I’m excited to bring you another exclusive first look at a soon to be released Sirui product. I recently received a pre-production unit of the Sirui Swift P1. This is an electronic gimbal and I would classify this as one of those do it all gimbals because it’s designed to work with a variety of devices. This gimbal can be used with mobile phones, mirrorless cameras, compact cameras, and even comes with an attachment to mount actions cameras like a GoPro or something similarly shaped. The P1 has a max load of 900g/1.98lbs so it should be able to accommodate a decent sized setup.
Typically for something brand new like this, I like to do an unboxing to give you guys an idea of what to expect but like I said, I received a preproduction unit which came with no packaging or paperwork. All the pieces were crammed inside of a soft carrying case, which according to what I’ve seen is not the official case that buyers will receive. Everything was also packed inside of a box made for something else so I didn’t think it was worth showing and possibly confusing anyone.
That being said, because my P1 didn’t come with any manuals or other information, today I’d like to just give you a first impression of this product and go through it to the best of my abilities. Everything that I’m expressing will be based on my time playing with the P1 and the information that I’ve been able to find on the internet. I’m sure there will be things that I’ll leave out but it is what it is. I’ll just have to play with this thing, wait for some more information to be released and then I’ll be able to come back with a proper review. So, let’s get started.
If we look at the design of the P1, it looks very similar to the Sirui Swift M1 that I recently showcased. The big difference is going to be the exclusion of the folding design of the M1 which minimizes the size for travel. To be honest, I’m glad that the P1 doesn’t include the folding design. If you saw my M1 video, you’d know that I’m not a fan of it and actually think that it’s flawed. The P1 may be a bit bigger when not in use, but I’d rather take that trade off to save myself from the headache that is the M1’s folding design.
Looking at the handle, we get a nice display that shows the bluetooth connection status, battery life and current modes/settings.
Under the display is a joystick which allows for the manual control of panning and tilting of the gimbal along with some function buttons.
Of these function buttons, we first have the shutter button which is pretty self explanatory. It activates the shutter and takes photos or start/stops recordings.
Next is the mode button which switches between the various gimbal modes. With the P1, we get Tilting-Following Locked mode which locks the tilt motor while allowing use of the roll and pan. Next is Tilting-Following mode which is the same as the previous but now also unlocks the tilt motor to allow for complete freedom of movement. Third is the Triaxial Tracking Locked mode which locks all motors to the current orientation. Last is POV or Roll Follow Mode. This basically tilts the camera carriage up in preparation for inception or vortex mode.
Moving on, we have the Focus Button. When connected to a compatible camera, this allows you to activate autofocus.
Lastly, we have the Power Switch button which not only turns the gimbal on/off but also doubles as the Motor Force Switch. If you double-tap this button, you’re able to select between 3 power settings of motor strength: low, medium and high. At the moment there’s no information as to what each setting is good for so you’ll just have to play with it to find the best setting for your camera setup.
On the side of the gimbal is the Auxiliary Wheel Dial. This allows you to adjust various things based on the mode that it’s in. Aside from spinning the wheel, you can also press it to cycle through its modes. Based on my experience with the Swift M1, I would assume that this first mode allows you to zoom in/out and set manual focus but it currently doesn’t do anything, at least not for me. With this wheel, we are also able to pan and tilt the gimbal.
Moving to the back of the handle, we have the last of the physical buttons. This is a rocker style switch with two separate buttons, one on top and the other below. Pressing the top button activates sport mode where the motors become more powerful and allows for the gimbal to move faster than normal. This is useful for doing things like whip pans or just tracking a fast moving subject. The bottom button acts as a hotkey to activate Tilt Follow mode in all modes except when the gimbal is already in Tilt Follow mode. In which case, the bottom button activates Lock Mode. Double tapping the bottom button resets the gimbal’s parameters.
And that is basically all of the functions of the Sirui Swift P1, at least for now. Again I received a pre-production unit so it’s currently lacking some features but I have no doubts that after a few firmware updates, everything will be ready to go when this gimbal ships to consumers.
So far, this seems to be a pretty decent gimbal. It does what it's supposed to and has everything that I need for my personal work. Also, at the price of $200, it is also cheaper than some of the competition so that will be a big draw for this device.
UPDATE
After receiving a PDF of the Swift P1's manual, I'd like to amend some of the information expressed above.
The packaging/accessories that I received are not those that consumers will receive when the P1 actually ships. My pre-production unit was shipped prior to when the official packaging was finalized.
The Auxiliary Wheel Dial's first mode is Zoom mode. It does not adjust zoom and focus as stated, just zoom.
The Motor Force Switch's 3 motor levels are as follows: "high force movement for heavier cameras, medium for mirrorless cameras small or general in size, low level for card cameras. Lower the force movement level if the Gimbal with the equipment attached vibrates when powering up. Increase the motor force to improve stability."
If you’d like to learn how to balance/setup the Sirui Swift P1, check out this video!
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