Feiyu Scorp 3 review: a heavy-lifting stabiliser for your DSLR/mirrorless camera

I do enjoy testing and reviewing gimbals/stabilisers for Digital Camera World. Indeed, the Feiyu Scorp 3 is the 26th gimbal that I’ve reviewed to date since I took the Zhiyun Crane Combo kit for a spin back in April 2022. A gimbal encourages me to search out a subject (such as a model or a vintage railway line) and perform a range of cinematic camera moves such as pans, tilts, tracks, and cranes!

I’ve tested a wide range of gimbals - from the smartphone-friendly Hohem iSteady V3 to the professional heavyweight DSLR-lifting DJI RS 4 Pro.

The Feiyu Scorp 3 falls into the heavy-lifting end of the gimbal spectrum. It’s designed to let you manoeuvre a payload of up to 3.5 Kg (7.72 lbs), so it had no trouble carrying a Sony Alpha 7 III and Tamron 28-75mm lens, which weighed 1.37 Kg.

Feiyu released their original 3-axis Scorp-C gimbal back in late 2021. I tested the Scorp 2 in May 2024 and gave it four stars. More recently, I tested Feiyu’s smartphone version of the Scorp - the Scorp Mini 3 Pro and was so impressed with its performance that I awarded it five stars. To find out how 2025’s Scorp 3 shapes up against its predecessors, read on…

Feiyu Scorp 3: Specifications

Feiyu Scorp 3: Price

The Feiyu Scorp 3 kit can be purchased for $399/£439, or for $429.00/£469 you can buy the Scorp 3 Kit, which contains extra accessories such as a padded carry case, a weight-reducing shoulder strap, and even an LED fill light that you can slide into your gimbal-mounted camera’s shoe mount to illuminate close subjects (such as a selfie). These useful accessories are well worth the extra money - especially the protective case, which has webbed storage compartments to stop you losing small but essential accessories such as charging cables, a hex/allen key, and a quick-release plate.

At $399/£439, the Feiyu Scorp 3 kit is certainly cheaper than a DJI RS 4 Combo, and the Scorp 3 can manage a slightly heavier payload (3.5 Kg compared to the DJI RS 4’s 3 Kg). So if you’re looking at a more affordable alternative to the DJI RS 4, then the Scorp 3 is worth checking out. You can find a link to my review of the DJI RS 4 in the Alternatives section at the bottom of this page. I gave both the DJI RS 4 and the Feiyu Scorp 3 the same rating, too, which makes the Scorp 3 an attractive alternative to the RS 4 when it comes to price and performance.

Feiyu Scorp 3: Design & Handling

When I unboxed the Feiyu Scorp 3, I had a strong sense of déjà vu! This was because I had tested the Scorp Mini 3 Pro Kit a couple of months earlier. As its name suggests, the Scorp Mini 3 is a diminutive smartphone-compatible version of the Scorp 3. Both gimbals share the same attractive design, with a distinctive underslung handle that enables you to slide the gimbals close to the ground and then sweep them up into the air for striking cinematic tracking to crane shots!

The underslung handle is my favourite feature on the Scorp range. On the Scorp 3, you can even remove the end of the handle and use it to operate the gimbal remotely via a joystick. This could be a useful design feature if you’re filming something dangerous, such as unpredictable wildlife on safari or a car rally from the roadside!

The Scorp 3 also boasts a remote control in the form of a detachable panel. The main difference between the Scorp 3 and the Scorp Mini 3 is that the payload of the smartphone-friendly Scorp Mini 3 is only 2kg / 4.4 lbs, whereas the Scorp 3 is designed to carry mirrorless/DSLR cameras up to 3.5 Kg/7.72 lbs.

At first glance, the Scorp 3 looked identical to the Scorp 2. It appeared to look and behave in a similar way during my test, too. It was only when diving into the Scorp 3’s specifications that I discovered a few differences.

The key difference between the Scorp 3 and the Scorp 2 is that the latter can carry a heavier payload of 3.5 Kg/7.72 lbs, compared to its predecessor’s 2.5 Kg/5.51 lbs. Surprisingly, despite being the more powerful gimbal, the Scorp 3 is slightly more compact than the Scorp 2 (but only by a few centimetres). However, at 1.36 Kg/3.02 lbs, the Scorp 3 is a fair bit heavier than the Scorp 2, which weighed in at 1070 g/2.36 lbs. This extra weight makes the Scorp 3 require a little more effort to handle, as you’ll see from this review’s Performance section.

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Another important difference between the Scorp 3 and the Scorp 2 is that the Scorp 3 has an upgraded 4.0 tracking module. This was first introduced in the Scorp Mini 3. This improved tracking module has a 15% wider field of view than the Scorp 2’s module, which enables the Scorp 3 to track more quickly and more accurately than the older model.

As you’ll see from my supporting video in the Perforce section, the AI tracking module was able to perform skilled pans and tilts that followed my every move in a natural and organic way - just like a skilled camera operator (who works for free and doesn’t need a coffee break!).

Feiyu Scorp 3: Performance

Instead of heading to the city (like I usually do), I decided to test the Feiyu Scorp 3 by filming steam engines trundling up and down a retro railway line in the countryside at Nene Valley Railway. I packed my Sony A7 III and accessories such as an iPhone 16 Plus in my currently favoured backpack - the Wandrd Stratus Pho 18L. I used the tripod-mounted iPhone 16 Plus to film the gimbal when it was deployed on its mini tripod and was tracking me via its AI tracking module. Check out this section’s supporting video to see the Scorp 3 in action. I carried the Scorp 3 in its dedicated carry case.

My Sony Alpha 7 III with its Tamron 28-75mm lens weighed in at 1.37kg, which is well within the Scorp 3’s 3.5 Kg maximum payload range. The gimbal itself weighs 1.73 Kg, so I was carrying a combined weight of 3.1 Kg when filming with the camera mounted on the gimbal. This was quite a heavy package to carry around, but thanks to the angled design of the underslung handle (and the extra grip you get when you collapse the tripod into a rear extension handle), it was surprisingly easy to manoeuvre through a series of camera moves.

I prefer using smartphone gimbals such as the smaller Feiyu Scorp Mini 3 Pro because you can pop the relatively lightweight smartphone onto the gimbal and start shooting straight away. With heavy mirrorless/DSLR gimbals such as the Scorp 3, you need to spend time (around 5-10 minutes) balancing the camera on the gimbal, so that the Scorp 3 functions smoothly and you don’t add unnecessary wear and tear to the motors.

Balancing a camera involves adjusting the gimbal’s tilt, roll, and pan axis sliders in turn, so that the balanced camera produces less strain on the motors and you achieve optimum gimbal performance. I found that the Scorp 3’s roll axis was the trickiest to balance, as you need to push quite hard to slide it back and forth until you achieve a balanced position. The tilt arm’s slider has a more useful balancing knob that enables you to adjust the tilt balance with millimetre precision. It would be nice to see this balancing knob feature added to the other sliders in the future.

One really useful feature was a balancing guide accessible in the menu on the Scorp 3’s OLED screen. This provided a clear visual indication of which axes were balanced or unbalanced, allowing me to precisely adjust the balance of a problematic axis. Although I had balanced the camera at home, I still needed to go through the balancing process upon arrival at the railway to ensure optimal gimbal function. The Scorp 3 is aimed at professionals who will be happy to spend the time setting up their kit correctly, whereas the Scorp 3 Mini Pro is designed for smartphone content-creators who just want to run and gun.

Once my camera and the gimbal were set up, I enjoyed exploring the Scorp 3’s various shooting modes - PF (Pan Follow), PTF (Pan Tilt Follow), Lock, and FPV (First Person View). These could be set by tapping on an icon on the 1.3” touch-sensitive OLED screen, or I could toggle through each mode by tapping the physical Mode button on the control handle. My favourite mode was PF (Pan Follow) as this enabled me to crane from a low to a high angle while keeping the camera pointing straight ahead (instead of tilting up or down like it would in Pan, Tilt, Follow (PTF) mode). To see the Scorp 3’s various modes in action, check out this review’s supporting video. As you’ll see from the video, I was able to capture a variety of smooth tilts, pans, cranes and tracking shots to create a scenic montage of the vintage railways. There is one wobbly shot where I was walking quite fast to follow a moving train. At speed, the gimbal struggled to iron out the wobbles caused by my fast-paced movement.

I also encountered an issue when I performed very low-angle forward tracking shots. The camera would occasionally twitch to the left or right by a few millimetres as I walked forward, instead of smoothly pointing directly ahead. This occasional micro ‘twitch’ led to a few of my low-angle tracking shots being rendered unsuitable for inclusion in my montage sequence. My forward tracking shots were smoother when I held the gimbal and camera at waist height, but the occasional slight twitch on the low-angle tracks loses the Scorp 3 half a star. I must point out that none of the clips in the supporting video have had any post-production stabilisation applied, so you can see that the Scorp 3 is capable of making smooth pans, tilts, tracks and cranes, despite the occasional low-angle micro ‘twitch’ to the left or right.

The Scorp 3 also ships with a mini tripod. This functions as a useful handle when in its folded position, but when opened, you can stand the gimbal on the ground and use its joystick to perform smooth pans and tilts. There’s also a handy pair of A/B buttons that enable you to set a start and end point for a joystick-controlled camera move. You can then trigger the gimbal to perform the move between the chosen start and end points, which gives you a precise and repeatable camera move.

You can also control the gimbal via remote control by detaching the end of the underslung handle, or control it via the Feiyu Scorp app by swiping virtual controls on your smartphone’s screen.

Feiyu Scorp 3: Verdict

I enjoyed using the Feiyu Scorp 3 to make my relatively heavy Sony payload pan, tilt, track, and crane around the vintage railway location. By shooting with a handheld gimbal, I was able to move quickly and be ready to film steam engines when they arrived or departed. I could also shoot tripod-steady clips without cluttering up the busy station platform with a trip-hazard full-size tripod. The gimbal’s mini tripod was very useful as, in conjunction with the AI tracker, it enabled me to present to the camera as if I had a talented camera operator who could pan and tilt the camera to follow my every move.

If you need to film a live event with a DSLR/mirrorless camera, then the Scorp 3 will certainly enable you to move fast and capture a wide range of cinematic camera moves - but make sure that you give yourself time to balance the camera at the start of the shoot to enable optimal performance. The Scorp 3 gives you a much smaller footprint than you’d get with a traditional DSLR tripod, so it’s perfect for using in crowded locations such as a wedding (or a railway station platform).

Alternatives

The RS 4 provides excellent long-running battery performance and enables you to shoot smooth tilts, pans, tracks, and cranes, as well as tripod-steady interviews without the burden of lugging a tripod around. The slight slipping of the locked roll arm lost it half a star rating, putting it on par with the cheaper Scorp 3’s.

Read our full DJI RS 4 review

The differences between the Scorp 3 and the Scorp 2 are relatively minor, the main one being that the Scorp 2 can only carry a lighter payload of up to 2.5 Kg / 5.51 lbs (compared to the Scorp 3 Pro’s heavier 3.5 Kg/7.72 lbs). 

Read our full Feiyu Scorp 2 review