Review YT-1200 Smart Wireless Electric PTZ

The brand name of this item is in this case "Andoer," but it is an item that is produced by a Chinese factory without any printed brand name so those who sell it can call it whatever they want and it is identified as YT-1200 or YT1200. There are many of them under different names.

This item is a motorized head (with 1/4" photography screw on the quick release plate) for tripod that allows, via remote control, a camera or smartphone to turn right, left, forward backward. Which is very convenient for live shots, panorama, etc.

I bought it on Amazon and in general it works quite well, however, the one that has come to me has a major flaw that we will see later. The manual is in English and Chinese and is rather "basic" as I show at the bottom of this review.

The box arrived in miserable condition, visibly unsealed, dented and crushed despite being inside another box, a clear sign of a product already used and (probably) returned.

Let's look at the features:

• Rotation: 360° at 9 speed levels
• Front tilt: 35°
• Rear tilt: 35°

Cameras weighing no more than 1 kg can be placed on the base.

The remote control transmits at 2.4 GHz up to 100 meters (stated by the manufacturer), has 99 channels, 

housing for 2 1.5v mini-stylus batteries, 

all functions usable with a color display on 4 lines of text.

Provided in the package also are:

• USB C cable for charging the 2 Amp Li-ion battery
• Battery 2 A Li-ion

• Smartphone stand

• Quick release plate with 1/4" threaded screw

Movement is smooth both horizontally, vertically, and 360° as long as the camera weighs no more than 1 kg.

The options are quite a lot and let's see them with the manual (in English or Chinese only) which is very complicated and poorly written in hard-to-understand English.

Power on

Turns on manually by pressing the leftmost button for 2 seconds.

Battery check

When the PTZ is turned on, a click on the power button will display the battery charge percentage.

Channels

By default the selected channel is 0. Make sure it is otherwise press the S key on the remote control for 2 seconds and select it.

The functions that this YT-1200 performs, in addition to the movements we saw earlier, are:

• Time lapse
• Panorama
• Remote shutter release (with cable not supplied)
• Saving and recalling 99 positions

Dimensions

134 mm x 129 mm x 115 mm

Weight 540 g + 55 g phone stand

Conclusions

The construction is quite solid and the controls work properly. The sample I purchased could not charge the battery beyond 65% (I tried different USB chargers).

The item is lightweight, so if you plan to use a DSLR with a lens heavier than a 50 mm, I don't recommend it because in front and back tilt it has some snap. Compact cameras and smartphones give no problems.  

Another problem is the instruction booklet in English ( and Chinese).  There are too many controls, the booklet is minimal, and the functions are unfortunately explained in a telegraphic way that is difficult for those without PTZ experience to understand.

Overall it is a good PTZ, the price is attractive because it is under 100 euros, and maybe I will buy the same model again since I am now familiar with the controls and need to mount a compact camera that weighs little, 450 grams, hoping that it will arrive to me sealed and fully functional.

Manual

Remote control

The connection distance between the remote control and the YT-1200 is stated in 100 meters, but from my tests I was able to establish the connection up to 150 meters.