use it, however, you know, the payload wasn't really ready for that
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So I was really excited about that firmware update, and I included that as a part of my review
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But as some noted in my review that with the heavier combinations that were closer to the payload limit
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you could definitely tell that there was a bit of a hit in the smoothness of the footage
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And so, and it's not only that, what I have found when I'm calibrating with the crane with heavier combinations
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And for example, here, if I put this combination on the scale, this is the Zeiss macroplane R50mm F2, the Milvis version of it
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if I put that and the 5D Mark 2 on the, or Mark 4 on the scale, it comes out to 1,600 grams
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And so it's near the limits of the payload. And what I find is that when I actually go to calibrate, because it wasn't really initially designed for such heavy payloads
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I'm pretty much out at the edges of the actual calipelope. calibration settings for that. And as a result, I find that the footage isn't quite as smooth
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There's a little bit more dipping up and down. For example, if I'm doing focus, follow
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or trying to just move along smoothly. And that is because while, as you can see here
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the motor is capable, even with a heavier combination, if I put this Tamron 85mm VC
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on the 5D Mark 4, that puts me up right up at around right under 1,700 grams when I put
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on my scale and so I'm really close to the payload limit. And while I find that the motor can handle doing the full range of adjustment all around
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it can do that, but if I'm asking it to go out and to actually handle that weight in the real world
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you'll find that there is some, you know, there's some issues there. And for example, if I try to rotate side to side that there is, you know, it kind of falls apart on that
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It's not able to stabilize. So the difference being when I put this kind of combination on the Moza Air, I find that because it has a payload where it's designed for these heavier combinations and its payload is up to two and a half kilograms, which is five and a half pounds, which means that, you know, for example, I'm nowhere near the limit with this kind of combination
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And so as a result, it's not straining it in nearly the same way
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And so when I go to actually do my calibration here, I'm finding that instead of being out near the very limits of what it can actually handle, I still got a lot of range left to play with
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And so as a result, I'm able to get kind of a more optimal balance
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So what I'm finding is that even with these heavier combinations, when I go out into the field, I'm able to get a lot smoother footage because it's been designed from the ground up for handling something like that
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that. Now, as I noted before, the box is a bit bigger. And of course, one of the challenges is that when
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you go to these heavier payloads, it is actually, it's surprisingly physically demanding to put together
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to use these kind of combinations for any kind of length of period, particularly, you know
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you're trying to move smoothly. And so you're, you know, you're asking your body for a lot of muscle
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control And while there actually not a big difference in weight in these although this is slightly larger it allows you know just for a little bit bigger throw It a little bit taller as you can see even if I put it at the same level
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There's a little bit, you know, more width than the arms here
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even with this adjusted further out. And so, I mean, it's designed to accommodate for just slightly larger combinations
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But when I put these on my scale with the batteries in, I only found about a hundred gram difference
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And so one is right around 11. 100 grams, the other is about 1198-ish grams
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But to help you with carrying that weight very nicely with the Moza Air is included
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the actual assembly where you can add on the side handles here
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And so, you know, once you put that in place and you add on these handles
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it means that you have a completely different way of hanging on to this and of steadying the weight
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And, you know, the byproduct of that is it just translates into getting better footage and not just getting better footage, but getting better footage for a longer period because you're able to physically handle the strain a little bit more
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The other nice bonus is that it comes with a thumb controller here
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And so even if your, you know, your hands are away from the control that's on the main kind of column on that, if you're, if you have this mounted, it means that you have
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a secondary control that'll allow you to just, you know, basically do everything that you need to do from this
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It also comes with various cables and connectors if you want to connect directly into your camera body to provide some USB control
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And so you'll find that on this arm here, there's actually a micro USB out port
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And so you can connect into the actual camera itself and, you know, and maybe control some of the functionality there
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I find that, of course, having this capability makes a big difference
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And so, you know, it just gives you that versatility that when you're out in the field
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you can change the, you know, the different modes that you're in. And you can also just, you know, have that extra ergonomic stability in using it
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And so all in all, you know, I really find that this new Moza Air, it offers a lot of bang for the buck
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in that it gives you some extra tools to help you to get better footage
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It's actually designed to handle the heavier combinations. And as a result, you know, I can go out with a 5D Mark 4 and I can get some pretty killer footage
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And of course, you know, then I can also accommodate smaller bodies like, you know, the Sony A6500 that I have
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And so, you know, here's a look at just, you know, some of the footage that I'm able to produce
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And as you can see, it allows me to just do the different kinds of things that I want to do with great smoothness
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and you know bottom line is that it does what you want it to
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Price-wise, this comes in at a little under $600. I'll throw some buying links in the description down below
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And while that's not cheap, it, I believe, is a high-value product
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in that it's very well built. It's got the tools that you need
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And when you compare it to something like the crane, which, you know, if you're wanting something for lighter combinations
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I think the crane is still a great choice. but you consider that you're getting extra performance and extra accessories for similar money
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with the Mosa Air. I think it kind of becomes a pretty fantastic value
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I'm Dustin Abbott and look down in the description below to see those buying links
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Also there, you can follow me on social media. And of course, if you haven't already, please click that subscribe button
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Thanks for watching. Have a great day
