'Zhiyun,' the China-based manufacturer of professional camera peripherals, has debuted the 'Zhiyun Smooth 5,' a multipurpose gimbal for videographers. The Zhiyun Smooth 5 features a fully rotatable gimbal controlled by buttons on the handle or by a smartphone app. The companion app for the gimbal is 'ZY Cami,' which costs an annual subscription, but the first year is included in a bundle with the Zhiyun Smooth 5 for 50 extra dollars, alongside other added perks such as a carrying case and fill lights.
Having a subscription to ZY Cami unlocks features such as SMART Mode, SmartFollow, Online Editing, and Live Stream Master. These features help the videographer choose how the video should focus, what the video should focus on automatically, and various editing tools for both live and uploaded videos.
Image Credit: Zhiyun
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Multipurpose Gimbals
- The development of multipurpose gimbals offers videographers greater versatility and opens up new markets in the photography and film industries.
- Smartphone-controlled Gimbals
- The integration of smartphone apps and touch screens in gimbal design creates opportunity to offer increased convenience and precision for creators.
- Subscription-based Editing Tools
- Providing a bundle of professional editing tools with a gimbal, and charging a subscription, creates a revenue stream whilst offering creators the opportunity to elevate their production quality.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Photography Industry
- Offering multipurpose gimbals provides photographers with improved control and stability over their cameras, creating new opportunities for action, landscape, and time-lapse photography.
- Film Industry
- Integration of multipurpose gimbal technology offers new creative possibilities in film production, opening up professional-grade video capture for independent filmmakers.
- Software Industry
- Subscription-based editing software bundles, such as those offered by ZY Cami, could become a new software category in their own right, providing professional-grade tools to creators at lower cost than full-feature editing suites.
