See the Moza AirCross gimbal in action

In D-Photo issue 87, Leon Rose puts away his shoulder rig and tries out some pieces of kit that are becoming ubiquitous in video creation with two of Moza’s range of handheld gimbals. Leon took the AirCross with him to Perth — check out his footage and review below.

The Moza AirCross is a unit designed for mirrorless cameras. It can support up to 1.8kg, and, at its limit, can be used with a Canon 6D and 24–70mm lens. It is compatible with Sony A series, Fuji XT series, Panasonic GH series, as well as the Nikon and Canon mirrorless models. For this test I used my Sony A7R111 with the Sony 24–70 f/4 lens.

In the box you get a nice plastic hard-case that’s not too heavy and keeps the gimbal packed down and safe to travel with. You get the gimbal head, a tripod plate (compatible with Manfrotto 501PL and Arca-Swiss quick release plate), and the tripod to mount it on — which, like the Mini-MI allows you to safely stand it anywhere and acts as an extension if you need one. You also get a selection of USB cables to connect your camera and a powerbank.

Optional accessories include a thumb controller. This remote will set you back an extra $210 but gives you amazing control, allowing the operator to control the unit from up to 50m away; the gimbal will mimic the movement of the controller. There is also a dual handle that attaches simply to the unit allowing two-handed control. Other optional extras are power supply connectors for the Sony A range and Panasonic GH4/5, allowing you to charge your camera directly from the AirCross power source, which is made up of three 2000mAh 3.7V batteries that can last up to 12 hours, allowing you to shoot all day on one charge. An extra three batteries will only cost you $45, but I question whether they would be necessary, as there’s also a USB input, allowing you to charge from a powerbank.

I found the Moza AirCross the simplest to set up and use of all the gimbals I have used. It was very easy to balance and quick to get into position. The Moza Assist app is seamless. I found it easy to connect and control from my phone. Similar to its little brother, the Moza Mini-Mi, it has time-lapse track functionality, which is easily set up and tuned from the app.

One of its coolest features is the Auto Tune function. At the press of a button it will tune itself in about 10 seconds, and you can save multiple parameters once set. All sensitivity is adjustable to your preferred motion control. It’s easy to change the follow controls from the app and it has all the most important follow functions. Inception Mode is also available with a firmware upgrade, allowing extra cinematic effects.

All in all, I thought that this was the best in its category for mirrorless gimbals. It’s priced very competitively at $749, and if you add the controller, the dual handle, and a power adaptor it will set you back about $1200.

For Leon’s review of Moza’s other new gimbal, the Moza Mini-Mi for smartphones, check out D-Photo issue 87.