Review: Ikan Beholder EC1 DSLR Gimbal – Worth Your Money?

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Ikan BeHolder EC1 3-Axis Gimbal Stabilizer is another competitor to take over the market, especially for those who are looking for a pro DSLR gimbal.

BeHolder’s EC1 3-Axis Gimbal Stabilizer is lightweight, easy to use and the variety of cameras that it can fit is just impressive, one that very few competitor’s product of a similar range can beat at the moment.

Of course, we will start digging deeper into the BeHolder EC1 features and as usual, we will start with the design.

Gimbal design review

The BeHolder EC1 is entirely made out of aluminum what makes it lightweight, but durable and sturdy enough to take cameras and lens combinations of up to 4.5 lbs of weight.

The design also includes a smart OLED display located on the handle that shows power, operation mode and battery life.

The BeHolder EC1 is also fitted with a quick-release base plate that makes the balance of your camera easy and eliminates the need of any tools that you might need with other gimbal stabilizers in order to mount your camera.

Beholder EC1 gimbal close-up view

At the bottom of the handle you will find the battery cap with a 3/8th mount that allows you to fit and secure your BeHolder EC1 to a tripod, jib or a double hand support.

You also have two 1/4th mounts on either side of the handle where you can attach additional accessories, like microphone, light or small monitor for instance.

It comes in single, or dual grip (dual grip version is called EC1-DGH-KIT, available here).

Ikan Beholder EC1 stabilizer with the dual grip handle

Considering you will most likely use this gimbal with a big DSLR like the Nikon D750, or Canon 5D, we would advise to go for the dual grip version if you want to hold it confortably for more than a few minutes.

Ikan also sells the dual grip separately here, but it’s unclear if this is compatible with the EC1 as they state it is for the MS1 OR DS1 Beholder Gimbals.

Stabilization technology

If so far the design features sound pretty cool to you, wait to find out what actually the BeHolder EC1 can do and how in order to help you make your videos look completely professional and of an extreme high quality.

The BeHolder EC1 offers 360 degree rotation in all axis thanks to the three 360 degree rotating brushless motors that it is fitted with and that is how your movement range becomes basically limitless.

Man holding an Ikan stabilizer with a DSLR

The technology that stands behind the outstanding 0.01 of error angle that the Ikan EC1 3-Axis Gimbal is offering, is due to the combination of a 32-bit controller and the 12-bit encoder the gimbal stabilizer is fitted with.

What they do is to collect data of the motor’s exact position and by using a control strategy and an adaptive stabilization algorithm to give you a flawless and smooth video no matter if you are walking, running, riding a bike, etc.

The Ikan BeHolder EC1  also offers few modes to be used in, like follow, lock, head lock follow roll and returning to starting position.

You can also use an auto inversion in combination with any of the follow and lock modes.

Battery life & compatibility

All this is backed up by a Li-Po battery that allows you up to 20 hours of operation.

This is not the best you can find at the market, but pretty close to the top.

Ikan EC1 Beholder gimbal holding a canon 5D Mark III DSLR Camera

Now, also one of the greatest features of the BeHolder EC1 is the ability to take an extremely wide range of cameras.

It is designed for DSLR and Mirrorless cameras and the list is just too long, but one of the most popular cameras it can fit are Sony a6300, Sony a7SII, Panasonic GH4, the Canon 5D Mark III and others.

To top it off, all this comes in a very comfortable travel bag.

There is nothing bad to say about this gimbal stabilizer and the customer’s reviews just prove it.

Ikan EC1 gimbal with a camera

Overall, if you decide to go for the BeHolder EC1 you will just be on the right way of getting a pro-level gimbal stabilizer at a competitive price.

You might also like
1 Comment
  1. Sheila Jenny says

    This is the best camera stabilizer EVER! I have a youtube channel and since I bought the IKAN Beholder my videos have become 100 times better than using my old Zhiyun gimbal. It is also extremely easy to setup (unlike some other models I have tested out). I would advise anyone looking for great, smooth image to pick this up. Wonderful!

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.