What is a gimbal bearing
Gimbal is a type of stabilizer but one of the most advanced ones. It is used not only for pro cameras but also for professional smartphone shooting. However odd it may sound, it will come in handy even for those who are just about to start their adventure in the world of photography.
Gimbal stabilizer, generally speaking, allows you to turn, rotate or move your cam in any way, eliminating human mistakes, such as trembling hands, camera shaking and jittering. As a result, you get a smooth and sleek recording, which demands much less post-shooting editing and corrections.
How it works
When you mount a camera to the gimbal, it is able to pivot along three axes. They are:
- Pitch (tilt) axis refers to vertical movements. This function helps you to shoot, for example, a falling down object or a person descending a ladder. You may encounter this effect in movies when the operator shows you a character from clew to earring.
- Roll (Dutch angle) axis, as the very title implies, is responsible for rolls and angles.
- Yaw (pan) axis helps to follow horizontally moving objects or shoot, for example, panoramas.
As a default setting, a gadget can move along all these axes, but you can use a gimbal lock on any of them and prevent a cam from turning into unwanted directions. Smart sensors catch every tiny random movement of a cam and stabilize it. In fact, this technique is so intelligent that it can distinguish unintended motions from the intended ones...in the majority of cases.
This equipment may be either manually controlled or automated. Whichever you choose, don’t forget to balance it before using. Just mount a smartphone or a cam, fix it and adjust the axes so that the gadget doesn’t fall or tilt on its own.
Shooting tips
- Take time to play with your gimbal and check its possibilities out. Take the craziest pictures and shoot the weirdest videos just to see what this tool can and what it can not.
- Write your ideas down. Next time when you have time for shooting, you’ll be able to try them out right away.
- Choose an appropriate tool. We mean, you don’t need the most expensive and multifunctional equipment if you haven’t mastered the art of filmography yet. Buy something more affordable.
And the most important rule – be never afraid of experimenting!