dslr stabilizer

• 16 Comments

•

After posting up information that the overseas photography equipment company Fancier is getting into the DSLR rig and DSLR support game, everyone was searching for news on pricing. These rigs by the way were shown at Photokina, so they aren't trying to come in as some sneaky blatant knock-off. I'm sure they had a bit of 'inspiration' from other DSLR rig makers, but this lineup is all theirs.

A few reliable comments have come in with some pricing that were received from Fancier themselves. Although it looks good for what you get, the fact that you can get it cheaper in the USA is really going to slow their pace. Here's the prices that are leaking now, and i'm not too optimistic about it hitting the US market. Hopefully these expected prices will change after this post.

ftv-100d-dslr-rig
First up is the basic DSLR cage labeled as the FTV-100D. This unit is estimated to com in at $505.94 dollars. Outside of the Follow Focus, you can find pretty much the exact same DSLR cage over at IndiSystems for $129 - top handle and all. Hey, you can even find a popular decent DIY for under $30 bucks.

ftv-110A-china-dslr-rig-300x200
Next up is your basic DSLR shoulder support with gearless follow focus, labeled the FTV-110A and coming in at expected $491.65. Just in the last few months there have been several US companies offering a base shoulder rig for under $300 dollars.

ftv-110B-china-dslr-shoulder-support
Third on the list is the FTV-110B, which pretty much looks like a bigger version of their FTV-110A (minus follow focus). This rig is expected to come in at $571.02. Wow, that's a pretty penny considering you can already get several nice basic support rigs for half the price. There's definitely room for more companies, but if you're late in the game, you'll have to bring something more original (or cheaper) to grab some attention.

fancier-china-dslr-rig-handle
Fourth configuration is labeled as the FTV-200D coming in at a price of $1,553.15. This adds a matte box, their micro follow focus, and top handle to the base rig. Coming in at a price similar to a Redrock EyeSpy Deluxe bundle which I really love shooting with, at this price, it's going to be hard to penetrate the US market. Sorry Fancier, I really like your (other) products, but if this is really the prices you're heading for in DSLR stabilizers, you have a tough road ahead. Any comments on these 'possible' prices?

You can find more information about their rigs here: https://www.chinafancier.com/enShoulder-Bracket.html

• 4 Comments

•

nate-horowitz-diy-dslr-rig

nate-diy-dslr-stabilizer

Nate Horowitz writes in with a kick ass DIY DSLR stabilizer rig. A bike mechanic and film maker, Nate used parts from a Titanium bike frame, aluminum seat posts, and aluminum bar stock. I'm hoping Nate will fill us all in with more information about the exact parts used and how much modification was needed, as this looks like one sweet DIY project. You can find more detailed photos over at his Flickr gallery here https://www.flickr.com/photos/54515193@N05/5049491205/in/photostream/, and feel free to leave some comments on this article. [Thanks Nate]

[Update from Nate] Here's the breakdown of parts in this rig.
The BIKE PARTS:
I hacked off the seat stays and a chain stay off a crashed $1000+
Titanium road bike frame. FREE
I used a bolt on axle on the rear to connect the chain-stay to the two
rails. FREE
The grips are two seat posts with BMX Oury grips slid over them. $10

The HOME DEPOT PARTS:
Aluminum bar stock. $!5
Nuts and bolts. $4
PVC cap and toilet O-ring. (used as a compression ring) $5
Plumbing clamps? (for the rear shoulder). $5

The AMAZON PARTS:
Manfrotto Quick Release Plate $45
USPS Shoulder Strap $7

The PAINT:
Grey Primer $5
Matte Black Spraypaint $5

• 3 Comments

•

John Lo over at John-Lo.com decided to try the Cheesycam DSLR Cage / Fig Rig as first DIY project. He's submitted some behind the scenes footage of how it can be used to provide some extra stability to your video shots, while still adding a mounting point for accessories such as the Z96 LED video light. Looks pretty good, and definitely a huge improvement over traditional hand held shots. He's also posted his own writeup on the DIY over at his website John-Lo.com, or you can find the original DIY article I posted here if you're interested in building your own: http://cheesycam.com/cheesycam-exclusive-diy-dslr-cage-stabilizer/

• 17 Comments

•

After posting up my BTS footage of the Glidecam HD4000 with the Steadicam Merlin vest found here: http://cheesycam.com/glidecam-hd4000-bts-with-canon-60d-steadicam-vest/, I've been getting quite a bit of emails on how these two different products 'mate'. I'm sure this blog is quite cluttered with random articles, so here's the DIY video dug up from the archives posted 8 months ago. The reason I have this setup is because I used to fly a Merlin, so I had the vest already. I found the Glidecam design to be more flexible and the HD4000 can also carry a heavier load. The Glidecam was very heavy and I didn't want to invest into another Vest. It turned out to be a great cost saving idea since you have a 'dual arm' (two spring things) vest for about $1499 + Glidecam HD4000 for about $600. If you were shopping for a Glidecam Vest, the Dual arm for Glidecam runs more than the Dual Arm of the Steadicam Merlin. Some also argue that the Steadicam Merlin vest is a better design, much more slim profile, and of course cheaper cost. That's all opinion, and I just want to make it clear that I was just trying to make products I already owned work together. So even though it wasn't pre-meditated, there's a bit of cash savings using this method and as you can tell i've been very very happy with my whole system for a very very long time. You'll catch my reference to 'mating' the Steadicam Merlin arm with the Glidecam HD4000 Handle in this video..... Enjoy.

glidecam-hd4000
find-price-button Tiffen Steadicam Arm and Vest

Steadicam Merlin-Vest Glidecam Hybrid DIY adapter
find-price-button Glidecam HD-4000 Hand-Held Stabilizer

• 5 Comments

•

Fortytwobmx_Sporthandle_01

Mike over at https://FortyTwobmx.blogspot.com wasn't looking to pay the high prices for a handle mount rig for the Canon 550D to shoot BMX and Skate films, so he whipped up his own DIY called the '550D Extreme Sports Handle'. With some extra square tubing, old BMX handlebar, a couple of Grips, old bar ends, and a quick release adapter from a cheap tripod here's the end result. Another goal was to make the handle rig as small as possible. Some future upgrades will be a start / stop record button on the top handle, small monitor, and possible LED lighting. You can find more about his project over at his blog here.

• 51 Comments

•

I posted a short sample of some BTS footage with a Glidecam HD4000 Stabilizer about a week ago. The reference to this project can be found here: http://cheesycam.com/3-canon-60ds-music-video/. There were some weird movements and I even flipped the Glidecam upside down. (I don't recommend doing this, but I do it all the time). Some people were asking if the footage was actually usable. I'll leave that up to the editors to decide if a few seconds of this footage would be used, but here's some side by side samples.

On the left is the movement of the Glidecam HD4000 Stabilizer on a Steadicam Merlin Stabilizer Arm and Vest with a Canon EOS 60D flying. On the right is an uncut look at what this RAW footage will look like. Again, we'll just be looking at quick cuts and a few seconds here and there. We'll be mixing it up with other hand held, Crane shots, dolly / slider shots, as well as very static Tripod shots. From what I understand, this music video will be cut in with actual footage from a new movie being released soon. So the movie will be more of the narration and we'll just be highlighting the band periodically. BTW, this is not my usual flying setup and I just rented this lens. So without practicing on this setup, these are the results I got.

glidecam-hd-4000
find-price-button Glidecam HD4000 Video Camera Stabilizer

merlin-vest
find-price-button Steadicam Merlin Arm and Vest

canon-60D
find-price-button Canon 60D Digital SLR Body

Related Articles:
http://cheesycam.com/canon-60d-video-stabilizer-first-flight-glidecam-hd4000/
http://cheesycam.com/3-canon-60ds-music-video/

• 34 Comments

•

china-dslr-cinema-bundle

We've seen some competition on DSLR support rigs from Hong Kong and Korea. Now it looks like another Chinese company has been listening to the sales of DSLR's. Just received a tweet today from @jphansen about this new line of DSLR Support rigs soon to be coming out of China. The rigs looks very well designed, and should be since they are close to another popular brand with the blue accents. Everything else on the different rigs have gone with solid black. Not much word on the build quality, but these are the same guys who slap their name on the 717AH Fluid head which seems like a decent build. I'm expecting these to be cheap cheap cheap.

china-dslr-support-rods

They've seem to come up with an entire lineup of many different accessories including Gearless follow focus, Matte Box, Shoulder Supports, DSLR Cages, Handles, and of courses Rods, Clamps, and mounts. Prices, not sure of just yet, but i'm hoping it's something much more affordable than what's currently available. If anyone catches these for sale on the web, holla at your boy! I'd be interested in seeing more of this.
Here's the link: https://www.chinafancier.com/enindex.asp. If you like this article, Tweet it.

china-fancier-dslr-shoulder-support

• 10 Comments

•

Vimeo member Stanislav submitted this tip on holding a tripod for extra stability. I know this isn't the most advanced thing on this blog, but you'll be surprised how many people will find this useful. Let's not forget our budget film making roots. I've used this method myself a couple of times when in a pinch and any stabilizer is better than nothing. His video says Shoulder Rig, but it's more of a 'Shoulder Support'. Using the same 717AH fluid head, he's taking advantage of the lengthy pan handle as if it were a DSLR shooter. You might think this would be crazy heavy, but looks like he's purchased a set of the FT6826T Carbon Fiber Tripod legs, keeping things light.
[Thanks Stanislav]

carbon-fiber-tripod
eBay Carbon Fiber Tripod Legs - click for pricing

717ah-fluid-head
717AH Video Fluid Head - click for pricing

• 15 Comments

•

Thanks to Pierre on Vimeo for sharing this bit of information. I believe the company is called L'AIGLE which if my French isn't too rusty means "The Eagle". Ok i'm lying, it's translated on their website and I double checked on Google Translate. LOL. This particular DSLR stabilizer is called the 'Titan'. The Titan goes from hand held stabilizer into a folded camera shoulder support. Looks pretty cool, and the website offers a bunch of different upgrades and options, with even more confusing price packages. I'm thinking it's going to run a pretty penny since they even threw in some very expensive words like Carbon Fiber, Titanium, Tungsten Carbide, and Aluminum.

From the video it looks like it's pretty quick to setup with a bunch of fine tuning options. Most of these methods to balance are very similar to the Steadicam Merlin stabilizer, including changing the size of the arc. Changing the arc on these types of stabilizers shifts the weight further from the Gimbal making it more bottom heavy without adding additional weights. Being able to adjust this minutely is key to getting perfect balance.

eagle-video-stabilizer-vest-armgoonies-data

Instead of going for the vest, they've got a beefy waist belt that could be used for some interesting POV shots, JK!. If the belt works, it would be more comfortable to hide under a jacket, hmm..where did I see this before?

eagle-stabilizershoulder-mount

All in all it looks like a quality made stabilizer with lots of thought and design. I'm still going to say that it doesn't have the range and flexibility as the Glidecam HD stabilizers i'm using. For a few reasons, you can't rotate 360 degrees, run while tilting the stabilizer, and if you dare - flip it upside down! I flipped mine taking advantage of the Canon 60D articulating LCD screen. Very handy for Steadicam Stuff. If you think that all sounds like too much to ask, check out some of my ''amateur techniques'' (i'm no professional) with the Glidecam HD 4000 Product and Steadicam Merlin Vest.


[Thanks again Matt for letting me use the BTS footage]