Verdict
The DJI RS 3 Mini is a powerful gimbal for stabilise small mirrorless cameras . The shelling biography is a chip disappointing , but there are plentitude of features to wager around with and it ’s more summary and affordable than the other gimbals in its series .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
If you ’re in need of a new camera stabiliser but baulk at the idea of block around a large gimbal , the DJI RS 3 Mini could be mightily up your skittle alley .
The RS 3 Mini mark the third instalment in DJI ’s RS 3 line , sit around just below the RS 3 and the RS 3 professional , both physically and in term of its glasses .
The gimbal is part of DJI ’s goal to bring in professional - level tech to content Jehovah and can be geminate with a wide array of mirrorless cameras .
Keep reading to find out more about DJI ’s latest ( and little ) RS gimbal .
Design
The DJI RS 3 Mini come with several items in the box which need to be assembled before you’re able to get started . This include the tripod extension , the mounting plate , a screw to bond the plate and the gimbal itself .
If you ’re conversant with building Ikea article of furniture , you should be able to figure out what goes where by follow the wordless diagram in the manual .
Once that ’s done , the next step is balance the gimbal . This is the part I found the most unmanageable the first time I rise a camera , as there are several locks and lever that want to be agitate in a specific order to balance it correctly .
I do think this is something that belike gets easier with practice , as DJI expect its users to rebalance the gimbal every time they bind a new camera . The companionship also walks you through the appendage on its DJI Tutorials YouTube communication channel , so you may always channelise over there if you forget which lever tumbler corresponds to which axis .
The RS 3 Mini itself has a uncomplicated black design with grey and reddish levers and a rubberised handgrip where the rechargeable battery lives .
Most of the controls can be line up on the 1.4 - inch gloss touchscreen place above the hold , but there ’s also a small array of strong-arm buttons on the gimbal . These include a power button , a record button and an M button , as well as a induction and a telephone dial on the other side of the grip .
The gimbal also comes with a USB - snow larboard for charging and a NATO port for attaching additional DJI accessories .
From its name , you might assume the RS 3 Mini would be little and lightweight – and it is compared to the other gimbals in its series . The Mini measures 180 × 159 × 296 mm unfolded and weighs 795 g. For comparability , the regular RS 3 measures 364 × 187 × 170 mm and weighs 1.3 kg and the RS 3 Pro is even big at 415 × 218 × 195 mm and 1.5 kg .
Despite its more compact sizing , the RS 3 Mini can deal up to 2 kg of photographic camera weight and has the add up benefit of well fitting in a tote bag or humble backpack to take on the go .
While not nearly as toilsome as the other gimbal in the series , the Mini is n’t exactly feather - light either . It ’s a good job the machine is designed to keep cameras static , as otherwise , I call back I would have captured a deal of shaky footage in my local park after waving it above my read/write head for an hour . I did n’t even mount a peculiarly chunky camera and lens , opting to pair the gimbal with the lightweight Nikon Z30 .
Regardless , that does n’t change the fact that this is one of the most lightweight and locomotion - friendly mirrorless camera gimbal you ’ll find , at least in DJI ’s current lineage - up .
Features and companion app
According to DJI , the RS 3 Mini is compatible with most mainstream mirrorless cameras . Not only can you climb the camera for more unchanging video , but you could also use Bluetooth to control the shutter and access other features .
While I found the record clit worked well , I could n’t seem to get the camera to autofocus when I hold the button down midway or to shoot a exposure when I held the push button for long .
also , there ’s also a large front telephone dial which can be used to get at a range of features depending on your tv camera , including focus , optical and digital zoom , ISO , aperture and gimbal movements . The only pick that seemed to knead with my camera were the axial rotation , goat god and controversy cause of the gimbal , though this may have been a compatibility issuing as I know the zoom feature ( to name one ) is only hold up on sealed Sony cameras .
While the lack of photographic camera functions was a chip galling , all of the gimbal features work perfectly , including the three main stabilization modes – PF , PTF and FPV .
you may place custom mode to fall out any axis of your selection , but my personal favourite feature was 3D Roll 360 . This modality allows you to accommodate the travelling bag parallel to the solid ground and use the joystick to turn out the television camera 360 degrees ensue in a trippy time burrow effect . The spin motion is incredibly smooth and this is n’t an effect you could fascinate anywhere most as easy without a gimbal .
Finally , there ’s the Ronin app , which introduces characteristic like panorama , timelapse , track recording and the power to control the gimbal using a PS4 or Xbox controller . I particularly liked how accurate the aspect mood was and I can see raceway recording being essential for planning out shots in instances where you need the camera to get from point A to point B.
Handling and performance
The DJI RS 3 Mini leverages DJI ’s 3rd generation stabilisation algorithm , provide it to produce smooth footage in a across-the-board diverseness of situations . I found the gimbal did a wondrous job of following my arm movements at a miscellanea of velocity and footage captured with the equipment was very unchanging .
you’re able to also adjust the speed manually by pick out between dull , medium , dissolute and custom , which array from 5 - 100 in increments of 5 . I found the tedious setting sense a spot too inert and fast was the toughest to ascertain . culture medium offered a sweet spot between the two , making it my favourite pace to shoot at .
The gimbal ’s automobile - air feature determines the stiffness of the gimbal , but you also have the option to adjust any of the three axes manually using the touchscreen . Sport Mode , meanwhile , pushes both to the extreme , pop the question in high spirits sensitivity and speed when activated .
If you struggle to move the gimbal at sealed angles or desire to tear apart while the twist is perched on a mesa , there ’s also the stick . This allow you to move the tv camera without just one finger and there ’s also the option to aline speed and smoothness with this method .
Finally , there ’s the pushing style , which allows you to physically move the television camera to taper in any direction when actuate .
I found the trigger on the back of the gimbal to be very utilitarian for bringing the camera back to its original position . Pressing the trigger twice recentres the camera , while hit it three time thumb the camera into selfie mode , basically allowing vloggers to expend the gimbal as a stabilising option to a selfie stick .
The only affair I ’d note in this representative is that flip your camera ’s screen out will in all likelihood throw the gimbal off balance , so you ’ll want to rebalance the camera if you want to see yourself as you vlog .
The last thing worth noting is battery life sentence . The battery charge quickly but I also found it depleted very fast – this is despite DJI ’s 10 - hour barrage fire claims . I supervise the battery for a telephone number of hour and found it typically lost about 10 % every 30 minutes , which would work out closer to 5 hours in aggregate .
I ca n’t ideate many users would need to take the gimbal out for more than five hours at a time . After all , the Mini is marketed toward subject creators over movie maker enter for day at a time . However , you might find the gimbal will need to be provide to lodge between uses .
The RS 3 and the RS 3 Pro have a slightly longsighted 12 - hour battery life , but we have n’t try out these model ourselves so we ca n’t say how accurate that number is with real - macrocosm use .
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Should you buy it?
The RS 3 Mini might be low but it produces fantastically smooth footage and has batch of tricks up its sleeve .
If you desire to go days without charging your gimbal , you ’ll be better opting for one with a longer bombardment life .
Final Thoughts
The DJI RS 3 Mini offers a more lightweight and travelling - friendly alternative to its larger siblings , the RS 3 and the RS 3 Pro .
The gimbal produces bland , static telecasting and is packed with useful features , from the selfie mode to get across recording and the more creative 3D Roll 360 time tunnel modality . Setting the speed , stiffness and axes is easy using the bright touchscreen and you may start put down forthwith from the grip .
I bid I ’d been able-bodied to try out with more of the camera crosscut and the short barrage fire life was unsatisfying , but neither of these drawback would put me off recommending this gimbal to anyone looking for a compact and versatile stabiliser for small mirrorless camera .
That said , if you ’re looking to record smooth videos from your smartphone , verify to check out our reviews of theDJI OM 5and theZhiyun Smooth Q4 .
Trusted Score
How we test
We screen gimbals thoroughly , filming in a variety of conditions to give us the respectable possible mental testing results .
FAQs
No , the RS 3 Mini is design to be used alongside mirrorless camera .
The gimbal has a claimed battery life of 10 hours , but we found it drained power faster than this .
Yes , it does . you could access additional features , like aspect and timelapse , through the DJI Ronin app .
