Recently, Scott Bourne, a well-known photographer, published the latest evaluation of WEEBILL 3 in the opinion column of photo focus, an international photography website, claiming that WEEBILL 3 is the "Cadillac" of stabilizers. It also introduces that Zhiyun WEEBILL 3 is a stabilizer for professional photographers, which is different from Zhiyun Crane M3 for beginners and enthusiasts. WEEBILL 3 is lightweight, stable, highly integrated, and has some unique design elements that make it stand out from the crowd. In the article, the features of this stabilizer are introduced in detail, and its handheld labor-saving effect is highly evaluated.

Ergonomic design, easy to carry
The first impression of Zhiyun WEEBILL 3 stabilizer is that the stabilizer is really small and light in the hand. The size of A4 paper, easy to carry and easy to store, can accommodate and handle mainstream full-frame SLR cameras and mirrorless cameras, which is well received by users, which also establishes its position in the industry.

WEEBILL 3's intuitive advantages: built-in fill light and microphone, very stable platform, good battery life, compatibility with large cameras, competitive price; The slight disadvantage is that the OLED screen is smaller and the original touch screen is cancelled. Camera control is only compatible with major brands such as Canon, Sony and Panasonic.

Compared with the previous generation product Crane M3, WEEBILL 3 increases 10% shaft arm space, 50% battery life, reinforced structure is still portable enough, only 1130 G net weight, 342 * 206.5 * 72.5mm body size, which is light and small in a number of professional camera stabilizers, convenient for travel shooting and storage. It can be called the existence of the ceiling level in the stabilizer.

The WEEBILL 3 is 13.5 inches tall and only 8 inches wide when folded down, making it easy and effortless to hold. It's also unique in terms of exterior color matching. Although it's not as striking as Crane M3's white color scheme, WEEBILL 3's black finish and red decoration look more fashionable than ever.

Reasonable control layout, easy to operate
The control layout of Zhiyun WEEBILL 3 takes full account of the actual use needs. The button layout is similar to the design of the flight joystick. Even blind operation is no problem at all. It is easy to get started. Starting at the base of the stabilizer, you'll find the power button and hidden charging port on the front of the grip. At the bottom, there is a mounting thread that can be attached to a tripod or a device like the Manfrotto GimBoom. Finally, Zhiyun's new wrist rest will be found on the base.

It sets the most important shooting, mode selection, Gimbal direction adjustment rocker to the position where the thumb can touch, and then the dial wheel can carry out aperture, Gimbal roll and other operations, while the trigger key can also reset the posture and other operations. In the center of the handle, there is an OLED screen in Chinese and English, which can adjust the parameters and performance in detail through the menu, and also let users know the current working status and other information.

WEEBILL 3 uses a double-layer quick-mounting board design, so the camera can be disassembled and assembled without repeated leveling. Move up and it's easy to find the built-in microphone and fill light, 3.5mm audio input and two USB-C connectors. The design of Zhiyun WEEBILL 3 is not overly complex, the layout is well thought out, and all the input ports are easy to operate and use when you hold it.

Innovative three-axis leveling with high stability
Stabilizer leveling improvement is not an easy task, and Zhiyun WEEBILL 3 is no exception. Photographer Scott Bourne considers the WEEBILL 3's leveling device to be the best shooting experience of all stabilizers.

When the camera is mounted on the stabilizer, the user can easily level the three axes of the stabilizer, the roll axis, the pitch axis, and the heading axis. The three axes move smoothly and lock quickly. Photographer Scott Bourne said: He's been able to switch cameras and lenses and re-level in less than a minute, and using WEEBILL 3 is a great way to put that out of your mind.

Practical compatibility to improve user experience
Anyone who has used the stabilizer for a while has no problem picking up the WEEBILL 3 and starting to use it. WEEBILL 3 is very simple in terms of operation, and once the user's camera is leveled and connected (if the user's camera brand is compatible with support), the user can start using it.

At present, the camera brands supported by WEEBILL 3 are Sony, Nikon, Fuji, Panasonic, Aokang, Sigma and Zcam. Otherwise, the camera cannot be controlled directly through the ZY Play application of the stabilizer. Scott Bourne expressed the hope that this would change in the future with a firmware upgrade.

As mentioned earlier, the WEEBILL 3 controls are well laid out and easy to use. For example, the joystick lets users pan and tilt quickly, and the mode button lets users easily switch between various modes (lock, pan, follow, portrait, 3D dream, and POV).

Must mention an ingenious design-a small magnetic tightening wrench located under the quick-loading plate, users can no longer need to find coins to tighten and disassemble quickly. In addition, the WEEBILL 3 can be placed directly on the ground without the need for a supporting tripod — although a tripod is included in the accessory, a small change that greatly improves the user experience.

"Cadillac" in the stabilizer, efficient endurance
The WEEBILL 3's screen is not a touch screen, but the menu system is easy to operate on a 0.96-inch OLED screen. Scott Bourne does want the screen to be larger and touchable, though. The current WEEBILL 3 must use the side wheel to call the menu, which is not a big problem to use, but it will be a little inconvenient when you forget the control scheme.

Scott Bourne said that for him, the most notable feature of Zhiyun WEEBILL 3 is the new wrist rest. If you've used a stabilizer in the past, you know that the weight of the stabilizer, the camera, and the lens can quickly become overwhelming. This wrist rest changes the rules of interaction, when you hold the stabilizer handle with your right hand, the force part of the wrist can be well supported, thus achieving a labor-saving effect, so that users can use the stabilizer for a long time to shoot more coherent material. If the handle of the pot is combined with the wrist rest, it can save effort and easily carry a large camera. Zhiyun WEEBILL 3 is like the "Cadillac" in the stabilizer. The picture will be very smooth, especially when the photography technology is better, it can produce amazing shooting effect.

The motor in Zhiyun WEEBILL 3 is also very powerful. Scott Bourne said that from Olympus EP-1M4/3 digital cameras to full-frame cameras with heavy lenses, the motor can still be easily carried without effort, and the battery life is impressive. According to the video material, the battery life is close to the official nominal 21 hours, and it only takes nearly 2 hours to fully charge from the shutdown state.

Built-in microphone for balanced noise reduction
The built-in microphone is a welcome addition to the Zhiyun WEEBILL 3. To use the microphone, connect the camera to the stabilizer using the included 3.5mm to 3.5mm transmission line. The cardioid microphone picks up sound from the direction the camera is facing and has noise reduction to help suppress background noise.

The built-in microphone of WEEBILL 3 can provide better audio than the built-in microphone of most cameras when recording sound from different directions, and the subtle background noise and low-frequency noise will be removed, which is very popular with creators. The built-in microphone comes in handy if the user's primary microphone is not working properly. Not only that, the WEEBILL 3, as a professional-grade stabilizer, can also be used with an external wireless microphone.

Built-in light, convenient to fill light
Like Crane M3, WEEBILL 3 has a built-in fill light, which helps users maintain low noise levels in low light. The brightness of the lamp can also be controlled, and the user can also control the color temperature of the light between 2600 K and 5400 K. In addition, Zhiyun WEEBILL 3 is equipped with several color-changing filters that can capture light.

In important shooting moments, users may prefer to use dedicated lamps, WEEBILL 3 built-in lamp light is very small, and does not diffuse well, showing the picture will have shadows. However, when you need to run and move fast, it's better to use the built-in light.

Application control, powerful
Users can control the Zhiyun WEEBILL 3 through the Zhiyun iOS and Android app ZY Play, and since the app automatically finds the device, connecting the stabilizer is effortless. After connecting a phone or tablet, users can use the app to pan, tilt and scroll, select all the different modes, and adjust the motor. It can also update the firmware of the PTZ through the application program to achieve more product functions, and it is easy to operate, which is a very good development function.

Generally speaking, Zhiyun WEEBILL 3 is a very highly integrated stabilizer, but it is not just a stabilizer, stability, labor-saving, radio, fill light, are its characteristics. Zhiyun often subverts our understanding of the stabilizer, enriches the understanding and value shaping of the product, and focuses on how the stabilizer itself can better serve photographers, which may be the higher value experience brought by Zhiyun products.

Source:http://science.china.com.cn/2022-08/18/content_42074303.htm