In recent years, DSLRs and mirrorless cameras have advanced by a significant margin, especially when it comes to capturing stable stills and videos. When it comes to DSLR cameras, most modern lenses available for them today have image stabilization capabilities. As for the current crop of mirrorless cameras, some of them have in-body image stabilization, while others rely on their lenses to bring this feature to the camera. However, these stabilization options offered by camera and lens manufacturers are, to say the least, quite limited. While there's a noticeable improvement, it's still not good enough to eliminate the minor bumps that occur during significant movement, especially when walking while recording. Well, to achieve this, you need to make use of a high-quality gimbal stabilizer like the Zhiyun Crane ($649) that we have here. So if you're looking forward to buying a handheld gimbal for your camera, you might be interested in reading about everything Zhiyun Crane has to offer in our in-depth review:

Immediately after unpacking the Zhiyun Crane for the first time, you will realize that it comes in a sturdy case, which is quite useful when traveling, and you don't need to buy an extra one. When you open the case, you'll notice that all the components are neatly arranged in their respective arrays made of a nicely padded foam. Now let's take a look at everything you get in the box:

Designed for mirrorless cameras as well as compact DSLRs, the Zhiyun Crane 3-axis gimbal has a maximum payload of nearly 1.8kg. So if you're looking forward to attaching one of your long zoom lenses, this isn't really the gimbal you should go for. Excluding the battery, the gimbal unit weighs only 950 grams. That being said, the Crane V2 features advanced slip ring technology on all three axes of the gimbal, giving users unlimited 360° x 3 rotation control and free angle selection for any gripping gesture or camera placement depending on how you intend to shoot. The faucet has a unique dovetail groove design that allows for high-precision balance adjustments, for faster and more convenient installation.

In terms of build quality, we're pretty impressed, to say the least. The gimbal looks and feels quite sturdy and doesn't even feel plasticky like several other expensive gimbals available in the market today. Thanks to its robustness, you can even use this gimbal in tough conditions, without any worries. Compared to the DJI Ronin-MX ($999) which requires two-handed operation, the Zhiyun Crane is much more compact, yet sleek and can be carried around pretty much anywhere, even in the tightest of places for the toughest shots. The gimbal has a 3/8-16 screw thread on the bottom that allows you to mount it on any tripod. It even has an integrated universal mounting plate, which allows you to balance your camera with ease.