Last year I did a comparison of the GoPro Karma Grip vs. Feiyu Tech Wearable Gimbal. A lot of people said I needed to do an “Apples to Apples” comparison by using their latest offering, as well as the handheld version – the Feiyu Tech G5. Those suggestions were absolutely valid; my earlier comparison was simply done for my own curiosity with the gear that I had. I got my hands on a G5 and went to the mountains!
Feiyu Tech was our go-to gimbal manufacturer for many years before GoPro made its own gimbal – the Karma Grip. Before using the Karma Grip I was absolutely sold on the Feiyu Tech gimbals – they did an amazing job of smoothing out footage. Once I used the Karma Grip, I knew I could never go back because of how much more stable the footage was. This was shown in my previous video, and I think this new video shows it even better.
While both gimbals do a fantastic job of stabilizing, you’ll see the Karma Grip holds up much better in taking out almost ALL of the shakes and jitters that happen during use. When reviewing the footage I wasn’t looking for spots where the Karma Grip worked well and the G5 wasn’t doing a good job, it’s simply a random sampling of the moments that I filmed. You’ll see in a few shots the Karma Grip sometimes has a hard time holding the horizon at higher speeds. This is a known product of the Karma Grip when it’s mounted on things like cars and motorcycles going faster than 40 or 50 MPH.
As for ease of use on the mountain, I prefer the robust and “fool proof” user experience of the Karma Grip. It’s very straightforward, and is on when it’s on, and off when it’s off. You’ll see in the video I had quite a few instances where the G5 would be looking down or back at me or in various orientations. This is mostly due to the fact that it can move in a full 360 rotation, vs the Karma Grip that is fixed in one direction more or less. I find myself not needing the extras like the joystick on the G5 – it really just got in the way. I can see it being useful for more purposeful shooting handheld in a controlled environment – but while skiing, it’s too much to focus on. With the Karma Grip, you can put it in follow mode and it will tilt up and down depending on how you point it, which is fine for me.
Both the Karma Grip and the G5 were using HERO5 Black cameras shooting in 4K-30 with EIS turned off.
Check out the Karma Grip and let me know how you like yours if you have it!
http://amzn.to/2CHruTl
