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A few others have already received their Wieldy stabilizers and have also posted up little video reviews like YouTube member Nitsan Simantov and YouTube member Chrisbottrellphoto. I received my version quite a while ago, but am only getting to posting something now. Here’s a closer look at what these new Wieldy Carbon Fiber Video Camera [...]

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Guess what came in the mail recently? It’s that cheap video stabilizer load vest I posted about a few weeks ago. I’ve had a bit of time with the gear, and as with any product there’s Pros and Cons.

Pros:
The cheap vest is a combination of snap buckles and velcro, while the Steadicam Merlin vest is [...]

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One essential tool for long Flying Video Stabilizer (Steadicam) type shots is a Vest system with an iso-elastic arm. The vest helps to take the weight of the camera off the arms and distributes the load over to the body. The flexible spring loaded iso-elastic arm keeps the camera level as the operator runs, jumps, [...]

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Showing up now on eBay, there is another Steadicam Merlin-esque type video camera stabilizer called the Manyan. Build quality looks pretty good and seems to hold up a decent amount of weight. Some of the video samples at the product page are over 2 years old, so it’s obviously been around for a while. Anyone [...]

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This video is complete rambling about different feature sets of a few ‘Small Camera stabilizers’ I use. I have quite a few very large ones as well, but for now i’m just touching on these specifically because they are so close in what audience they are intended for. The three small stabilizers i’m showing are [...]

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Running around with a Steadicam is possible, but besides tiring out the operator, it’s also hard to get rid of that stomping movement. Roller Blades are clever, but it’s not something that will travel through grass or gravel. The more popular solution for fast movements with a Steadicam is the Segway (as seen above). A [...]

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I want to say when these things were first released they were over $200 dollars. Ridiculous pricing if all you plan to fly is a cell phone. They have since dropped down in price, and while they are listed at about $180 dollars elsewhere, this month they’re on sale at B&H (click here). Not bad [...]

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There’s a million different little stabilizers on the market, but about a month ago (maybe a bit longer), the Steady Dragon brand upgraded the Gimbal to a universal joint. This type of gimbal provides the maximum amount of range compared to the little Ball-and-Socket type like found in the Hague MMC. The Steady Dragon [...]

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I think I posted something about this little stabilizer several months ago having seen it just through pictures on the web. Over at PMA at CES 2012, we had the chance to see it up close. The stabilizer uses a gimbal on top, and relies on a set of counterweights under the camera to keep [...]

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Preparing for a last minute shoot today, I found my Steadicam Merlin Vest had cracked on the upper chest piece. Crap. The quick fix for me today was to use the top portion of the Konova Vest and mate it with the Steadicam Merlin Arm (which is held on with the waist area). There was [...]

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Note: This is not the final rig i’ll be using. I’m just throwing parts together this morning to see how well the idea (in my head) works with all my budget parts. I’m using the Skier Rig (review found here) to hold everything together while I mock up the idea. The Skier rig is extremely [...]

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Finally getting around to building the Konova Arm and Vest stabilizer system. On the bottom instead of a V-Mount battery, we just added the Tekkeon MP3450i. The LCD at the bottom is the SmallHD DP4 for framing. On top is a Canon 7D on a Skier DSLR Rig with Top handle. Still working on [...]

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A Steadicam Rig I built for my last project, she carries it with ease. I think the rig weighs more than she does. Canon 5D Mark II + Sigma 20mm F/1.8, Glidecam HD4000 with Steadicam Merlin Vest (hybrid). Varavon Armor Cage, Rode VideoMic Pro, 312 LED Video light, SmallHD DP4 (below) powered by two 12V/5V [...]

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Here’s a couple of quality videos from Vimeo member FilmCyfrowy showcasing some Skier DSLR Video equipment. Skier is fairly new and is still building up their product line. They have an unusual cage-like design that wraps over the camera lens, a Follow Focus, ViewFinder, Small Transformer rig, and a Merlin-like stabilizer which seems to perform [...]

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click image for available Steadicam Glidecam gear
Droppin’ dollars into Glidecam gear is quite an investment if you’re not familiar with how one works. In fact, you might even find that ‘flying’ a camera is not something you’re quite into. If you already own one, maybe your thinking about testing out the arm brace or Vest [...]

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Testing out some new gear here. Purposely a very poor image with badges erased. The vest and arm are very impressive, but we’ll see how the actual stabilizer performs. It’s not a Steadicam or Glidecam brand name. Unless you can tell which one this is by the image, i’ll have a review on this item [...]