Zhiyun Crane 3 vs Crane 2 Gimbal Comparison! Best Gimbal in 2020??

So it's 2020 and there have been quite a few gimbals that came out last year and I've actually done quite a few gimbal comparisons already like this one, and this one, and this one, and many more. I'll leave the links down below. But the two main gimbals that I keep coming back to when I'm shooting weddings and commercials are the Zhiyun Crane 3 and Crane 2. There are a lot of factors that separate these two gimbals like how they feel, how they operate, the design. So let's dive straight into the first one. Alright, so the first thing that we're going to be looking at is the size comparison between these two gimbals and the Crane 3 is a big boy and it comes in at 4 pounds while the lighter Crane 2 weighs in at 2.7 pounds. You might think that a 1.3 pound difference might be not a big deal but in actuality when you're using it for as long as I do on a wedding shoot and you add on a monitor, a full-frame camera, and a full-frame zoom lens, it starts adding up and it starts weighing down on your arms and your shoulders and your back a lot more and a lot faster. It's easier for me to offset the weight of the Crane 2 by holding it evenly with both arms and especially when you have these small rake handles attached to the side of the Crane 2, it's way easier to operate the gimbal versus on the Crane 3 where I'm predominantly just using my right arm to support and control the entire gimbal setup. And I definitely feel that difference at the end of the night when my arm is entirely like dead. It sucks so I definitely prefer using the Crane 2 over the Crane 3 if I have to use it for extended periods of time. The second thing that we are talking about is the payload difference that both of these gimbals can hold. The Crane 2 can hold up to 7 pounds while the Crane 3 is maxing out at 10 pounds. Realistically you're not going to be using the entire 10 pound or 7 pound weight limit just because we are predominantly using DSLRs and mirrorless cameras. For us freelancers and video companies, we are probably going to be using like a 1DX Mark II and a 24 to 70 millimeter lens and that might be the heaviest setup that we might be using. Once you get into the cinema camera territory, you're not going to be using these smaller handheld gimbals. You're most likely going to be using some bigger ones like the dual grip ones like the DJI Ronin. Moving on to number three, we're talking about motor strength here. Now I just said that the payload difference might not make too much of a difference in terms of like which gimbal to choose. However, that does factor into the motor strength. Now with a heavier payload, you're obviously going to need better motors to support the heavier payload. Now having stronger motors definitely leads to having smoother footage. If you know what you're doing, it's going to be very similar experience between these two gimbals. But what I'm going to do is show you guys some raw footage. These are just stuff that I've shot on weddings and commercials and you guys can decide which one looks better or if they actually look the same. So as you can tell, it's going to be, you know, pretty subjective as to which one you think is better, which one you think is not as good. But for the most part, if you need a heavier payload, like you're using a Blackmagic 6K camera with like a heavy duty zoom lens, then you're definitely going to need the extra motor strength in order to get those smoother shots as you're panning around, tilting up and down. But if you're like a smaller mirrorless APS-C camera, then you might be able to get away with just using a Crane 2. All right, moving on to number four, we are talking about the ease of use between these two gimbals. When you're comparing gimbals, one thing that you want to look at is how easy is it to use a gimbal? Does it have a steep learning curve? Do you have to go through a lot of menus to get to your settings? And from my experience, these two gimbals have the exact same menu. They're quick and intuitive to pick up and learn, even with the Crane 3 with the new design with the little weird back handle thing. It's really easy to quickly learn it and get used to it. However, I am going to say that I do like the controls of the Crane 3 a lot better because all the shooting modes are laid out on the side of its panel. So you don't have to go double click on the mode button or triple click or click once and click another time and to get into like a different shooting mode each time. And also because of the design of the Crane 3, you're now able to get those low angle shots much easier than with the Crane 2 because you have to physically get lower to the ground in order to get those lower angle shots. But with the handle on the Crane 3, you just need to put the gimbal down sort of like a briefcase almost, and you're able to get those low angle shots without as much effort. Another thing that the Crane 3 wins in this category is the ability to lock down each axis. And this makes it much easier to balance your camera when you're setting up your gimbal. And when you're moving it from location to location, it's easier to just fold everything in and lock it down versus on the Crane 2 where everything is just wobbling and flip-flopping around and the arms are just banging around on each other. And that's definitely not good for your motors. Now we're going to move on to number five, which is battery life. From my experience, the Crane 2 definitely has better battery life. And a big part of that is the Crane 3 and how its motors have to work much harder. When I'm shooting weddings, the Crane 3 typically lasts about six hours before I have to swap out a new set of batteries. But on the Crane 2, I'm easily able to last about eight hours before I have to switch out a new set of batteries. And that pretty much lasts all day and I don't have to worry about charging another device. So if you're like me and you're shooting for longer periods of time, the Crane 2's battery life is definitely worth considering. And lastly, number six, we're talking about price. And price is always going to be a huge part in determining which gimbal you're going to be able to get. When Crane 3 first came out, it was retailing about $700 to $800. And now it's about $600 on Amazon versus the Crane 2, which is about $470. And I'll leave links down below so you can go check that out. And for some people, the $130 price difference might not make the Crane 3 that much more appealing over the Crane 2. You might not need all the features like the stronger motors, payload difference, and all that kind of stuff. And for me, after I've been extensively using these two gimbals for six months each, I can definitely and confidently say that I like the Crane 2 way better than the Crane 3 just because it's lighter. It saves my strength a lot on longer shoot days. Yes, you don't have like the cool design, but you have all the same shooting modes. You have all the same cameras that it supports. For me, the Crane 2 definitely works a lot better than the Crane 3. But that is it for me. If you guys like this video, leave me a thumbs up, make sure to subscribe, hit the bell to get notified of every video that I post. My name is Alex Chung, and I'll see you later. Bye. Bye.