Although the original Akaso v50 action camera was an excellent little entry-level action camera that offered some of the best levels of image quality available in its price point, it did start to show the signs of aging. Due to this, Akaso decided to reboot their v50 range of action cameras with three new additions to the line-up that all hold true to the original v50’s quality and low price point. Due to these new additions to the v50 range seeing some very good sales as well as the original v50 still selling strong after its recent price reduction, we are seeing more and more people asking a number of questions about the camera range.
The most commonly asked question that we are seeing asked time and time again about the cameras is based around the best gimbal for Akaso v50 action cameras. Due to more and more people purchasing one of the entry level action cameras from the Akaso v50 range each and every month, we have decided to focus on the best action camera gimbals for this article. We are hoping that we are going to be able to help any of our readers out there who own one of the cameras from the Akaso v50 range and are looking to add a gimbal to their collection for some image stabilization.
Although there are a number of decent entry level gimbals on the market that work well with the Akaso v50 camera range, we feel that the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is definitely the best option and by a long shot too. Since its release onto to the market, the iSteady Pro 3 has done a similar job to the new Akaso v50 cameras and followed in its predecessors footsteps resulting in an excellent little action camera gimbal.
Its low price point, excellent performance, revolutionary levels of image stabilization, and ease of use make it the ideal partner for your v50 and the tough build quality on the gimbal makes it perfect for action sports too. This is why the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is absolutely dominating the price point right now with it going from strength to strength with each passing month and earning itself more and more excellent, independent reviews from people who use it with their own action cameras.
Skimming over a few of those reviews can offer some great insight into just how good the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 really is but we will be taking a more in-depth look at the gimbal below. We always like to do a detailed breakdown of any product that we recommend to our readers to try and explain why it is out primary recommendation and why we feel that it should be your product of choice over the competition. That said though, the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is in a unique position as there’s no other action camera handheld gimbal stabilizer on the market right now that even comes close to what the gimbal is able to offer you making it the only real option for your v50 anyway.
Performance And Functionality
With this being the third generation of the iSteady Pro gimbal range from Hohem, it should not be surprising that they have taken all of the lessons they have learned from their previous gimbals as well as all of the feedback that they have received from the community over the years to create an excellent gimbal. The experience of Hohem really does show and is the main reason that both the performance and functionality of the gimbal blows the compeating handheld gimbal stabilizers on the market out of the water in our opinion.
The levels of image stabilization that the gimbal is able to provide is outstanding, especially when you factor in the low price tag that the gimbal has with it usually retailing for less than one hundred dollars. This is all down the the next generation gimbal motors that Hohem have been developing since they released their last action camera gimbal as well as the fact that they have also updated their balancing algorithm too.
This ensures that if you are looking to use your Akaso v50 for action sports and want a 3 axis gimbal stabilizer that is able to keep up then the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is easily able to keep the pace. This also rings true for the faster paces action sports with tons of fast movement and vibrations with the gimbal head on the iSteady Pro 3 easily being able to keep your Akaso v50 stable when mounted giving you some super smooth video footage.
The gimbal is also rated to IP64 levels of protection meaning that it is splash proof and resistant to rain but it is not IP66 protected for fully waterproof. This is common and at the time of writing, no gimbals on the market are fully waterproof and we doubt that this is going to change anytime soon due to the nature of a gimbal and its moving parts. As so many action sports do involved water in some way, knowing that your gimbal is splash proof can offer you some peace of mind that your gimbal is safe but the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 should never be fully submerged in water as it will damage the gimbal, likely beyond repair.
There is no need to worry about payload restrictions with the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 either when it comes to the Akaso v50 and the gimbal can easily support the weight of the camera without having to lower the levels of image stabilization that it is able to provide. The balancing algorithm that Hohem have been developing over the years ensures that it can easily balance all action cameras with ease due to their small size and weight.
Hohem have also added a number of improvements to the battery life of the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 too with it now being able to provide you with up to twelve hours of battery for each full charge of the gimbal. In addition to this, it also supports two way charging meaning that you are able to use the battery in the gimbal to charge your Akaso v50. With the v50 supporting a number of higher frame rates at higher resolutions, it can quickly eat its onboard battery so being able to charge it from your gimbal can be a great help.
All in all, the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is an excellent action camera gimbal stabilizer that shines in every way. We are not surprised to see it dominating its price point as well as the general action camera gimbal market while its already excellent reputation amongst the community just keeps on getting better and better as more and more action camera users give the gimbal a try.
User Interface And Control System
The Hohem user interface and control system on their gimbals has always been leading the market amongst the various action camera gimbals due to it offering excellent control of the gimbal head in manual mode as well as quick and easy navigation of the menu. One thing that many people commented on for the older gimbals from the Hohem iSteady Pro gimbal range is the lack of texturing on the joystick of the gimbal but Hohem have taken this feedback onboard and added texture to the joystick on the Hohem iSteady Pro 3.
Depending on what you are actually planning to do with your gimbal, this may be something that is extremely useful or something that you never need. As both the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 and the Akaso v50 are designed for use with action sports, the texturing on the joystick of the gimbal ensures that you are able to accurately use its joystick in manual mode even if your thumb is cold or wet. Do the many of the popular action sports involving cold and wet conditions, it can be highly likley that your thumb will end up wet or cold and may have slipped from the older gimbals in the range and made the gimbal head randomly rotate.
This texturing on the joystick of the gimbal ensures that you are able to quickly and easily tilt or pan the gimbal head with your Akaso v50 mounted as required no matter the conditions or your action sport of choice. For example, say you are carving down a slop while snowboarding and you are wanting to record your experience with your Akaso v50, as you carve and change direction, the manual mode lets you tweak the positioning of the gimbal head to make sure that your v50 always has the best view for your video footage.
Depending on what you are actually planning on doing with your Hohem iSteady Pro 3 and Akaso v50, you may also want to tweak the gimbal settings for various tasks to ensure that you are able to get optimal performance from your setup. Thankfully, Hohem have made a few tweaks to the navigation menu on the gimbal since their older ones and although the older system was easy to navigate, the positioning of some of the settings was not idea. Now, the more commonly tweaked settings on the gimbal are higher in the navigation path to allow you to quickly and easily make changes without having to waste time.
The actual mount on the gimbal head is also very easy to use and you simply place your Akaso v50 onto the mount and secure it in place. Theres no annoying or confusing straps like there is with some of the competing 3 axis action camera gimbal stabilizers on the market right now and the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is as close to plug and play as you are likely to get.
Build Quality And Design
Hohem has managed to rightfully build up an excellent reputation for themselves when it comes to the build quality of their gimbals. It should come as no surprise that the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 has been designed from the very start to be as tough and robust as possible due to it being an action camera gimbal. Hohem have used the latest plastic polymers available just like the ones used in the higher price point gimbals for DSLR and mirrorless cameras to ensure that the iSteady Pro 3 is as tough as possible while also being very lightweight too.
This ensures that no matter what you are planning on getting up with with your gimbal while out and about, it can easily take its fair share of bumps and knocks without having any issues. One of the main reasons that so many of the action camera gimbals on the market right now fail is due to them being frail and easily breaking but the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is a very tough little gimbal and we are confident that it will be able to hold its own and last you for years without issue.
As we mentioned earlier in the article, the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 has been built to be splash proof but it is not waterproof so should never be submerged in water or it will break. Other than that though, you are pretty much good to go with your action sport of choice and capture your adventures with your Akaso v50 in high definition, high frame rate video footage.
When it comes to design, there really is not much you can change for a small, cheap, action camera gimbal stabiliser due to the gimbal designs having been refined over the years to the stage that they are currently at. The design of the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is fit for purpose, it is small, easy to store for travel, and easy to carry with you when on the move with the gimbal in your hand so we really can’ fault Hohem.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over why we feel that the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is definitely the best gimbal for Akaso v50 action cameras on the market. As we have touched on above, there are a few other action camera gimbals out there that are decent but they all have their flaws where as the iSteady Pro 3 is a well rounded gimbal that excels in a number of areas where the other gimbals all fall short. In our opinion, this is why the gimbal has managed to quickly quickly gain the excellent reputation that it enjoys amongst the community as well as why its reputation just keeps on getting better and better.
