Filmtacy P1 – New Smartphone Gimbal from Zhiyun?

I can’t remember how I stumbled on this now, but the Filmtacy P1 seems to be a foldable smartphone gimbal by Zhiyun. The gimbal was submitted for FCC approval, which they received in September this year. A series of photos accompany the submission, which tell us what the gimbal looks like…

The design looks very smooth and sleek compared to existing gimbals on the market. More photos via a pdf here.

There’s also a (pdf) user manual as part of the application. The introduction by Zhiyun says:

“P1 is designed for smartphone video shooting. The innovative angled motors and foldable design make P1 an easy fit to your bag. P1 features a built-in extension rod for added height combined with the tripod, giving you more flexibility and initiative whether you film yourself or others. The connection port on the handle is compatible with an external control unit (purchased separately) which unlocks more advanced features like follow focus, parameter control and an OLED screen.”

So it seems the gimbal will have the option to be controlled by a separate panel, as well as using the smartphone itself (with the Zhiyun app). There will also be an extension rod, making the P1 more of a gimbal-selfie-stick.

In addition, the Filmstacy P1 can be folded up with the smartphone still mounted. Presumably, this would allow you to store away the gimbal, then whip it out and get filming with minimal set up time.

Other than that, the gimbal looks pretty similar to what we’ve seen before.

The FCC is an American organisation for ensuring a device does not produce high levels of RF radiation (which can be harmful). So we can presume this device will be distributed globally, like their previous gimbals. Having said that, Googling the P1 reveals nothing written in English about the device, while there are some listings in other languages. So maybe not…

Update:

The Filmtacy P1 is now on Amazon USA.

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