Steadicam Merlin

Videos and Articles related to the Steadicam Merlin flying camera stabilizer

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iphone-4-accessories

iphone-teleprompter
iPhone teleprompter

Everyone is hyped about the new iPhone release and is ready to dive into pre-orders. There's already been a ton of previous accessories out there like the Teleprompter (above). I can't wait to see what new line of gear comes out to fit the new features of the iPhone 4.

zacuto-grip-iphonezacutor-jr

Being camera geeks, my friends are most interested in the new HD video feature. Of course we talked about stabilizing the iPhone video and the Zacuto Z-Grip or Zacuto Jr. came into conversation. C'mon are you kidding me? over $250 dollars for a handle Zacuto? Even the Jr. runs around $65-70 bucks, but it's just a handle!

So here's the solution one of my buddies came up with. Just get some epoxy / JB Weld putty and permanently glue a screwdriver to the back of a cheap 0.99 cent eBay hard case. Done, you got your handle and the iPhone can mount in and out!

screwdriver-handleiphone-hard-case

Now the Z-grip runs about $269.00. I can make these screwdriver/hardcase designs and sell them to you for $269.00 if you think spending more money for a handle will make it work better..just let me know. I'll even include FREE SHIPPING anywhere in the WORLD! LOL

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There's no doubt that you'd want to bring some type of camera out to an event. SLR's are great, and I love the fact that you can do both photos and videos all in one unit. For videos though, sometimes you want more movement, something more creative, and that means bringing out a whole bunch of extra gear just to get those stabilized movements. This is where those new Point and Shoot small handheld video cameras really shine. The newer Point and Shoot cameras can do decent photos and very nice 720 HD videos at 30fps which is perfect for the web or even downsizing to DVD.

The problems with the Point and Shoot handheld video cameras are it's size though. Very small cameras are hard to stabilize by hand alone, so for me to get some smoother and more creative shots, I took a trip over to Home Depot and gathered a few parts for a stabilizer. With this new stabilizer I can get pretty smooth fluid shots walking, running, and even get some super super low flying modes where i'm scraping grass! In this video I talk about my basic designs when i'm thinking about stabilizing any type of camera. Keep those basics in mind before building yours, as you'll need to add or remove weights, or even scale the size.

This would work great with the new Sony HX9. Check out the video quality from the Sony DSC-HX9 here: http://cheesycam.com/practice-run-electric-skateboard-hx9/

sony-hx9-digital-camera
find-price-button Sony DSC-HX9 Digital Camera Full 1080 60p

Hope you enjoy this little DIY stabilizer, leave comments, Tweet, Facebook, Digg, whatever.....

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Tiffen iPhone Stabilizer
iphone-steadicam-stabilizer

Yeah you know Tiffen and Steadicam. The guys who make the Steadicam Vest and Merlin stabilizer I love so much. They got something going that includes a swap meet and special stuff you can't buy from Retailers. I'm hoping one of those items will be the Tiffen iPhone Steadicam Stabilizer called 'Smoothee'. I'm thinking that would be a hot product when the iPhone 4Gs comes out with HD video support.

Later on in the day it sounds like an educational experience. This is definitely something everyone should attend. Knowledge is power and an even like this hosted by the professionals doesn't come around too often. The event sounds like fun, and i'm sure there's going to be tons of DSLR gurus floating around. I just might take a trip down.

This information was copied from https://tiffen.com/swap_meet_2010.html Please refer the to Tiffen website for any possible changes that may occur after this posting.

Tiffen Pre-Cine Gear Extravaganza
The Tiffen Company and its Steadicam Division, invite you to its Pre-Cine Gear Extravaganza that will be held at the Tiffen-Steadicam Showroom and Manufacturing Facility, 6933 San Fernando Road, Glendale, CA on June 3rd, 2010.
Please RSVP by June 1st, for one or all of the following events by contacting Michael ([email protected]) 1-800-593-3331 x7917 or Kathleen ([email protected]) 1-800-645-2522 x3241.

Event #1: Steadicam Factory Sale & Swap Meet (3:30– 6:30PM)

* Purchase Steadicam products as well as Tiffen items that are not normally sold through retailers.
* New, used, demo equipment, overstocks, discontinued items, samples, one-of-a-kind items.
* Great opportunity for students and professionals.
* Ideal for trade-ups, accessories, parts.
* Limited supply of “damaged in handling” Steadicam Operator’s Handbooks at ½ off cover price.
* Open Customer to Customer Swap Meet - This is a customer to customer exchange.
* Trade or swap your unwanted items for cash or product with other customers.
* Please note Tiffen claims no responsibility for customers' items bought or sold.
* Limited supply of Steadicam logo Caps, T-Shirts, Tool Kits, Sand Bags and more -No phone or mail orders will be accepted for these items.
* Items for sale are not available through Tiffen dealer business partners.
* If you’ve been putting off your purchase, this is your opportunity to “fly” your preferred Steadicam rig. Have an older Steadicam parts requirement? Send a detailed request list to Michael Craigs, [email protected] for first selection.
* Space available on first-come, first-serve basis.

Event #2: Tiffen Filter Experience (6:30pm-7:30pm)

* Presented by world renowned filter authority, Mr. Carey Duffy
* Educational seminar on what shooters want and need to know about filtration
* Light control solutions for the Canon 5/7D market
* Actual footage and stills
* Round and Square filters and the Matte Box
* Problem solution filters/The NEW Red Sensor
* "The Baked in Look" - Diffusion, Contrast & Color - WHY?
* Workflow of shooters in the field
* Dfx for Pre-visualization and Post Production
* Questions and Answers

Event # 3: Pre-Cine Gear Open House (7:30PM – 9:30PM)

* Featuring Tiffen products introduced at NAB 2010.
* Other products on display include our new Lowel equipment.
* Special guests include Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown and co-developer, Jerry Holway.
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Fun, Food and Light Refreshments will be served.

Be sure to visit Tiffen Booth 119 at the Cine Gear Expo on June 4th and 5th, 2010.

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It's a little early to be posting this up, but I was excited to see the rough cut on a video project I was asked to help with. Sorry Travis, I know it's still in progress, but I just had to show off the excellent work you've put in so far. I'm pretty proud of my Steadicam work with my Hybrid rig for this gig.

Producer Travis Simpson found me on Vimeo and asked me to be the Steadicam operator in a video project that was going to be shot entirely on DSLR's. My bit of experience in DSLR cameras helped as well for being a good candidate as Cameraman #2.

The interesting part of this video is the run and gun type gear used. We had to be fast, mobile, and carry only a few items to work in the tight traffic conditions of San Francisco. This entire video clip was shot only with 2 cameras + 2 lenses. Here's the setup:

Camera #1 Canon 550D / T2i + 50mm F/1.2 on RedRock EyeSpy bundle with Follow Focus
Camera #2 (me) Canon 5D Mark II + Sigma 20mm on my Hybrid Steadicam Rig (Found Here)
Sound was captured seperately by awesome Sound Engineer Kevin Crawford

If you see more than 1 person in the shot, that's the Canon 5D Mark II + Sigma 20mm on Hybrid Steadicam.
If you see the camera panning or moving during a shot, that's Canon 5D Mark II + Sigma 20mm on Hybrid Steadicam.
Close up detail shots or headshots are from the Canon T2i + RedRock EyeSpy + 50mm L F/1.2.
We also used the 126 LED video lights (found on the right side of this website) during the Bar scene diffused by bouncing off of a piece of paper. Love them lights.

Credits for the video (still in editing progress)
Producer: Travis Simpson
Director of Photography: Me!
Host: Ben Djavaheri
Sound Design: Kevin Crawford
Production Coordinator: Derek Fernandez

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The 85mm F/1.2 is a beast and rated as one of the best Portrait lenses that Canon has to offer. It's also a very expensive lens that's not super versatile. You can't shoot macro, in fact the minimum focal distance is a few miles away (i'm joking). So unless Portraits are all you ever do in life, most people won't invest into that type of gear.

I've been following a company called Borrow Lenses for quite some time but never had the nerve to test out the service. Basically you place an order on line and they ship you the gear. Don't let the name fool you. It's not all Lenses. They've got RedRock Micro shoulder rigs, follow focus systems, full camera bodies, light meters, tripods, filters, Memory Cards, Lighting. Brands include Canon, Sony, Nikon, and more. The above video was shot by someone in New York! These guys get around in renting professional equipment for both Photography and Video.

I've had the chance to work with many professionals in the field lately and they all seem to be doing business with Borrow Lenses with absolutely no problems. Located in San Mateo you can even drop by their office for pickup and drop off. They even have a YELP review page. So the next time i'm thinking of dropping 2K on a lens, maybe i'll think about just renting it for about $34 dollars for a weekend. Click here to check out Borrow Lenses.

Click image to visit Borrow Lenses
borrowlenses.com rent lens mail order internet

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Me running with my Hybrid Steadicam Vest + Glidecam HD 4000

So even though i'm a DIY guy and make some really (bad) and Cheesy stuff, i'm still a buyer of expensive video and photography equipment. I had this tour set to private, but recently just made it public. You can see what i'm rockin' in one of the Videos, just so you know, i'm not all broomsticks and duct tape....

This was a test with the GoPro HD mounted onto my rig. The extreme fisheye shot simultaneously helped me get a better view of the smaller rooms. So basically I was flying two cameras at one time with two different perceptions. For the audio we used a wireless Sennheisser Lav + Body Pack transmitting into a Zoom H4n.

Here's a quick result of that tour

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Fluid movement in video is a big deal today. Dollies, sliders, jibs, cranes, steadicam shots, skater dollies, there are tons of different ways to get that cinematic camera movement. The video above has got to be one of my favorite simple camera tricks I ran into a while back, but since we've got a growing number of newbies in DSLR video, I thought i'd repost.

Don't be fooled though, you'll need some solid tripod legs and an awesome fluid head. By far the smallest, most fluid, and most cost effective for small cameras would be this Bogen 701HDV. Check it out here.

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I posted about this Hague Mini Motion Camera Stabilizer earlier in my blogs, but I just thought I'd share with everyone what a Canon T2i looks like when balanced on the Hague. Now that high quality HD Video cameras are smaller, the Hague MMC is one good option. This stabilizer will only fly the weight of a Canon T2i with 18-55mm kit lens and nothing more. You can find the Hague MMC on eBay (click here)

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find-price-button Mini Camera Stabilizer

One stabilizer that pretty much resembles the Hague MMC but which is a bit cheaper is the MidX (found here).
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find-price-button MidX Camera Stabilizer

Other Small Video DSLR Camera Stabilizers
If you're planning on Flying something a bit heavier, the next best option would be the Flycam Nano. You can see how well this stabilizer flies in this video (click here). This is what I feel the best bang for the buck. It can easily fly a Canon 5D Mark II or Canon 7D with a Tokina 11-16mm lens. You can find the Flycam Nano online (click here).

dslr video camera stabilizer
find-price-button The Flycam Nano

One feature that the Flycam Nano lacks is what are called 'fine tuning knobs'. These knobs are available in some stabilizers for you to quickly and easily get your camera in balance. You simply turn the small knobs and the camera will shift slightly left / right, or shift slightly forward and back. If you need to be quick about getting a camera ready to fly, the Glidecam HD series are the best bet. For small cameras similar to what the Flycam Nano can fly, you'll want to look into the Glidecam HD1000 stabilizer. You can find one of my demo videos (click here). The Glidecam HD1000 is the smallest of Glidecam stabilizers under the HD2000 and HD4000 which can all be found online (click here).

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find-price-button Glidecam Stabilizers

If you're looking to beef up your Camera by adding a battery grip, LED light, or Microphones and need something to carry more weight, the next step up (price wise) would be the Glidecam HD2000-HD4000 stabilizers. You can find the different Glidecam HD models available here. They are all basically the same design, just different sizes to support different weight cameras. You can probably get away with the smallest one, but if you plan on adding something like an LED video light (like this one) , you might want to get the larger Glidecam HD2000 or HD4000. I personally own several different stabilizers, but here's a BTS video with the HD4000 (click here).

In your search for Glidecam stabilizers, you might run into the Pro versions. These will also work great and the difference in the Pro series of Glidecam stabilizers is mainly the lack of 'Fine Tuning Knobs'. They will balance fairly heavy loads and if you don't require the fine tune knobs you can find many of these used for cheap prices (click here). Getting back to the Glidecam HD series of stabilizers, you can find more information about how much weight each stabilizer can carry, along with prices following the links below.

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find-price-button Glidecam HD 1000 Smallest Glidecam HD DSLR Video Camera Stabilizer

Glidecam-HD2000
find-price-button Glidecam HD 2000 Medium Sized Glidecam HD DSLR Video Camera Stabilizer

Glidecam-HD4000
find-price-button Glidecam HD-4000 Largest Glidecam HD DSLR Video Camera Stabilizer

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Here's some 'Flying' shots taken with a Tiffen Steadicam Merlin camera stabilizer. The difference with a Merlin type stabilizer is that the camera stays level the entire time. This is not a stabilizer in which you can change up/down angles with. The movement of flying straight and fluid is awesome though.

A Steadicam Merlin can be found here: