QuestionGimbal or just IBIS for walking shots at car shows?

Started shooting little video walk-arounds at car shows with my Z5 II and the 24-120! Mostly for my buddy's Instagram, he runs a detailing shop and the owners love seeing their cars in slow pans. Last weekend was a '69 Camaro in Hugger Orange and I nearly cried.

Handheld with IBIS is ok but there's a bounce every time I take a step that drives me nuts. Is a gimbal worth it or is there a trick I'm missing? I'm shooting 4K 30 if that matters. Don't really want to look like a wedding videographer at a Tuesday cruise night lol

Try the ninja walk before you spend anything. Knees bent, heel to toe, elbows tucked in, camera close to your body, and let your legs take the bounce instead of your arms. Looks daft, works. Switch on electronic VR as well if the Z5 II has it (small crop). That fixes most of it.

Shutter speed matters too. If you're at 1/50 for a natural look, any micro shake turns into smear and the IBIS can only do so much. And slow down, you're walking round a parked car, not chasing it.

Gimbal's great, but it's another thing to balance, charge and carry round all day, and you'll spend the first hour of every show rebalancing it every time you zoom. With a zoom lens like the 24-120 that's a real faff. I sold my first gimbal for that reason and only came back to one for paid music video work.

Ninja walk lol. Ok I'll try that Saturday!

mattinmilwaukee said:

Don't really want to look like a wedding videographer

Hey now.

Bro, gimbal is the right tool for smooth walking shots tho. IBIS is great at rotation but it can't really take out the up and down bounce from your steps.

mike_shoots said:

it can't really take out the up and down bounce

Fair, that's the hard bit. A wider focal length helps loads too. 24mm hides far more bounce than 50, and at 120mm forget it, every heartbeat shows. Stay wide, get closer to the car, and the bounce mostly disappears.

Or fix it in post. Resolve's stabilizer is pretty good if you leave a bit of crop room around the edges, shoot a touch wider than you need. That's what I'd try before buying a gimbal. My b-roll walking shots for the channel are mostly handheld plus a stabilize pass, nobody's ever commented.

Update: ninja walk + staying at 24mm + a bit of stabilizing in Resolve and it's WAY better. One of the car guys at the show asked if I had a gimbal!! Saving my money for a polarizer instead, the reflections off the paint are killing me now lol

Told ya. Well, Ben told ya.