Features
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For a smartphone. Mount for using a smartphone as a camera. Most often it is a kind of "vice", in which the body of the device is tightly clamped. Such "vices" usually have a fairly wide range of adjustment for the width of the "seat", which allows you to use this type of steadicam with most modern smartphones, regardless of the diagonal. And some models can even work with compact digital cameras.
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For the camera. Attachments designed for use with full-size cameras — SLR and "mirrorless" (MILC). Such cameras are quite large and have a screw mount for a tripod; All these features are taken into account in the design of the steadicam.
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For action cameras. Steadicams designed for action cameras — compact cameras used mainly for shooting dynamic scenes like sports, “rides” (skiing, cycling), etc. Such devices, by definition, are designed for use in rather extreme activities, including surfing , skiing, paragliding, etc. However, the specific features of different steadicams may be different, so before buying it's ok to clarify this point separately.
Note that instead of the general name “for an action camera”, the steadicam specifications may contain the names of specific models of action cameras for which the device is designed.
Rotation angle
The range of rotation angles supported by the steadicam.
In this case, it means turning the camera to the right or left, without tilting back and forth.
Tilt angle
The range of forward-backward tilt angles relative to the vertical position supported by the steadicam.
It can be written in different ways.
The simplest option is when one angle value is indicated in the characteristics. This may mean that the camera is able to deviate from the neutral position in both directions by the same angle, which is half the range.
Another recording option is used when the angles of inclination forward and backward are not the same. In such cases, the horizontal position of the camera on a vertical steadicam is taken as zero, the “—” sign indicates the maximum angle of camera deflection back, lens up, the “+” sign — forward, lens down.
Bank angle
The range of roll angles (to the side) supported by the steadicam.
Can be recorded in two ways (See "Tilt Range")
Max. phone diagonal
The maximum diagonal of the phone (smartphone) that can be installed on this steadicam.
This parameter is more relevant for models for various purposes, not only for those that were originally designed for smartphones. See Phone Mounts for more details. Here we note that the maximum diagonal is a rather approximate indicator: models with the same screen size may have different actual dimensions.
Full HD (1080p)
Full HD (1080p) video shooting capabilities supported by the included Steadicam camera.
Full HD has a native resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. To date, this format is considered to be almost optimal in terms of the ratio between image quality and technical requirements: it noticeably surpasses HD in terms of image detail and at the same time does not require such high capacities and volumetric drives as 2K and especially 4K standards.
Quad HD
Quad HD (2K) video shooting capabilities supported by the Steadicam's bundled camera.
Specifically, the 2K standard includes video formats that have a resolution of more than 1920 pixels horizontally, but do not reach 4K (see the relevant paragraph). In fact, 2K steadicam cameras usually operate at a resolution of 2704x1520 pixels.
Ultra HD (4K)
4K Ultra HD video capabilities supported by the included steadicam camera.
There are no uniform resolution requirements in 4K; 3820x2160 is considered the minimum value for modern consumer video equipment (2 times more than Full HD on each side and 4 times — in the total number of pixels), but higher values \u200b\u200bare also found — for example, 4096x2160.
Shooting in Ultra HD 4K allows you to get very clear and detailed images, however, to properly work with such video, powerful hardware and capacious drives are required.
Field of view
Viewing angle of the complete steadicam camera.
Two things depend on this parameter: the width of the space that enters the frame, and the degree of magnification provided by the camera. A large viewing angle allows you to fit more of the surrounding space into the frame, but individual details in such a picture will look small. Conversely, a narrower angle limits the field of view, but gives a greater approximation and allows you to better see the details of what is still in the frame.
