Steadicam Merlin

Videos and Articles related to the Steadicam Merlin flying camera stabilizer

• 11 Comments

•

A closer look at the Konova video camera Stabilizer Vest and Arm. Let's start here. Pricing? Not very competitive. Everyone knows about my Hybrid setup using the Steadicam Merlin Vest / Arm + Glidecam HD4000. This hybrid setup works extremely well and you can probably put one together yourself for around $2300 or so. The Konova Stabilizer system will still run you over $3K. But if you wanted to compare apples to apples, this is more similar to Steadicam's Pilot system which sells for about the same price.

Pricing aside, what does it have to offer? The larger stabilizer should hold 10lbs on the top fairly easy. That's a bit more than the weight a Glidecam HD4000 is rated at. The unit is all metal, lightweight, and gimbal is very smooth. The top stage adjusts forward/back/left/right to center your camera. To balance the entire stabilizer, the Gimbal can be positioned further up or down the post.

The arm is huge and very well made. It can be positioned either left or right side by flipping the mounting bracket. It can definitely carry some heavy weight, but isn't designed to be fine tuned for light weight setups. (The Merlin vest can be tuned for light camera setups). The Padded Vest is very lightweight, easy to slip on/off and adjust various ways for comfort. From an operator's point of view, the Konova arm is much easier to place into the vest system than a Steadicam Merlin Vest (I just leave the Merlin Arm on all the time) and also easier to remove when breaking down. The stabilizer comes with a stand adapter (attaches to a light stand) to dock the stabilizer when not in use.

Let's talk cons. Well price is one. There are already so many other options on the market with either the same price or cheaper. Unless they can bring the price down, it's going to be a tough market to crack. It offers nothing different than what is already available. This unit is wired, but is missing HDMI. HDMI seems to be a growing trend not just for DSLRs, but for other popular cameras under 10lbs. (i'm going to mod this one with my own HDMI). The monitor that it comes with is outdated too, so I'll be switching that out with the SmallHD DP6. So that's it so far, and i'll be taking it out for a test as soon as I can build it up to my liking. Stay tuned.

Konova Vest Arm
Konova DSLR Video Camera Stabilizer on eBay

• 33 Comments

•

steadicam-vest-type

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 up in time..

• 3 Comments

•

Anyone know much about ASXMOV? It's another Steadicam like vest and Stabilizer kit. Pretty poor old school demo video (above), but none-the-less somewhat effective. A single unit shows up online with total pricing on the kit (including shipping), cost about $1100 less than Wondlan's new Leopard stuff.

ASXMOV
find-price-button ASXMOV Video Camera Stabilizer Vest Kit

• 13 Comments

•

Wondlan's new Leopard Stabilizer system comes in along with some of the cheapest Dual Arm Vest + Stabilizer kits. How well does it work? Hmm..There's a few videos that are showing up over at Vimeo for you to take a look at. One demo above, and an instructional type video showing how to assemble the entire kit and balance (below). So far, nothing else online from an actual 'owner' especially here in the US. I'm more interested in how comfortable the vest is and if it might be available seperately. The spring design and dual arm looks to be of very high quality and much better than the Flycam junk vest stuff.

Wonland's products can be found below:
Wondlan Leopard Steadicam Stabilizer
find-price-button Wondlan DSLR Leopard Vest Video Camera Stabilizer


• 29 Comments

•

No matter how many Honda Civics are out on the road, there will always be the other guy who'd rather drive the more expensive Porsche. Sure it's apples to oranges, but if you just need to make a trip to the grocery store, the end result is the same. My point being that a flying camera movement is a flying camera movement. In any case, here's a quick look at the Steadicam Merlin, the more expensive DSLR Video camera stabilizer that still draws a premium audience. This video is dedicated to that group of people looking for more information on flying a luxury model.

steadicam-merlin-vest
Steadicam Merlin Vest

The Steadicam Merlin packs small, trimmed down as light as possible without any extra junk. It's quick to set up, quick to break down, and fast to dial in your camera's center of balance. Just because it does all these things very well, don't be fooled into thinking that it's any easier to fly. As with any stabilizer it's all about practice, practice, and a little bit more practice. The Steadicam Merlin has the option to accept the Merlin vest - possibly the most popular vest in use. The Vest can be purchased separately, or you'll receive a small discount if you decide to dish out for both items in a bundled package. The Vest doesn't really add any additional 'balance', but it will allow you to shoot for longer periods of time. I'll probably be shooting a later video on actually balancing a Steadicam Merlin setup, and If you have any questions so far, leave some comments.

steadicam-merlin-thumb
find-price-button Steadicam Merlin Video Camera Stabilizer

• 7 Comments

•

Cameras are getting smaller and lighter. People are attempting to fly GoPro's and iPhones on Steadicams. For lightweight cameras including Sony's A55, Panasonic GH2's, or Canon T2is, here's a simple DIY DSLR Steadicam (merlin style) stabilizer idea from Vimeo member KFLeung. There isn't much tooling required, it's more of an assembly of readily available pieces which combined provides you with a framework, gimbal handle, and counterweight for a camera Stabilizer. Starting with an inexpensive Flip Flash Bracket. These brackets are made for photographers to mount a Flash above the camera. When the camera is rotated in either landscape or portrait position, you can flip the flash so it still remains above the camera (i.e. to bounce light from a ceiling). This video is actually about 3 years old, but there are still several people using this method with good results.

KFLeung's first test video posted after the build

The Gimbal (handle) is based on a mini tripod with ball head so that it swivels freely. Getting a good fluid mini tripod is key to having smooth movements.

Screen shot 2011-05-20 at 5.46.28 AM

A really simple method to creating a 3 axis Gimbal Handle most people don't think about is to literally take a mini ball head and throw it on top of a Barska Handgrip. This setup adds some size, but is extremely comfortable and acts as a decently effective Gimbal Handle system. (I can see many of your minds already at work with that idea...)

Screen shot 2011-05-20 at 5.40.07 AM
find-price-button
Mini Ball Head 		Screen shot 2011-05-20 at 5.40.25 AM
find-price-button
BARSKA Grip

The arch design of the bracket gives space for your hand to work, while providing an area to mount a counterweight below. At this area, you can use simple Fender Washers like most Hague or Indiehardware stabilizers. When you're done, the stabilizer folds into a small form factor.

Flip Folding Flash Bracket
find-price-button Folding Flip Flash Bracket

• 43 Comments

•

I think i've received at least 2 questions/day since this new 'Flycam Nano DSLR' had been advertised online. It's quite confusing since there already is a Flycam Nano that supports DSLRs. This one claims to be better and can handle more weight. Of course it does! It's bigger and looks almost exactly like the Flycam 3000 (far right). Did they just swap the handle and slap on the Nano name because the hottest search term is 'Flycam Nano'? The Flycam DSLR is just about the same price as the Flycam 3000 too. To me it just doesn't make sense.. what do you make of it all?

flycam-nano-stabilizer
Flycam Nano

flycam-nano
Flycam Nano DSLR

flycam-3000
Flycam 3000

My personal opinion is that you should use the max capacity for any stabilizer. If you get something bigger than the original Nano, then you may have to end up adding more weights to the top of the camera in order to make it fly better. So do you need a larger one? Unless you're pushing more weight that the common 7D + Tokina 11-16mm (BTW you can balance a bit more than that), then you don't need to go to the next level. I have several stabilizers and the one I take with me the most is the smallest one I can pack to do the job. The Glidecam HD4000 and Steadicam vest are only called upon when I really need to carry some weight...

• 6 Comments

•

What do you get when you mix an old Bike Wheel, Bike Crank, and Bike Wheel Hub? You get a functioning Video Camera Stabilizer a.k.a DIY Steadicam. It will all make more sense after checking out the video above from YouTube member thomasumJohnson. Improvements? I would stay start with a smaller wheel maybe from a childs bike. This should cut down on about half the size, but still give you that nice arch. The smooth wheel hub is a nice touch, and it appears he's using a U-Joint similar to the WSClater builds for making a Gimbal Handle. But if you're not the type to tackle a 'Gimbal', Lensse can provide you with something http://cheesycam.com/lensse-gimbals-for-diy-steadicam-stabilizers/.

• 27 Comments

•

Vimeo member Satva Leung shares a Flycam Nano stabilizer test with me. It's pretty nice to see someone fairly new to stabilizers get great results, especially from such a cheap piece of equipment. Flying a Canon T2i + Tokina 11-16mm (same lens I used on a few tests), check out the results. I haven't flown my cameras around in a while, I think next week i'll take the GH2 or GF2 out for a spin with the Flycam Nano. [Thanks Satva]

flycam-nano-video-stabilizer
find-price-button Flycam Nano DSLR Video Camera Stabilizer


tokina-11-16mm
find-price-button Tokina 11-16mm Wide Angle Zoom