Features
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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.
Max. load
The maximum weight that the stabiliser is designed to carry.
This is the maximum weight of the camera with all accessories allowed for this model.
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. controlled speed
The maximum controlled speed supported by the stabiliser is, in fact, the highest speed of rotation of the camera along one axis or another, provided by the device. This is the maximum rotation speed of the entire structure, at which the stabiliser automation can provide effective stabilisation along the corresponding axis (that is, keep the camera stationary).
This item is directly related to the purpose of the stabiliser — for shooting while hiking or cycling on flat terrain, a high stabilization speed is hardly necessary, but during surfing, acrobatic aerobatics and other similar activities, the “slow” stabiliser often turns out to be ineffective.
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.
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.
Field of view
The angle of view of the complete stabiliser camera.
Two things depend on this parameter: the width of the space that enters the frame, and the degree of zoom provided by the camera. A large viewing angle allows you to fit more of the surrounding space into the frame, but details in such a picture will look small. Conversely, a narrower angle limits the field of view but gives a greater magnification and allows you to see the details of what is still in the frame better.
