Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit review: a smart gimbal for mirrorless video

With a 2.5kg payload, built-in AI tracking, a detachable touchscreen remote and a clever focus/zoom motor, the Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit is a surprisingly capable alternative to the better-known camera gimbals. We put it to work.

Gimbals can be wonderfully useful pieces of kit, but they can also be wonderfully easy to leave at home. Once you've added a camera, lens, batteries and all the other equipment photographers routinely carry, the prospect of lugging another sizeable device around isn't particularly appealing.

The Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit ($849, as tested) takes a reasonably convincing shot at solving that problem. Like others on the market by the likes of DJI, It is a three-axis camera gimbal designed for mirrorless cameras, but it is also packed with features aimed at people shooting themselves, working solo or producing social-media video.

I tested the MT3 Pro Kit with my own Sony A7 IV and Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G, a combination that makes for a useful real-world pairing. The camera and lens are substantial enough to give the gimbal something to work with, but compact enough to stay comfortably within its 2.5kg payload rating.

And that payload is one of the significant differences between the MT3 Pro and the cheaper MT3. The Pro can carry up to 2.5kg, compared with 1.4kg for the standard model.

It also has a colour touchscreen, more advanced AI tracking and, in the Kit version tested here, the Spot Mini Motor and Bi-Directional Twist Handle.

Setting up

The MT3 Pro is not a particularly complicated piece of equipment, but as with any gimbal, getting the camera properly balanced is important, as I found with testing Hohem's iSteady last year. 

With the A7 IV and 20-70mm mounted, I found the balancing process straightforward, if not a little slow to get going. There's a quick start video you can follow, but it does race through the steps pretty quickly and it can be a little difficult to identify one mounting plate from another when going through the setup.

That said, once balanced, the motors had no trouble handling the combination and there was no sense that I was asking the gimbal to operate beyond its comfort zone.

The MT3 Pro weighs about 1.07kg on its own, which is reasonably impressive given its 2.5kg payload. Add the A7 IV and lens and you're carrying a fairly substantial rig, but the gimbal doesn't feel unnecessarily bulky, although it will give your arms a workout. 

The Arca-Swiss-compatible mounting system is also welcome for photographers who already use compatible plates or L-brackets.

One minor annoyance is that switching between horizontal and vertical shooting requires the gimbal to be rebalanced. Hohem's quick vertical-switch mechanism makes the physical change fast, but it doesn't eliminate the fact you've got to balance it still.

Smooth operator

Of course, all the clever features in the world don't matter if the basic stabilisation isn't good.

Fortunately, the MT3 Pro does this very well.

With the A7 IV mounted, walking shots were noticeably smoother than anything I could achieve simply by handholding the camera. Panning and tracking movements were similarly controlled, while the different follow modes give you plenty of control over how aggressively the gimbal responds.

Hohem says the latest iSteady 10.0 stabilisation system has increased motor torque by 40 per cent over the previous generation.

In practice, the important thing is that the motors feel capable. With the 20-70mm attached, I never felt that the A7 IV was too much for the gimbal, although I didn't extend to testing longer telephoto lenses.

AI tracking

The standout feature of the MT3 is Hohem's built-in AI tracking.

Rather than requiring your phone to act as a tracking device, the MT3 Pro has its own 2MP AI camera. It can track people, pets, vehicles and other subjects, and Hohem says tracking can be initiated using the touchscreen, physical controls or gestures.

This is particularly useful for photographers working alone.

Set the gimbal down, frame yourself, start tracking and you can move around the scene without having to worry about remaining in the frame. It also opens up possibilities for filming interviews, demonstrations, behind-the-scenes material and walk-and-talk pieces.

Tracking isn't perfect, of course. Like any automated system, it can lose a subject when there's significant obstruction or a busy background. But the ability to select a subject directly makes the system considerably more useful than a simple face-tracking system.

The tracking distance is rated at up to 7m for people and up to 15m for vehicles under suitable conditions.

The remote

One of the more interesting features is the detachable touchscreen remote.

The 1.4-inch colour screen can provide a live view while allowing you to control the gimbal remotely from up to 10m away.

This turns the MT3 Pro into something more than a conventional stabiliser. If you're shooting yourself, you can actually see what the camera is doing rather than setting everything up and hoping you've got the composition right.

It's particularly useful when the camera is mounted low or positioned somewhere that makes the main camera screen difficult to see.

The touchscreen is small, so it isn't going to replace a proper camera monitor, but that's not really its purpose. Think of it as a remote control with enough display capability to make solo shooting substantially easier.

The standard MT3 Pro already has the higher 2.5kg payload and advanced tracking, but the Pro Kit adds the Spot Mini Motor and Bi-Directional Twist Handle.

The Spot Mini is particularly interesting for camera users. It provides remote focus or zoom control, allowing you to make adjustments without taking your hand off the gimbal.

With a compatible lens, this can add another level of control to video shooting, particularly when performing a deliberate zoom or focus pull.

The twist handle is perhaps even more useful in practice. Holding a gimbal with one hand is fine for simple movements, but a two-handed configuration gives you considerably more control over the camera.

For slower cinematic movements, low-angle shots and longer shooting sessions, the additional handle makes the MT3 Pro feel much more like a proper video rig.

Battery life

Hohem rates the MT3 Pro at up to 20 hours under ideal conditions, with the figure dropping to around 14 hours with AI tracking enabled and approximately eight hours when tracking and the fill light are being used simultaneously, so pretty decent.

Real-world battery life will obviously depend on how much you're moving the motors and what features you're using, but there's enough capacity here that battery anxiety isn't something I found myself worrying about during normal shooting.

Charging is via USB-C, which makes it easy to top up from the same chargers and power banks used for cameras, phones and laptops too.

A few compromises

The MT3 Pro isn't perfect.

First, it's still a gimbal. That means balancing, calibration and learning the various modes are part of the deal. Unfortunately technology hasn't advanced to the point where you can simply attach a camera and start shooting perfectly smooth footage out of the box - maybe one day.

It's also worth remembering that 1.07kg is the weight of the gimbal itself. Add a full-frame camera, lens, microphone and other accessories and the complete setup gets heavy. The gimbal may be capable of carrying 2.5kg, but your arms still have to carry the resulting package.

The 1.4-inch remote screen is useful but small, and the number of functions available can initially feel a little overwhelming.

There is also a learning curve, particularly if you want to make full use of the tracking, focus motor and different shooting modes, but this is helped by Hohem's videos.

And while the MT3 Pro is impressively smooth, photographers expecting the absolute refinement of a top-end professional stabilisation system will still find more sophisticated, and considerably more expensive, alternatives.

The wrap-up

The Hohem iSteady MT3 Pro Kit is an impressive piece of equipment.

With the Sony A7 IV and 20-70mm F4 G, it proved more than capable of handling a serious full-frame camera setup while remaining manageable enough to actually take out and use.

The AI tracking is genuinely useful rather than a gimmick, the remote makes solo shooting much easier, and the additional Spot Mini Motor and twist handle turn the Kit into a surprisingly comprehensive video setup.

For photographers who primarily shoot stills but increasingly find themselves producing video, this is perhaps where the MT3 Pro makes the most sense. You don't need to become a full-time videographer to benefit from it.

It isn't the smallest or lightest gimbal around, and there is a learning curve. But if you want something capable of supporting a proper mirrorless setup without stepping all the way into heavyweight professional video gear, the MT3 Pro Kit makes a compelling case.