It’s one thing to have an amateur smartphone photographer test a gimbal mount as I did with the Hohem iSteady V3 Ultra. Still, it’s another thing to pass one of these gimbals to one of GadgetGuy’s professional cameramen. So when Hohem sent us their iSteady M7, designed for pros, I thought it was best to get a professional view.
The $499 M7 gimbal supports a weight of up to 500g and is particularly suited to an iPhone 17 Pro Max with an external mic, a light, and a monitor. It includes a high-quality carry case to protect your investment and store your accessories. Included in the case is a fill light, detachable touchscreen remote control, tripod, and two USB-C charging cables.
Setting up the Hohem iSteady M7
After you download and sync the Hohem app, hold your phone with the main camera facing you or away from you, depending on what you want to capture. The electric three-axis mechanism then stabilises your phone, providing far superior results than the native software’s steady features. Beyond that, you benefit from a 193mm extendable pole (selfie stick) and a fill light.
If you choose to attach the removable tripod to a table, the AI tracking will follow your movements around the room, keeping you always in the centre of the frame. Furthermore, you can detach the touchscreen remote control and walk with it in your hand to make directional adjustments to the camera angle from up to 10m away. This same 1.4-inch LCD screen remote is also good for seeing the camera’s view when you are using your smartphone’s primary camera pointed at you, and the phone screen is facing away.
It’s also good to know that the AI tracking works independently of the Hohem app. Tracking also goes beyond humans, with animals, buildings, and vehicles all trackable.
Pro users will also like the included fill light, which enables flicker-free filming, CCT & RGB control, and the choice of 360 lighting colours. If your smartphone starts running low on power, use the included charging cable to draw power from the gimbal.
Another benefit for pros is the side roller knob, which can be customised to control, focus, fill light brightness and gimbal motor rotation. Other triggers and buttons can also be customised around recording.
What does the pro think?
Back to our professional cameraman. His initial thoughts were that it felt very familiar to pro camera gimbals. He was impressed by the tracking features and thought there was a place in his kit for this product, especially for producing social videos.
He proudly demonstrated to me the camera tracking him as he walked around the room after a simple press of the small remote-control screen. Last but not least, he felt the customisation of the buttons was also a big plus.
Hohem also has a pro range of accessories to suit, including a mic kit, a quick-release tripod, a briefcase handle, a magic arm mount, and a larger LED light.
