Hohem HG5 Pro action camera gimbal review
Hohem HG5 Pro action cam gimbal
£190Pros
- Quality construction
- Light enough to hold for long periods
- Nicely weighted
- Handy remote app
- Good price
Cons
- Some might baulk at the price
Hohem wasn’t a brand at the forefront of my mind, I will be honest. But their HG5 action camera gimbal looks pretty good.
I’ve been considering buying a gimbal to help improve my video capturing. Lucky for me then that Hohem Tech released the HG5 Pro handheld gimbal earlier this year.
It not only boasts full 360 degree movement through 3-axes, but an app remote control.
Let’s see how it handles.
Hohem HG5 Pro design
The HG5 Pro can be used with the GoPro Hero 2, 3, 4, 5 models and will work with other cameras of a similar size and weight.
I have been using it with the iSAW Edge.
The gimbal is actually presented in a neat semi-hard case. You may have noticed that I have removed a thin section of the padding from the case. This is so I could squeeze the gimbal in with my camera mounted. I believe the GoPros are a little shorter so this wouldn’t be an issue if you have one of those.
I have the orange version (as you can see) here for review and, against the black of the rest of the device, looks very cool.
The metal handle is diamond-cut and offers decent grip. This unscrews and houses the 2000mAh rechargeable and removable battery.
The battery is charged via a microUSB port on the side of the handle. They even include a cable in the carrying case.
At the base of the handle is a standard thread to allow the HG5 to be mounted on a tripod.
The whole thing feels substantial and it has prompted a number of admiring inquiries when I’ve used it.
Hohem HG5 Pro performance
Having never used a gimbal before, it took a few moments to get to grips with it. Yes, there are instructions, but where’s the fun in that?
It is remarkably easy to use.
Firstly, I found its 3-axis stabilisation really impressive.
Being able to move around easily whilst not really having to concentrate on keeping everything steady is unusual at first. But, you soon get used to it. Even more-so, in fact, you become reliant on it.
The 5-way joystick control is a huge bonus. This allows you to smoothly pan the camera through 360-degrees as well as being able to sweep up or down.
The video below was my first outing with the HG5 Pro.
Looking beyond my shoddy camera work you can see how smoothly the gimbal pans using the joystick.
[youtube id=”e9_TVOVxXeM”]
Also, my usual shaky-cam technique has almost totally been removed. That’s thanks to the gimbal.
Modes
You can access three different modes through a single, double or triple press of the joystick button.
- Panning Mode: The action camera can move to left or right smoothly by hand. The pitch and roll directions are fixed.
- Panning and Pitching Mode: The action camera can move to left or right and pitch up and down smoothly by hand. The rolling direction is fixed.
- Lock Mode: The action camera stays in its current orientation. The panning, pitching and rolling directions are all fixed.
Hohem Gim Set app
What would a piece of gadge be without an app?
Well, the Hohem HG5 Pro has one. This app allows you to control the gimbal remotely. Furthermore, it allows you to customise a variety of settings too.
[youtube id=”08o649uDkHg”]
The app syncs with the gimbal via Bluetooth.
In the app you get a virtual joystick which commands the same movements as the device’s own joystick. It also has a shortcut for 180-degree panning.
It also has a shortcut for 180-degree panning.
You are also able to access the three modes mentioned earlier. These all really come in to their own if you’re using the HG5 on a tripod.
Finally, but perhaps more importantly, the app also allows you to personalise a whole raft of parameters.
These include, Follow Speed, Joystick Speed, and Follow Dead Area settings. The latter has nothing to do with zombies, by-the-way.
Hohem HG5 Pro review conclusion
Impressive. Yes, Hohem has impressed me with their HG5 Pro gimbal.
As soon as I unzipped the case I thought that this was going to be a class bit of gear.
Holding it, it feels quality.
In use it is intuitive and does exactly as it promises.
However, where the HG5 Pro proves its worth is though your videos being smooth, stable and almost professional looking.
Hohem HG5 Pro price and availability
The HG5 Pro is available right now in orange or green from Amazon.
It is currently priced at £190 with free delivery if you’ve got Prime.
