Welcome to our article where we will be going over what we feel is the best gimbal for Canon SL2 cameras on the market right now. Over the last decade or so a number of new gimbal stabilizers have been released onto the market making it a very competitive space.
We have noticed that many people often overpay and get a gimbal unit that has a price tag much higher than they actually need for their camera. Often this is due to people wanting the latest product but in reality, especially when it comes to a lightweight camera unit like the Canon EOS Rebel SL2 there really is no need to waste your money and some great bargains can be had!
In our opinion, you should be looking towards the Zhiyun Crane v2 (Click here to check for product prices and availability) as it is an excellent little gimbal that has been tried and tested by the community over the years. We would guess that it one of the most popular gimbals used today too and its great performance has earned it a well-deserved reputation amongst videographers.
In addition to this, as it is a few years old now, it has had a few price reductions allowing you to get a great product at a bargain price. The Zhiyun Crane v2 also supports a maximum load capacity of 3.96 pounds and with your Rebel SL2 camera body coming in at 1 pound, you have 2.96 pounds of payload capacity free for accessories such as a lens or whatever else you want to mount on your camera body.
Click Here To Check For The Current Prices On The Zhiyun Crane v2 Gimbal!
User Interface And Control System
The control system of the handheld gimbal couldn’t be easier to use. In our opinion, Zhiyun has always ensured that their products were very easy to use so anyone who is picking their very first gimbal up can quickly and easily get it workout right out the box without having to waste much time. The image above shows the handle of the Zhiyun Crane v2 and at the top of the handle, you can see the button controls that the gimbals interface uses.
The controls allow you to easily get the gimbal to do exactly what you want when your Canon SL2 is mounted by using just your thumb. This allows you to focus the rest of your hand on supporting the weight of the gimbal and your camera rig ensuring that it is safe and secure. Once you have had a little practice and muscle memory kicks in, you will be able to easily use the various buttons on the Crane V2 without having to look away from the viewfinder on your Canon SL2 too.
As the LCD panel on the gimbal is backlit, you can easily read it if using your gimbal in low light conditions too. This ensures that no matter the conditions, you are able to control the rig and get excellent quality image stabilization for your camera.
The photograph above shows the interface of the Zhiyun smartphone app that lets your control their gimbal range remotely too. In addition to this, there are some wireless remote controls available but if you have a smartphone it tends to be easier to just use their app.
Now, depending on what videography niche you are working in and what you are wanting to capture with your Canon SL2, being able to control the gimbal remotely may be something you use every day or it may be something you will never use at all. We know that our readers come from a full range of backgrounds and niches so we just wanted to point out that the functionality is available and fully supported.
Click Here To Check For The Current Prices On The Zhiyun Crane v2 Gimbal!
Performance And Functionality
One thing that the Zhiyun gimbal range has become well known for the world over is the excellent performance that they offer without hiking the price tag of their products up. This is probably the main reason the Crane range has arguably the best reputation amongst the videography community when it comes to gimbals at the time of writing and in all honesty, we don’t see this changing anytime soon as Zhiyun keep smashing it out the park with each new generation of gimbals they release.
In our opinion, the motors and technology used in the Crane v2 were ahead of their time at the time of the gimbals initial release and this has ensured that the gimbal has aged well and remains competitive against newer gimbal stabilizers from other brands today. The image stabilization that the V2 can offer your Canon SL2 is second to none at its price point in the market and as we mentioned earlier, it has almost 3 pounds of spare payload capacity left once your camera body is mounted for accessories.
This should allow you to use the Zhiyun Crane v2 as your go-to gimbal of choice with your Canon SL2 even if you use some of the heavier accessories available on the market right now while still having some payload left over. If you are planning to use a long camera lens with your Canon SL2 then the included lens support ensures that you are able to get the full range of movement from the gimbal even with a long lens mounted to your camera body.
Speaking of the range of movement of the Zhiyun Crane v2, the 3-axis gimbal design ensures that you are able to get a full 360-degree rotation of the camera while still getting excellent image stabilization throughout. In addition to this, the magnetic encoders on the motors have been designed to be able to pick up as much as a 0.02-degree change in the position of any axis on the gimbal so that it can quickly adjust accordingly and provide very smooth video footage.
3 Axis 360 Degree Unlimited Rotation. With the automotive-grade magnetic encoders attached to each motor, the gimbal can sense every 0.02-degree change intervals. Any shooting requirements will be perfectly satisfied, i.e. positive grip, upright shooting, low angle, high flight photography.
Although the video footage below was not recorded using a Canon SL2, we feel it offers an excellent example of the level of image stabilization that the Zhiyun Crane v2 (Click here to check for product prices and availability) is able to provide you in a large number of common videography situations.
When it comes to battery life, the officially listed time frame is up to Twelve hours of battery life per fully charged set of batteries. That said though, the battery life depends on how much of the payload your Canon SL2 will take up and as it is a pretty lightweight camera body, we would imagine that you can actually get more than Twelve hours out of it depends what you are doing with the gimbal.
Click Here To Check For The Current Prices On The Zhiyun Crane v2 Gimbal!
Build Quality And Design
As we touched on earlier, the Zhiyun Crane v2 uses the 3-axis gimbal design that has proven to be the dominant gimbal design used in today’s market due to its excellent performance and ease of use. If you need to do any maintenance on the gimbal then this can also quick and simple due to the ease of debuilding the gimbal body too.
The build quality of the Zhiyun Crane v2 is great for its price tag too. It is very lightweight ensuring that you are able to hold it for as long as you need with your Canon SL2 mounted on it without getting any aches or pains. In addition to this, the handle on the gimbal has been designed to be as comfortable as possible to allow you to grip the gimbal for long periods without your hand cramping up.
Third Party Reports
Our Verdict
That brings our article one why we feel that the Zhiyun Crane v2 is the best gimbal for Canon SL2 cameras to an end. The Crane V2 offers some of the best image stabilization for its price range available helping to improve the image quality of your videography footage without having to break the bank. We feel it will make a great addition to your Canon SL2 camera accessories and that it is well worth picking up.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
