Roadkilt said:
These mounts will go a long way to replacing a gimbal without the cost, performance or weight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NcsZqqCDGQ&sns=em
The advantage of a gimbal is the fact it will keep your shot steady with the horizon no matter what your doing. There is no anti jello mount that can replace a gimbal for the purpose a gimbal is intended, you can get good results using good mount and level smooth flying in calm conditions but a gimbal can do much more then just that. That video example shows that mount work ok there but id want to see it in many more flying conditions before making comment on it. It does show quite simply how it cant compete with a gimbal, the entire frame is tilted and the wind is moving the phantom around. Had this been shot with a good gimbal it would be as steady as if it was dead still in a hover with the horizon level with no small motions from the corrections made in the wind.
You can also get some good shots without a gimbal of high performance type fast FPV flying where seeing the image lean actually adds a bit to the effect and a bit of motion is fine though you still want a nice stable mount to reduce vibrations. A gimbal is not needed for everyone but if your want to take the best video you can from the setup its the only way to go for good consistent results.
If you want smooth cinematic type footage even in some wind and more adventurous flying this is only possible with a good gimbal. From all the examples I have seen the DJI is still the best where it matters and that is the end results, the tarot is pretty close but I have seen more mixed results with this. It appears to be a little bit slower then the DJI and you can see the horizon move much more in the tarot compared to some examples I have seen with the DJI in even pretty strong winds. The big price difference between the 2 is where the tough decision is, if you want the best then you have to pay for it. If your happy with something that does pretty darn well in most situations the tarot is hard to beat, I will probably get one of each and most likely use the tarot for a handheld gopro setup instead and using the DJI on the phantom.