THEWINNERS
“Monopods, gimbals, sliders andmore play their part in keeping locked-down shots steady, or ensuring moving shots are smooth and controllable”
Tripod system Sachtler Aktiv8 kit with Flowtech 75 tripod Editor’s choice: Peak Design Travel Tripod (carbon fibre) Monopod Benro A48FD S4 Pro kit Slider Syrp Magic Carpet medium Rig Vocas Sony FX6 production kit Stabiliser/gimbal Zhiyun Weebill 2 Pro EDITOR’S CHOICE: PEAK DESIGN TRAVEL TRIPOD (CARBON FIBRE) The Peak Design Travel Tripod in carbon fibre is a super-light support, taking the Editor’s Choice award. It’s truly small, light and portable, folding up compactly into roughly the same size as a water bottle! It’s not going to handle your fully rigged-up cinema camera, but is ideal for mirrorless and DSLRs with a maximum payload of 9kg/20lb. Fast to set up and adjust, thanks to its innovative ball head, that’s not ideal for video cameras. But you can fix a fluid head on top, or use some of Peak Design’s accessories to turn it into a super-stable video set-up.
rails, top and side cheese plates, hand grip and extender, EVF mount and Nato rail. It’s precisely machined and fits perfectly to this super-popular camera. Perhaps the most competitive category this year was motorised gimbals, with DJI, Manfrotto, Arri, Gudsen, Steadicam and more all attracting lots of fans. But the winner is the gimbal kit we test in this issue, the Zhiyun Weebill 2 Pro – offering extremely good value for its feature-packed set-up. It’s a handheld, three-axis gimbal, with a payload big enough to take a large mirrorless camera with a relatively heavy cine lens. It’s the only gimbal to have its own built-in touchscreen, with a follow-focus bolt and wireless image transmitter – controlled via touchscreen or free smartphone app.
flір-lосk lеgѕ and a removable three-footed bаѕе. Sliders give beautifully controlled movement to really up the production value of your shoot. And the winner in this class is the Syrp Magic Carpet medium. It’s possible to spend a fortune on expensive sliders, made out of exotic materials, with complicated motors and programmable movements. And while the Syrp can be fitted with lots of advanced motion-control kit, at its heart it’s an affordable and light slider. It has quick-release adjustable legs, a counterweight roller for vertical shots, and high-precision ball bearing rollers for silky smooth tracking motion. Durable and light, it’s ideal for fast use on location. When it comes to rigging up a cinema camera, Dutch grip specialist Vocas always takes the hard work out of sourcing parts, by unveiling several kits. The production kit for the Sony FX6 is this year’s winner. It features well-proven Vocas accessories, a shoulder base plate with a rubber shoulder pad and standard 15mm
DREAM BUY The Sachtler
Aktiv8 head and Flowtech 75 legs are simply the best money can buy, according to our readers
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