The SJcam 5000 action camera series has proven to be a popular entry level action camera that offers some decent image quality for a very budget friendly price tag that has helped ensure the camera has been able to secure its position as one of the dominant budget friendly action cameras on the market. As with most things, the low price tag and great performance of the camera has ensures that it has rapidly grown a huge customer base of action sport enthusiasts who use it as their go to action camera of choice and it only seems to be growing in popularity.
Due to the camera being so popular and having a large user base, we often see people reaching out with different questions with one of the most popular ones being about the best gimbal for SJcam 5000 users. Due to the budget friendly 3 axis, handheld gimbal stabiliser market being a minefield as well as seeing so many people asking for advice on the subject, we have decided to make it the main focus of todays article.
We are hoping that we are going to be able to help as many of our readers as possible who own the SJcam 5000 and are looking to add a gimbal to their collection of camera accessories and prevent you from you with a low quality gimbal. Anyway, with all of that out of the way, we feel that the best gimbal for the SJcam 5000 is definitely the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 and in all honesty, none of the competing gimbals from the other brands even come close to it right now.
The Hohem iSteady Pro 3 offers you excellent levels of image stabilisation without you having to break the bank and the robust build of the gimbal ensures that you are able to use it for your action sports without having to worry about it breaking easily. This has made the iSteady Pro 3 a very popular gimbal stabiliser amongst the action sport community and it has managed to in a very short period of time essentially dominating the price bracket for action camera gimbals.
Hohem have actually managed to do an excellent job of innovating with their technology upgrades in the gimbal that the iSteady Pro 3 is able to out perform some of the higher price point gimbals on the market right now too. In our opinion, this just makes it the obvious option for anyone who is looking to add a new gimbal stabiliser to their collection of camera accessories, especially for the SJcam 5000 as so few gimbals can mount the camera. We will not be taking a more in-depth look at what the iSteady Pro 3 is able to offer you to try and better explain why we feel that it is the best option for your action camera.
Performance And Functionality
As the iSteady Pro 3 has been specifically designed for use with lightweight action cameras like the SJcam 5000, you don’t have to worry about any load capacity restrictions like you would with a gimbal for mirrorless or DSLR cameras. The action camera gimbal range usually bases their restrictions around the dimensions of the actual action camera rather than its weight and the mounting unit on the iSteady Pro 3 is able to let you mount your SJcam 5000 to it without issue.
Although this may sound like a relatively basic feature to have on an action camera gimbal, the fact that the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is able to natively mount the SJcam 5000 without the need for an adaptor plate scores it points ver the competition. So many action camera gimbal brands will only build their gimbals for use with the GoPro action camera range due it being the dominant brand and having such a huge market share.
This leaves the market open for any savvy gimbal brand like Hohem who have been able to see this and release their gimbals with the out of the box ability to also support the other action cameras on the market too. This is one of the main reasons that the iSteady Pro 3 has been able to grow at such a rapid pace, although GoPro are the dominant action camera brand on the market, all of the other action camera brands put together still hold a large share of the market and the iSteady Pro 3 is the default gimbal option for them now.
When it comes to image stabilization, the iSteady Pro 3 has you cover, Hohem have taken everything that they have learned from their previous gimbal releases and built on it for the Hohem. This results in some of the best image stabilisation that we have seen in the sub-one hundred dollar gimbal price bracket by a long shot. On top of this, you can also use the gimbal for long periods of time without the gimbal motors overheating. This used to be a huge problem for the older gimbals in the Hohem and still some of the more recent gimbals from competing brands but Hohem have fixed the issue for the iSteady Pro 3.
When it comes to the actual battery life of the iSteady Pro 3, Hohem have managed to improve the performance of the gimbal by adding an additional four hours of battery per full charge when compared to the older generations from the Hohem lineup. This results in a twelve hour battery life rather than eight ensuring that you are able to keep capturing your action sport footage with your SJcam 5000 while having the image stabilisation from the gimbal for a full day without having issues with battery.
As some of our readers may notice, the gimbals battery life is considerably longer than the battery life of the SJcam 5000 and although you can purchase spare batteries for the action camera, you can also charge it from the gimbal. The two way charging system is plug and play meaning you just jack your SJcam 5000 into the gimbals micro USB port to charge your action camera from the gimbals battery. This ensures that you can keep capturing your adventures for as long as possible without having to worry about running out of battery or getting access to a power outlet.
As so many action sports involve water, the iSteady Pro 3 is also fully IPX4 compliant meaning that it is splash proof to water so you can use the gimbal in any sports where the gimbal may take minimal splashing. That said though, the gimbal is not IPX6 compliant meaning that it is not fully waterproof just like all other gimbals and should never be submerged in water.
User Interface And Control System
Although there is very little innovation left to make in the entry level user interface space for gimbals, Hohem have fixed the main point of criticism that their older generations of gimbals received. They have added a slight texture to the buttons and the joystick on the gimbal so if your hands are cold or wet, you can still get a good grip and control the gimbal as required. With so many action sports involving cold weather or water, it is good to see that they have taken the feedback that the community offers on board and actually done something with it.
The positioning of the buttons on the gimbal as well as its actual grip have been changed ever so slightly too making it more ergonomic to help ensure that that you are able to hold it for long periods of time and not get cramps or aches in your hand. Additionally, all of the buttons on the iSteady Pro 3 as well as the joystick can all easily be accessed with your thumb from the natural holding grip now without having to stretch.
The actual joystick itself is excellent and we are surprised to see such a great little joystick that is this sensitive on an action camera gimbal in the sub-one hundred dollar price bracket. The manual mode control that this joystick lets you have is smooth allowing you to pan or tilt your SJcam 5000 without having any random jerks in your video footage as the gimbal adjusts the positioning of the gimbal head.
Build Quality And Design
Hohem have always ensured that all of their gimbals are as tough and robust as possible due to being primarily designed for use with action cameras like the SJcam 5000 for use in action sports. That said though, due to the prices of the latest plastic polymers falling over the last few years, Hohem have been able to make the iSteady Pro 3 even tougher than their older gimbals while still keeping the weight and price as low as possible.
These latest plastic polymers ensure that the gimbal is as robust as possible and that you are able to use it in pretty much any action sport that you could think of without running into any issues. This helps to offer you peace of mind that the gimbal is going to last you for many years to come while also letting you know that it is safe in your backpack or luggage while on the move without having to worry about it breaking either. The actual design of the gimbal is pretty standard for a modern 3 axis handheld gimbal but theres not much left to improve on when it comes to the design aspect of the gimbals in this day and age.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over why the Hohem iSteady Pro 3 is the best gimbal for SJcam 5000 action cameras and why we think that it should be the primary gimbal choice for our readers moving forward. It is an excellent little gimbal that has a that just keeps on getting better and better as time passes. The ease of use, great performance, and robust nature of the gimbal makes it the obvious option and most of the competing sub-one hundred dollar gimbals on the market just can’t compare to it or even come close.
