A7II Stabilization Test with DJI Ronin, Glidecam HD2000 & Handheld
How good is the Sony A7II 5 axis stabilization versus the more “serious” DJ Ronin ($2,699 here on BH) and Glidecam HD2000 ($479 here on BH) Stabilizer Systems? Well watch the video on top to see it.Keep in mind that the test was done before the new firmware released on January 8th. The new firmware improves the performance quite a bit!
And if you need to see more about the new A7II here are two more news:
Sony A7II review at TheVerge.
Model Train Video shot with Sony A7 M2, Action Cam Mini and A99 (SonyAlphaForum).
USA/Canada A7II links:
Sony Alpha a7II (Body Only) for $1,698 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore and Sony Store Canada.
Sony Alpha a7II with FE 28-70mm OSS Lens for $1,998 at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, SonyStore.
Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G SSM II Lens for $1,148 at BHphoto.
EU A7II links:
Sony Alpha a7II (Body Only) for 1.799 Euro at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Jessops UK, Sony France, Sony Italy, Sony Spain, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Netherland, Sony Belgium, Sony Portugal, Sony Sweden, Sony Finland, Sony Norway.
Sony Alpha a7II with FE 28-70mm OSS Lens for 2.099 Euro at Amazon Germany, Wex UK, Jessops UK, Verkkokauppa.
Asian/Australia A7II link:
Sony A7II at Sony Store Australia, Digitalrev and Amazon Japan.
19 Responses
Not only unfair, but completely pointless!
The stabilisation in the A7II serves one purpose, while these expensive add-ons have an altogether different role (albeit named similarly).
If you are going to create professional video (with genuine paying customer demands) then these devices would be on your shopping list. If you just want to create video, travel light, and have a helping hand to keep things smooth, then I’d think the A7II is ideal.
thats it, i am not going to buy the dedicated stabilizer, i think the A7ii is enough. 😛
>If you just want to create video, travel light, and have a helping hand to keep things smooth, then I’d think the A7II is ideal.<
Well said Peter! This point is often forgotten by our younger colleagues who buy cameras for specific tasks, chasing that elusive upper 5% in absolute image quality. After all is said and done the A7 platform can get you to within 95% of any other camera and still remain extremely portable and user friendly.
Terrible video, whomever shot this has no clue. Someone commented on the video already whomever shot this better learn how to operate the gear first. I shot much better material then this handheld, besides stabilization is a creative choice not a means to an end. the big problem with using something like a ronin is that you also need to get rid of the walking motion or it is just going to look very stupid. My easyrig / flowcine does this, I think you either go for the steadicam / dolly look or go for handheld raw action.
The nice thing about ibis is that it takes the jittter out of it but when you use it correctly you will not have many issues with that anyway. the first part of the video is a mess because the guy shooting had no plan, no idea what he would do next.
St00pid + shooter = clueless
This is a rather silly comparison for a number of reasons, not least that the new firmware hugely improves IBIS for filming with.
Does he moves very fast when handhelded and moves veeeery slow with staplizer?
BTW the comments section is disabled in the vid to avoid any criticism.
You are correct, nervous handheld shoot and slow staybilizer, st00pid video
Now that I’ve seen comparisons between an Iphone and a D810/Otus 85mm 1.4- I’m prepared for anything.
that..that didnt really happen, did it? like comparing a geo tracker with a MERCEDES G550 SUV..
At least the Tracker is good for a motor. I think the only useful thing on the Mercedes is the steering arm.
The comparison is nonsense, we knew the external stabilizer gears would make the video more stable than handeld… moreover we dont see so many differences between glidecam and steady shot on and DJI Ronin with SteadyShot OFF…
If the aim was to criticize IBIS, then we can say a external stabilisation gear will be always more efficient than handheld 😉 AND It’s non sense to buy DJI Ronin ( 2699 $) as the IBIS + Glidecam have almost same effect. Then u will be still able to use ur IBIS camera with other lenses for photography but what about the DJI Ronin ? will u bring it with u for Shooting :p…
…for steady shot with a camera without IBIS 😉
I think this was intended as a comparison of Glidecam and Ronin with and without IBIS not as a comparison of IBIS alone to Glidecam and Ronin. But the order and labeling make it confusing.
however he did not test Glidecam without Steadyshot… Knowing it s 5 times less than Ronin, i rather think the future user will learn how to use Glidecam well than buying as much as a second camera just for a stabilizer.
Moreover i think shoulder rig will be more natural gear to hold a camera than one you hold in front of you ( except if you are used of body building 😉 )
You can increase stability by mounting the camera on a tripod and extend the center column enough to grab it with your hand.
It appeared they were walking in clown shoes during the hand held part
Is it just me, or does the video look like it was shot with a very high shutter speed? I mean when the camera is moving from side to side the frames are not smooth, but rather are very jumpy. Makes it very hard to watch.
Thus guy don’t know how to use glidecam.