If you’re going to be using a point and click style camera (including any of the great options from Sony, Nikon, and Canon) – especially if you’re going to be using it while on the go – you’ll want to get your hands on a quality gimbal to stabilize your shots.
And though there are a bunch of different gimbal options out there to pick and choose from, two options in particular – the Zhiyun Crane M2 and the Feiyu G6 Plus – really stand head and shoulders above the rest of the pack.
Specifically designed with ergonomics and balance in mind, but also just flooded with top-tier features that make them very effective pieces of camera equipment, picking between these two choices can be tough.
Well-made, well engineered, and with a fantastic reputation not only for build quality and consistency but also for the kinds of results you get from your camera when attached to these gimbal options, it’s important that you know everything there is to know about these products before you choose one or the other.
And that’s why we have put together this in-depth guide.
By the time you are done with the details below you’ll have a much better understanding of whether the Zhiyun Crane M2 or the Feiyu G6 Plus are right for you, which one best suits your video and photography needs, and which one is worth your hard-earned money.
Let’s get to it!
Performance And Functionality
As far as the initial impressions of the performance and functionality of both these gimbal options are concerned, both of these products – the Zhiyun Crane M2 and the Feiyu G6 Plus – chair a lot more similarities and they do differences (at least on the surface).
Both of these options look very similar to one another, with the Zhiyun Crane M2 a little bit “chunkier” than the Feiyu G6 Plus – especially in the handle area. That’s where the battery back on these gimbal accessories is tucked away, though, which may lead you to think that the Zhiyun Crane M2 has a bigger battery.
That’s not exactly the case, though.
In fact, even though the Zhiyun Crane M2 battery compartment looks like it is bigger than the Feiyu G6 Plus the actual battery inside of the handle is quite a bit smaller. You should only expect to get seven hours of life out of the Zhiyun Crane M2, whereas you’ll be able to get anywhere between 8 hours and 12 hours of juice when you are running Feiyu G6 Plus off of a full charge.
Maybe that’s not a dealbreaker for some people, but others are going to notice the potential five extra hours of battery life that they’ll get out of the Feiyu G6 Plus (with a slimmer though slightly longer handle) and are going to trend towards that direction for sure.
It’s also interesting, though, that both of these gimbal accessories have different weight/load capacities, considering the fact that they look so similar to one another.
Right out of the box, the Zhiyun Crane M2 is going to be able to comfortably accommodate cameras for equipment that weighs up to 1.58 pounds. This is a pretty decent carrying capacity to be sure, especially when you are most likely only ever going to be attaching a point and shoot camera to your gimbal in the first place.
If you have a slightly heavier camera, though (or other equipment you want to attach to the gimbal hardware) the Feiyu G6 Plus is going to be where you’ll want to focus your attention.
This gimbal has a 1.76 pound carrying capacity/load capacity, making it a little stronger and potentially even a little more durable when you are running the same point and click camera on top both of these choices.
Of course, the Feiyu G6 Plus is a little bit larger (a little longer and a little heavier) than the Zhiyun Crane M2 is.
The Feiyu G6 Plus measures in at 4.1” x 7.6” x 2.9” and weighs in at just under 1.5 pounds.
Compare that to the Zhiyun Crane M2 that measures in at 10.5” x 2.7” x 5.4” and a unit that weighs just slightly over one pound and the differences are pretty stark, truth be told.
Each of these units could be described as compact, about the Zhiyun Crane M2 is really the more compact of the two – all while offering nearly the exact same performance and functionality benefits. That is definitely something that you are going to have to consider before you choose one option or the other.
As far as overall image stabilization is concerned, both of these choices are really finely tuned and well dialed in.
Each of these gimbal options feature next generation Image Stabilization technology built right in, are going to leverage three axis gimbal stabilizers, and are pretty easy to control and manipulate – though that’s something that we dig a little deeper into in just a moment.
All in all, though, both of these contenders are worth a closer look. They have a lot in common with one another – and some pretty stark differences – and require little bit of research and due diligence for sure.
Both the Zhiyun Crane M2 and the Feiyu G6 Plus have a mountain of reviews online (independent reviews) that you can comb through to further verify the performance and functionality components of these gimbal options. Check those reviews out for yourself to help you zero in on your choice between these two top contenders.
User Interface And Control System
On the user interface and control system side of things, each of these two gimbal choices have very well made control modules that not only make them super easy to use right out of the box (even if you haven’t ever used a gimbal before) with a lot of customization and fine-tuning capabilities available, too.
The Zhiyun Crane M2 and the Feiyu G6 Plus have a pretty standardized gimbal interface built right in to the actual module itself, a module that isn’t going to look all that different from any other control component on a gimbal from other top-tier manufacturers.
We are talking about a standard LCD panel so that you can actually see the individual settings and controls being adjusted in real time, a handful of buttons that are easy to manipulate (almost all of which are highly responsive), and a little joystick like control component that lets you make the most of the stabilization technology built right in.
The LCD panel on both of these units is pretty clear and easy to read (in almost any lighting condition, especially bright light and nearly pitch darkness) and the responsive buttons are a joy to use without you having to take your eyes off of whatever it is you are shooting photos or videos of.
On top of that, the navigation inside the LCD panel is really optimized for quick results. You won’t find yourself burning through different menus just to see the information or the settings that you want to adjust. Instead you’re going to be able to hit a couple of buttons, flick the joystick around, and fully optimize either your Zhiyun Crane M2 or Feiyu G6 Plus gimbal to work the way you want to.
But the real star of the show with both the Zhiyun Crane M2 and the Feiyu G6 Plus (at least as far as user interface and control capabilities are concerned) has to be the joystick on each of these units.
When you flip the gimbal into manual control mode you are going to have a really fine degree of control over how everything pivots, rotates, and seamlessly glides when attached to the gimbal itself. You’ll be able to make minor adjustments, really subtle movements, and effortless rotations that aren’t going to look jarring or ruin your focus the way you might have with another gimbal.
A lot of people are really drawn to the manual panning made possible with both the Zhiyun Crane M2 and the Feiyu G6 Plus compared to the almost forced and somewhat robotic and that a lot of other automatic only gimbal options produce.
Of course, we can talk about the user interface and the control system of the Zhiyun Crane M2 or the Feiyu G6 Plus without mentioning that both of them can be controlled by your smart phone or your tablet (running Android or iOS) when paired over Bluetooth.
The Zhiyun Crane M2 application is a little bit cleaner and a little bit more modern in its appearance whereas the Feiyu G6 Plus application needs a little bit of work and feels somewhat bare-bones, but both of them are pretty easy to get the hang out if you’re going to be going in that direction.
Most folks probably won’t be using their smart phone or the application to control their gimbal all that often, and those that do will find all the tools and tech they need to get the job done under the hood of both these apps – apps that are regularly being updated, too.
It’s a draw between these two options as far as the user interface and control systems are concerned. Both of them are super similar, very modern, and a joy to use at the end of the day.
Build Quality And Design
When you have something as important as a gimbal in your camera bag you need to know that it is going to work well no matter what – no matter the conditions or the elements that you are going to be shooting pictures or videos in.
Reliability is a huge piece of the puzzle when you are buying this kind of camera equipment and accessory, and thankfully both the Zhiyun Crane M2 and the Feiyu G6 Plus are very well made pieces of technology you’ll be able to trust and rely on.
As illustrated earlier, the Feiyu G6 Plus is a little bit heavier and a little bit larger than the Zhiyun Crane M2. This gives it the feeling of being slightly more durable or slightly more “rugged” than the more compact Zhiyun Crane M2, but that isn’t necessarily the case.
The construction materials use in both of the Zhiyun Crane M2 and Feiyu G6 Plus gimbal options are high quality, with a lot of aluminum, steel, and high density synthetic materials used throughout. The rotating mechanism of the actual three axis gimbal component itself is rock solid and well engineered, nothing kind of thing that’s going to get gummed up with a bit of dust or a bit of dirt and throw off your shooting schedule.
All of the gimbal sensors as well as the technology responsible for the balancing algorithm (and the gimbal motors themselves) are also very well made. Both of these products have a (relatively) premium price tag attached, and they have the kinds of construction materials you’d expect from something that carries this kind of price point.
A lot of people do find that the grip on the Feiyu G6 Plus is a little less appealing to use over extended amounts of time compared to the grip on the Zhiyun Crane M2, though. The Feiyu G6 Plus grip is known to degrade faster over time, that it’s not quite as “grippy” as most would like, and that it just doesn’t sit in the hand as well as the grip on the Zhiyun Crane M2 will.
That may be something you want to consider.
Conclusion
All in all, choosing between two top options like the Zhiyun Crane M2 and the Feiyu G6 Plus can feel like a bit of an impossible mission.
Each of these gimbal choices are well-designed and well engineered, are packed with next-generation technology, and have reputations for being well-made pieces of camera equipment that you can trust – and that’s a reputation on obvious display as soon as you start to sift through the myriad of glowingly positive reviews you can find for both these choices online.
When you get right down to it, though, your decision is probably going to revolve around whether or not you are looking for something a little more lightweight and compact (the Zhiyun Crane M2) or something a little sturdier and with a better battery life (the Feiyu G6 Plus).
Hopefully now that you have gone through our in-depth breakdown and comparison you’ll have a better idea of which of these two gimbal choices is perfect for your needs!
