In my endeavours as a travel and landscape photographer on YouTube, I have been looking at ways in which to improve some of the footage that I capture.
Most of the main footage and b-roll footage is filmed using a GoPro Hero 5 and as such isn’t always what I’d like for my vlogs. Yes, I do add in time-lapse, which is captured using my Canon 5D Mark II or Canon 6D, but still, there is room for improvement.
Having done much research and thinking, and looking at other people’s vlogs whom I admire, I decided that Zhiyun Crane Plus was the best fit for my work going forward. With a payload of around 2.5kg, the Zhiyun Crane Plus is capable of holding a camera such as a Canon 6D Mark II or Canon 5D Mark IV in tandem with a lens such as the Canon 17-40mm F4 L or Canon 24-70mm F2.8 Mark II.
This extra payload above the Zhiyun Crane 2 means that you have extra flexibility with the camera that you want to use it with. Available through various outlets, it’s a snap at the price point it comes in at. A price that if you’re a professional, you’re likely to see earn its keep very quickly.
I did not buy the Zhiyun Crane Plus on impulse. I spent time looking at how other vloggers were shooting their B-roll, how they were moving through scenes, and how much smoother their footage felt. The more I looked, the more often I saw the Zhiyun Crane range in use.
In the end, I chose the Zhiyun Crane Plus rather than a smaller option because I wanted headroom. My current setup is not light. I use a Canon DSLR and L-series lenses, and that combination adds weight quickly. If a gimbal struggles with the load, the whole thing becomes pointless.
The big selling point for me on the Zhiyun Crane Plus was the payload. At around 2.5 kg, it gives me enough confidence to mount a heavier body and lens without feeling as though I’m operating right on the limit. That matters when I’m using equipment such as a Canon 6D with a 17-40mm lens, and it also matters if I want to switch combinations later.
The extra payload is the reason I bought the Zhiyun Crane Plus. I wanted something that could handle my DSLR now and still make sense if I moved to a lighter mirrorless body later.
I am looking at moving towards a Sony mirrorless camera in the future, which would make the setup much lighter. Even so, I preferred to buy for my current needs first. I’d rather have more capacity than not enough.
One thing I want to make clear is that this was not sponsored. I bought it with my own money because I thought it would improve the look of my videos and earn its keep through future work.
The first thing I liked was the case. The Zhiyun Crane Plus comes in a hard case, and for the kind of travel I do, that’s important. I spend a lot of time moving around Europe, and I also have longer trips coming up, so I wanted something that would protect the gimbal in transit.
A solid case might sound like a small detail, but it matters with camera gear. Airports, trains, car boots, hotel rooms, and constant packing and unpacking can take their toll. A hard case gives me one less thing to worry about.
Inside the case, the kit was laid out neatly and felt complete straight away. It included:
The charger and batteries were the first practical job, because there was no point in heading outside to test anything before charging up. Alongside that, I found a set of cables for camera control. From what I could see, one cable was for Panasonic, and another was for Sony, which ties in with the extra control options available on the Zhiyun Crane Plus when it’s paired with certain cameras.
There’s also an app for the gimbal, which opens up some of the smarter functions. I wasn’t focused on that straight away because my first goal was simple: get the thing balanced, powered up, and outside.
The mini tripod was a nice extra too. That sort of accessory often turns out to be more useful than expected, especially when you’re somewhere that says no tripods. Having a small support tucked away in a bag can be handy.
My first reaction to the Zhiyun Crane Plus itself was positive. It felt quite nice and light, which is what I wanted. Travel gear adds up fast, and airline limits are never far from my mind. I do get some breathing room because I fly often with Air France and have a baggage allowance of two 23 kg suitcases, but even then, a lighter kit always helps.
I had no interest in turning this into a full tutorial, because plenty of those already exist. Still, the setup process is part of the real experience, and if you’ve never balanced a gimbal before, it can feel awkward at first.
The principle is simple enough. Each axis has to be adjusted so the camera stays where you place it rather than tipping forward, back, or sideways. In practice, that means a bit of trial and error.
The first check was the main tilt balance. I mounted the camera and adjusted the arm so that, when I held it in position, the camera did not drop forward or backwards. When that point is right, the camera settles in the middle rather than trying to fall away from the centre.
After that, I checked the tilt again from a different angle. If the camera is balanced properly, I can tilt it back, and it should stay where it is rather than pitching in either direction. That is where the centre of gravity starts to make sense.
Then I moved on to the roll axis. Here, the aim is to stop the camera leaning off to one side. A small adjustment on the rear arm brought it into line, and once that was dialled in, the setup felt much more stable in the hand.
There was another axis to deal with, too, and that was the point where the process reminded me that balancing the Zhiyun Crane Plus is mostly patience. It is not hard in theory, but it can still be frustrating when you are making tiny changes and trying to spot whether the camera is drifting.
Balancing a Zhiyun Crane Plus becomes much easier once the goal is clear. The camera should stay put when I let go.
That is the best way I can describe it. It felt a bit like balancing a stick on my hand and trying to find the exact point where everything settles. Once I got there, the Zhiyun Crane Plus looked right and felt ready to test.
For this first run, I had a Canon 6D mounted with a 17-40mm lens. That is not a tiny setup, so it was a good test of why I had chosen the Plus model in the first place.
Once the batteries were charged and the balancing was close enough, I took the gimbal out for a short session in my local area. The weather was good, which made it the right time to stop fiddling indoors and start shooting.
I was not expecting masterpieces from the first outing. The point was to get a feel for movement, handling, and what kind of footage I could start adding to the vlogs. In that sense, the test did exactly what I needed it to do.
The clips gave me a first look at how the Zhiyun Crane Plus could improve my B-roll. Camera movement felt smoother, and straight away I could see how it would help with walking shots, slower pans, and more controlled movement around a subject.
Even with a heavier DSLR setup, the Zhiyun Crane Plus felt usable. A lighter mirrorless camera would make the whole thing easier to manage for longer periods, and that still sits in the back of my mind. For now, though, the key point is that the Zhiyun Crane Plus handled my current setup, which was the reason for buying it.
I would not claim these first clips were stunning. They were a starting point. More importantly, they showed me what was possible, and they gave me a clear idea of how the Zhiyun Crane Plus could improve future episodes.
The timing of this purchase made sense because I had a run of trips coming up. That gave me a proper chance to use the gimbal somewhere more interesting than a quick local test.
At the time, I had three locations lined up over the next couple of weeks, plus another trip at the end of May. Those places included:
That is exactly the kind of schedule where a gimbal starts to prove its value. Streets, landscapes, travel scenes, moving between foreground and background, and smoother establishing shots all benefit from more controlled camera movement.
Italy, in particular, felt like the perfect place to use it properly. The rolling landscape in Tuscany is made for slow, deliberate motion, especially when the light is good and the lines in the land start to lead the eye through the frame. That kind of shooting also ties in closely with the sort of Tuscany photography tours I run, where landscape and travel photography naturally overlap.
If the Crane Plus performs well across trips like those, then the cost starts to make sense quickly. For paid work, client content, YouTube, or even stronger personal travel films, a useful tool does not need long to justify itself.
After the unboxing and first test, my view of the Zhiyun Crane Plus was mostly positive. The strongest points were clear from the start.
The payload is the headline feature for me. That extra capacity is what makes it workable with larger cameras and heavier lenses. It gives more freedom than a gimbal that only feels comfortable with tiny mirrorless bodies.
The price also felt fair for what it offered. I did not get the sense that I was paying a premium for the sake of it. If the gimbal becomes a regular part of my filming kit, it should cover its cost quickly.
Its weight was another plus. The unit felt light enough to travel with, and that matters because I often have to think about airline restrictions and how much camera equipment I am carrying overall.
Then there are the accessories. The case, batteries, charger, cables, grip tape, and mini tripod gave the whole package a complete feel. Nothing about it felt stripped back.
There was only one real annoyance during my first use. At times, I found myself pressing the power button by accident. It was not a major flaw, but it was enough to notice, and it became mildly frustrating now and then.
Beyond that, I struggled to find much to complain about. My early impression was that this is a fantastic bit of kit, especially if you need a gimbal that can cope with a larger camera setup without becoming ridiculous to carry.
The main reason I bought the Zhiyun Crane Plus was simple, I wanted better-looking footage. After the unboxing, setup, and first test, it already felt like the right choice for the way I shoot now and the way I may shoot later.
It handled my Canon DSLR setup, gave me smoother movement in B-roll, and came ready for travel with a useful set of accessories. That is a strong start, and it is enough to make me want to keep pushing it further on the road.
The real test was always going to be what happens once it leaves the house and joins me on proper trips. From Florence to Tuscany and beyond, that is where this gimbal had the chance to prove its value, and I had every reason to think it would.
