Type
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For smartphone. Mount for using a smartphone as a camera. Most often it is a kind of clamp, in which the body of the device is tightly clamped. Such clamps usually have a fairly wide range of adjustment for the width of the phone, which allows you to use this type of stabiliser with most modern smartphones, regardless of the diagonal. And some models can even work with compact digital cameras.
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For camera. Attachments designed for use with full-size cameras — SLR and mirrorless (MILC). Such cameras are quite large and have a thread mount for a tripod. All these features are taken into account in the design of the stabiliser.
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For action cameras. Stabilisers designed for action cameras — compact cameras used mainly for shooting dynamic scenes like sports, 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 stabilisers may be different, so before buying it's ok to clarify this matter separately. Note that instead of the general name “for action camera”, the stabiliser specifications may contain the names of specific models of action cameras for which the device is designed.
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With camera. Stabilizers equipped with their own cameras. These are integrated directly int
...o the stabilizer's construction, eliminating the need for external devices for filming. Moreover, such models are inherently optimized for working with the built-in camera — at the very least, the user doesn't have to deal with balancing the load on the stabilizer's head. Note that the ability to remove and replace the camera with another is usually not provided, although there are occasional exceptions to this rule.Display
The presence
of a display in the stabiliser design makes the operation of the device more comfortable and visual. Depending on the specific modification of the stabiliser, the screen can perform many functions. Usually, the display shows basic information about the operating modes used, the date and time, as well as the battery level. The most advanced stabilisers can display the image from the camera, which allows you to use it as a viewfinder with LiveView mode. At the same time, the screen size on professional steadicams can reach 3″ or more, but the vast majority of models are still equipped with a 0.5″ screen.
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-backwards tilt angles relative to the vertical position supported by the stabiliser.
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 can deviate from the neutral position in both directions by the same angle, which is half the range.
Another option is used when the angles of tilt 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, and the “+” sign — forward, lens down.
Bank angle
The range of roll angles (to the side) supported by the stabiliser.
Can be recorded in two ways (See "Tilt angle")
Max. phone diagonal
The maximum diagonal of the phone that can be installed on this stabiliser.
This parameter is more relevant for models for various purposes, not only for those that were originally designed for smartphones. Here we note that the maximum diagonal is a rather approximate parameter: models with the same screen size may have different actual dimensions.
Full HD (1080p)
Full HD (1080p) video recording capabilities supported by the stabiliser's camera.
Full HD has a 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 capacious storage drives as 2K and especially 4K standards.
Quad HD
Quad HD (2K) video recording capabilities supported by the stabiliser'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). 2K stabiliser's cameras usually operate at a resolution of 2704x1520 pixels.
Ultra HD (4K)
The ability to record 4K Ultra HD video.
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 are also found — for example, 4096x2160.
Recording 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.
