Zhiyun-Tech WEEBILL-S gimbal camera stabilizer — standard package — a short review

© 2020 Peter Free

 

03 November 2020

 

 

My sample of the Zhiyun-Tech WEEBILL-S was defective

 

However, for the couple of minutes that its CPU worked, it did reasonably well.

 

 

Not related to my sample's electronic defect

 

Some other aspects of Zhiyun-Tech's design and manufacturing execution made the unit unsuitable for me.

 

That's why I returned it, rather than exchanging it for a properly working sample.

 

 

Tested with a Sony a6000 and 18-55mm kit lens

 

The a6000 is not on Zhiyun-Tech's list of electronically compatible cameras. Therefore, I bought the standard package WEEBILL, rather than the one that includes a motorized unit to control some of the camera's functions.

 

 

Easy to balance, but

 

The following will make sense only to people already familiar with gimbals and how one balances a camera on them.

 

In essence, one has to position the camera along three rotating motorized axes so that — with the gimbal power turned off — the camera will stay in whatever orientation you place it.

 

By doing this, one reduces the work that the gimbal motors will have to do, when the gimbal is powered on.

 

On the plus side, once you have figured out what needs to be done, you can balance on the WEEBILL-S in only a few minutes.

 

That said, my sample's castings were comparatively crude.  This showed up when sliding the camera, so as to properly position it along each of the three axial planes:

 

 

The casting on the pan-plane slide was too tight. The other two were too loose.

 

Consequently, adjusting pan position requires too much effort and makes hitting the exact balancing spot difficult because of the muscle power one has to exert to get the positioning slide to move.

 

Adjusting the other two axes required so little effort that it was easy to knock them out of whack, just by tightening their position-holding clamps.

 

 

Worse (in my sample), the release plate that attaches to the camera was difficult to snap into its receiving plate on the gimbal.

 

Close examination showed that either the release plate slot was slightly too short — or the catch mechanism (in the receiving slide mount) did not depress far enough backwards to easily accept it. Annoying.

 

 

A surprising shortcoming — given that this is a small gimbal

 

In order to get the a6000 (with its kit lens) to balance properly, I had to slide it its laterally outermost left (lens pointing forward) position.

 

Had I substituted Sigma's very lightweight 30mm f2.8 lens for the heavier Sony kit zoom, the camera would not have balanced at all.

 

Evidently, the WEEBILL-S favors somewhat larger (heavier) cameras.

 

 

Not friendly to large hands

 

Two of the sliding axes' (camera-placement) clamps are easily knocked into unlocked positions, during normal use of the gimbal.

 

In the brief time that I was trying to get the WEEBILL's uncooperative "CPU" to work, I inadvertently knocked at least one of these clamps loose every few minutes. Naturally, the camera slid to its lowest point on the slide. This meant that I had to rebalance the axis involved each time.

 

Obviously, if one were working a photographic event when this happened, one's reputation would suffer.

 

Therefore, I would not recommend the WEEBILL to professionally oriented buyers who have large hands, unless they combine laudable hand and finger dexterity with admirable levels of hand-placement awareness.

 

Keep in mind that, while using this gimbal solo, you will probably be trying to do something else with your other hand. Not to mention having your attention stray to other necessities, like watching your video subject — as well as negotiating your passage over rough ground, between people or some such.

 

The easily knocked-loose clamp problem ruled this gimbal out of consideration for me. That's why I returned it for refund, rather than an exchange.

 

 

Problematic axis locks

 

I distinguish these "locks" from the above-mentioned "clamps".

 

The locks are red-colored sliding buttons that secure the gimbal's rotational axes into set positions for transport.

 

These locks are quite small and do not protrude much above the surface of the arm(s) they are recessed into. I generally had to use a fingernail to lock and unlock them. Not particularly convenient.

 

The locks also seem unsubstantial. I suspect that they might wear out more quickly than one would expect.

 

 

Annoying (camera to release plate) thumbscrews

 

The comparatively primitive design of this gimbal shows up particularly noticeably in the three thumb screws that are provided for (a) securing the camera and (b) an optionally used release plate height extender. The height extension is used with cameras that have large diameter lenses that extend below the plane of the camera's tripod mount.

 

One of these thumbscrews fits into the release plate, so as to attach camera. And the other two go with the height extender.

 

All three require that you go to one end of the receiving slot and screw them into the plate. Once screwed in, a narrowed section of the screw shaft slides along the plate.

 

If one is going to take the camera off the plate — or the height extender — this becomes a clumsy, time-consuming process.

 

It is slow enough that, in professional use, you would probably want to dedicate one camera to the gimbal and leave it there for the duration.

 

 

Atrocious documentation

 

This Zhiyun-Tech device is the worst manufacturer-documented product that I have ever used. Even Zhiyun's YouTube video is grossly inadequate.

 

And the tiny pamphlet that does come with the gimbal is printed in such a tiny font that I had to use a 4x magnifier to read it. Dumb.

 

You will probably need YouTube-posting photographers' assistance to understand gimbal parameters that are not immediately obvious. Fortunately, there are some of these.

 

See, for example, Josh Morgan's excellent explanation of custom settings here:

 

 

Momentum Productions, Best settings for smooth & stable footage - Zhiyun Weebill S gimbal, YouTube (07 November 2019)

 

 

For the few minutes that my sample of the WEEBILL-S worked, it did well enough

 

However, when its electronic gremlins took over — the gimbal spun wildly every which way — while under constant, loudly buzzing power.

 

No amount of tuning, including customs setting adjustments, worked to get it back into synch with the specific function that it was supposed to be performing.

 

 

In consequence — you should probably take a look at the negative ratings . . .

 

. . . (at Amazon and B&H) before venturing into buying the WEEBILL-S.

 

Some of those unhappy reviews mirror my own experience with its malfunctioning electronics and weak locks.

 

A considerable number of critiques also point to Zhiyun-Tech's non-support. A noticeable percentage of buyers are getting a non-operative, or soon broken product, that the manufacturer allegedly will not support.

 

 

In sum — An excellent value, if it works

 

My only non-defect criticism is that WEEBILL-S is too fiddly for my hands and purposes.