In-body image stabilization, or IBIS, has become quite good at providing stabilization for photos at moderately low shutter speeds. But IBIS is not great for handheld video, and that’s where video gimbals come in. These handheld devices use much larger motors to provide additional stabilization, meaning much smoother video. I recently tested one of DJI’s latest gimbals, the DJI RS4 Mini, which is one of the less expensive options that still fits a full-size mirrorless camera. How did it perform?
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Video Gimbals Explained
Video gimbals stabilize video footage and excel when the camera is moving, panning, and tilting in a variety of dynamic angles. They look like complicated sticks on which you attach your camera:
DJI has become a big name in the video gimbal industry recently. Some of their gimbals are small and meant for lighter cameras or phones; others are heavy-duty, high-end devices meant for rigorous use with large cameras and lenses. Even their drone cameras are stabilized with gimbals. The RS4 Mini is somewhere in between and supports up to 2kg of camera equipment, which is plenty for most users.
Basic Features and Build Quality
My first impression was that the RS4 Mini is a sturdy device. It’s made of plastic and Teflon-coated metal, and the knobs and locking switches are solid. Nothing feels loose or wobbly, including the mini tripod and the briefcase handle.
The camera attaches to the gimbal via an Arca Swiss plate system. There are easy-to-read measurement ticks on the axes that allow you to position your camera exactly, and to take note of the measurements so you don’t have to re-balance your setup every time you switch to a different camera or switch lenses.
Speaking of – once a camera is mounted on the RS4 Mini, you need to balance it along each axis in order for the gimbal to work properly. The procedure is pretty easy, and there is a final fine-tuning feature that improves the performance by automatically adjusting tensions of the axes. It’s also got a fine adjustment knob for the camera itself, which helps for balancing a larger load.
The options on the gimbal can be accessed from the touch screen. From there, you can control the responsiveness of how the gimbal follows motion, the speed of the pans, and the functions of some of the buttons. There is also a dedicated switch on the right side that controls which axes are locked – so you can, for example, control whether the camera should tilt or not if the gimbal is tilted.
The RS4 Mini also has a few buttons to control the camera. To use them, you’ll need to connect to the camera using a cable or bluetooth. The supported cameras are listed on the gimbal’s web page – although it isn’t comprehensive, as the original Nikon Z6 worked properly but is not listed. If your camera isn’t supported, and you intend to use these buttons, you may need to purchase a custom cable separately. (That said, all newer cameras with a USB-C port will work with the provided cable.)
Once you connect the camera, the record button on the gimbal will start and stop video recording. With many camera models, you can also pull focus using the dial on the front of the gimbal. While you could still control these functions on the camera itself if you prefer, touching the camera or lens while the gimbal is in operation will ruin the smoothness of the video.
Note that for pull-focus, you will need to use a cable, because pull-focus does not work through Bluetooth. More recent mirrorless lenses will work beautifully with pull-focus because the AF motors of such lenses are typically designed with video in mind. On the other hand, most older adapted DSLR lenses will likely be difficult to use pull-focus smoothly with the remote control due to their jerky motors.
Aside from using it for pull-focus, you can also configure the front dial on the gimbal to change ISO, shutter speed, and aperture as well, or just keep it for controlling the pan or tilt of the gimbal itself. Personally, I found the aperture control to be very handy, since it’s one of the most frequently changed settings in video.
The gimbal has one large trigger on the front too, which can be used to lock the current direction that the camera is facing. This is useful when you want to approach some subject and then lock the camera in the direction of your subject. Pressing the trigger twice will reset the gimbal position.
Briefcase Handle and Mount
The DJI RS4 Mini comes with an extra attachment known as a briefcase handle. This little accessory is a must for many types of shots where you change the height of the camera. You can adjust the angle of the handle using a rosette-style locking system, which is very useful.
The hande itself is a good size and works well. You use it by holding the gimbal with one hand and the handle with the other. It helps stabilize the system any time you want to hold the camera at waist-level or lower. Otherwise, it’s very difficult to hold the gimbal, which becomes approximately horizontal.
Even with less difficult shots, the handle is useful for long periods of shooting. It’s more comfortable to have one hand on the handle and one on the bottom of the gimbal, as shown in the image above. Note that the mount for the handle is a standard NATO mount, and thus it can also be used for other accessories like a light or microphone.
Intelligent Tracking
The intelligent tracking system of the RS4 Mini is a cool concept, and one not present on many gimbals. It is a small camera module that can be attached to the gimbal that has basic human subject-recognition. Once attached to the gimbal, it will automatically move the unlocked axes to track the subject across the frame.
Its tracking can be customized. You can control its follow speed and whether to keep the current composition or center the composition. It can also be activated and deactivated with hand gestures, so that the person in front of the camera can activate it.
I found the module to be pretty good at tracking, even when I tested it indoors with a very dim lamp. It aids in following subjects that you’re filming, and it can also be useful for filming vlogs with the gimbal mounted on a tripod.
Stabilization System
Once I balanced my camera on the RS4 Mini, the stabilization system felt very good even when I moved the camera around in fairly bizarre pans, tilts, and rotations.
The footage I got was pretty smooth, but it did take some practice to learn how to use this gimbal. It’s not as effortless to use as a smooth video fluid head, and you’ve got to walk as smoothly as possible, too. That’s true of all video gimbals in this smaller size category, but it’s worth knowing.
The RS4 Mini also has some controls that should make dynamic types of footage easier. For example, you can make it rotate for pan and tilt using the small joystick. The motion here was very smooth, in my experience. And because the gimbal is moved by smooth motors, it’s even easier to pan than a decent fluid head, like my Manfrotto Nitrotech 408.
Speaking of motors, the gimbal itself is silent. That means if you are using a small on-camera microphone, you won’t get extra background noise from the gimbal operation – although in the best of cases, a microphone should ideally be off-camera anyway. But beyond the concern of microphones, it’s more fun and less distracting to use a silent device like this.
The RS4 Mini also has two helpful modes:
- Orbit Mode: A mode that makes circular and arc movements smoother
- Sport Mode: A mode that increases the follow speed of the gimbal so that you can more easily track fast and erratically-moving subjects. Can be very nice when used in conjunction with higher framerates like 60fps or 120fps for slow-motion. It can be activated by simply clicking a button.
The stated capacity of this gimbal is 2kg, but in practice, it is always best to stay a little under that weight in order to maximize the gimbal’s performance and battery life. The maximum weight I used was about 1kg with my Nikon Z6 + FTZ II + 50mm f/1.8 + Variable ND filter, and it worked very well. However, if you regularly get very close to 2kg or maybe even want to surpass it a little, the larger DJI RS4 would be the gimbal for you; it has a capacity of 3kg. For the really heavy-duty users, the DJI RS4 Pro supports 4.5kg.
Weaknesses
It was hard for me to find any weaknesses of the DJI RS4 Mini, as it worked well every time I picked it up. However, I do wish for a removable battery. The battery life wasn’t bad – it only drained to 55% after four hours of constant use – and for most people, it could be used all day without charging. But an interchangeable battery would allow you to keep shooting even during longer trips where charging isn’t an option. And eventually the battery, like all batteries, will get old and not hold a charge as well.
Another thing that could be improved is the placement of the tracking module on the gimbal. On smaller cameras, the tracking module blocks the strap eyelet so the camera can only go so far in the plate. This makes replacing the camera slightly more difficult if you have to take it off.
If necessary, you could remove the strap eyelets on your main video camera. And even if you don’t, you can still use any camera with the gimbal. Just be aware that the camera may have to be rebalanced when the tracking module is attached (which is a good idea anyway, as the module slightly changes the weight distribution of the setup).
The only other negative point is that the gimbal requires activation using a smartphone app when you first get it. It’s true that once you activate it, you never need to use the app or a phone again, but in my opinion, there is no reason to require users activate the gimbal in the first place.
Apart from that, you don’t need to be an expert to set it up. You can use it pretty much right away, and it doesn’t require previous experience shooting with a video gimbal.
Conclusion
The DJI RS4 Mini is an excellent video gimbal. If I needed to use one word for the RS4 Mini, it would be: fun! It’s an impressive piece of equipment for videographers. And although it takes up more space than something like a DJI Osmo, it’s nice to get the extra video quality from using your larger camera setup. If I were going on a trip and making a video about it, I would definitely bring the RS4 Mini along.
If you’re interested in buying the RS4 Mini, considering purchasing it at B&H through our affiliate link below, which helps fund reviews such as this one:
