Tag Archives: Steadicam

• 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...

• 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

• 10 Comments

•

Wondlan Shoulder Rig
find-price-button Wondlan DSLR Sniper Plus Support Full Shoulder Rig

Wondlan's earliest DSLR products were pretty blah, but when they started pushing out their 'sniper' or 'target shooter' type rigs, they started making a bit of noise in the scene. My guess is they are doing pretty well since they are now expanding their lineup of previously only small parts. In 2011, here's one of their latest Full Shoulder rigs. Yes, everything you see above (except camera & battery pack) is part of the package including shoulder pad, extended handles, matte box, battery mount, top handle, LCD Monitor, and follow focus w/ whip. I personally don't think it's very aesthetically appealing in turquoise/silver, but Wondlan's new rigs are often being compared to Gini's quality. Current price not so exciting...

Another new product for Wondlan is their 'Leopard Vest system' (happy it's not in actual leopard print). The cheapest off the shelf vest systems still run over $1200, but are pretty much crap. If Wondlan's latest vest system is anything like their shoulder rig quality, the price doesn't seem too overkill.

Wondlan Leopard Steadicam Stabilizer
find-price-button Wondlan DSLR Leopard Vest Video Camera Stabilizer

It almost comes close to the total price of my Hybrid system using a Steadicam Vest & Glidecam HD4000. Wondlan's Leopard Vest system is spec'd out to handle 10 pound loads, comes with a Monitor and Matte Box (most likely does not come with a V mount battery). It will probably be a while before we see any video reviews on this, but if you happen to run into something, leave them in the comments.

Wondlan Leopard Vest System
find-price-button Wondlan DSLR Leopard Vest Video Camera Stabilizer

• 4 Comments

•

Aaron of Winnipeg shows us how he mods the IndieHardware Video Camera stabilizer. This is one of the cheapest stabilizers I've reviewed on this blog that was able to balance a 5D Mark II + Sigma 20mm Lens. That's about all I was willing to push, but Aaron's managed to practically double that up while still using the stock Gimbal. The mods to add a Lilliput 7" monitor to the little stabilizer allows Aaron to add more weight to the top with a T2i + Battery Grip and 17-55mm F/2.8 IS lens (nice lens). He's also added a new handle which is one of the most common complaints on this particular stabilizer, replacing it with one from an old Flash Bracket . The video is a bit long, but all good information, so stick through it and hopefully get some ideas. Also note that the IndieHardware stabilizer is always in and out of stock, but you can check current pricing and if it's available below.

indie-hardware-stabilizer-upgrade
find-price-button IndieHardware Video Camera Stabilizer

• 29 Comments

•

First off, sorry on this one. This little stabilizer was a tough one to talk about. There's so many different features on this stabilizer, it's mind blowing. I had to totally skip any mention about balancing it and just spent several minutes going over the different parts. If you want to learn about balancing, the BlackBird comes with an instructional DVD as well as a full booklet with lots of pretty pictures. It almost doesn't matter where you start by placing your camera, you'll always have more than enough lateral to compensate and center the camera to balance. Weather has been very spotty here and i've been caught up with other projects to really get something good online about this one.

In any case, here's a quick look and a few first time samples. There's no denying the resemblance of the design to other stabilizers on the market, but of the ones I've used (and i've used quite a few), none of them has as many different options or features as this. One thing I mention most on this blog about stabilizers, is that I find stabilizers work best when they are 'loaded up' to their max weight. This stabilizer has even been specifically designed to balance both super light and heavier cameras by adding in the Gimbal extension. Dropping the Gimbal allows the stabilizer to become extremely 'less bottom heavy', thus able to support light weight cameras. The unique 'adjustable friction gimbal' also adds to that same purpose. It's well designed, fairly priced against it's competitors, but definitely the most fully featured of the bunch all similar to this design. You might also want to check out the other video demo in this article: http://cheesycam.com/dslr-video-stabilizer-blackbird/.

You can find more information about the BlackBird Stabilizer at their website: https://www.camotionllc.com/

The BlackBird stabilizer can also be found at B&H below
blackbird-stabilizer
find-price-button BlackBird Camera Stabilizer by Camera Motion Research

• 3 Comments

•

Arri Alexa 352 LED RING LITE


Arri Alexa LED RING LIGHT screen shot

Gustavo from www.o2lighting.com writes in and provides a few BTS images of the 352 LED Ring Light on an Arri Alexa! That's one fancy camera, and i'm glad to see this thing in use by these guys. It definitely is a kick-ass ENG Light. Traditionally most people want to use this light by putting the lens through the center, but it can also be mounted as a top light or off to the sides with a light stand. [Thanks Gustavo]

I used my 352 LED Ring light with my lens through the center when working on a Steadicam setup mainly to try to keep things balanced. When the light is used off camera this LED Ring throws a very soft even diffused light that can be still be controlled via Dimmer. I have to say that the bracket that comes with the item pretty much sucks. The unit itself is awesome and very very lightweight. I removed the brackets from my unit and just used a Friction Power Arm to the hot shoe of my DSLR. You might have caught that in my video here: http://cheesycam.com/last-minute-glidecam-mods/

dimmable-352-ring-light
find-price-button 352 LED Ring Light with 12V AC Adapter

• 83 Comments

•

I know I know. You're sick of hearing about the Nano and I said I wasn't going to show any sample footage of this uber cheap video stabilizer with the 7D + Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8. My first video was to show people that it does work with this weight, and I think I did accept a challenge. Every few minutes someone is saying it won't work because the weight would exceed what is listed on the product specs. Well after I shot the last video showing it was balanced, it worked so well, I had to do an example. In fact, I think some of you would be upset if you didn't see this next video. It handles superbly at this weight, and it can carry more. Believe me, i've played with many stabilizers. For something so cheap i'm surprised at the handling in this next video where I abuse the #$%^& out of it. I throw it around, spin it, whip it, whatever I could do to shake it around. Just to show there's no camera tricks, I threw a mirror in the studio. You can hear the wind pass the camera microphone as I toss the unit forward and back. Warning, it's quite dizzying footage but I wanted to show something more than just a casual walk. The demo stabilizer video was also shot in one take so there's no picking out just the 'nice footage'. This is a real look into how this thing flies with the Canon 7D + Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8.


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

And since I know there will be additional questions about the Canon 5D Mark II, I balanced that too. The Tokina 11-16mm doesn't work on the full frame camera, so I threw on the Sigma 20mm F/1.8. This combination is actually lighter than the 7D + Tokina combo, so I needed to move the post higher up (making it less bottom heavy). The weights and all the configuration was still basically the same and I only needed to move the post upwards by about an inch.

And who ever threw me the challenge, let me know if this qualifies as a win? LOL. Check out the related article here: http://cheesycam.com/canon-7d-tokina-11-16mm-will-she-fly/

• 169 Comments

•

I've talked about this particular video camera stabilizer before, and have been suggesting it to many people. In my older posts i've always shown demo videos of other people using this Flycam Nano stabilizer. This time around, i'm actually doing the demo. It's an affordable stabilizer with a Gimbal bearing handle that has more range of motion than the Hague MMC or IndieHardware. It's more expensive than the IndieHardware and about the same price of the Hague (if not cheaper) depending on where you live and shipping costs. It can also carry much more weight than both the Hague MMC and IndieHardware stabilizer. The design is similar to the Glidecam series of stabilizers, and it's possible it can carry the same weight as the Glidecam HD1000 which is 3 times the price.

flycam-nano (3 of 11)
Flycam Nano next to Glidecam HD4000

The Flycam Nano is a cheaper stabilizer not only because it's coming from overseas manufacturing, but also because it doesn't spend on fancy aesthetics. The weights used on the sled (lower tray) of the stabilizer are just large washers with a wing-nut and bolt combo. The finish of the whole unit looks like it's some type of hard flat black paint as opposed to higher end units that use a flat black anodizing process. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing that feels like plastic. It appears to be an all metal rig. Unlike the the Glidecam HD1000 there are also no simple fine tuning knobs. To balance this stabilizer, you'll need to loosen all the thumb screws, shift the plates, recheck and try again if it's still off. With any stabilizer, this could be a time consuming and frustrating process especially for those who aren't familiar with balancing a stabilizer. For myself who has balanced many other stabilizers, it took me less than a minute. Of course, the first time I balanced a Glidecam it literally took me several hours. I've learned to understand what to look for when balancing my cameras, and practice makes perfect.

I'm very impressed with this stabilizer and the amount of weight it can carry. I'm only using 5 of the weights on each side and the unit shipped with 10 on each side. With the amount of weight I have on there now, it doesn't feel like the unit is struggling. I'm flying the Canon 60D with a Sigma 20mm Prime lens. The Flycam Nano I ordered also came with several extra parts including extra rubber feet and wing nuts. It was packaged nicely in a box of solid foam with cut outs. There are a few parts on the unit i'm planning to upgrade like the screws that hold the weights, and changing out the wing nuts to fancier clamp knobs. There's also a small hex screw that holds the top stage to the post that seems to work it's way loose after a while. A simple lock washer will prevent this from coming loose. It also lacks any type of quick release system to remove your camera when traveling. I'll be placing a Quick release adapter to the top of this unit.

flycam-nano (7 of 11)
Minimal Parts for easy Travel

It's super compact and if you decide to take it apart will fit into a small bag. It's a really fun stabilizer, and i'm hoping to shoot something worth watching. If you have any questions for me at this point, leave them in the comments section. You can also check out the earlier related posts showing more examples of the Flycam Nano in use.

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

Related Articles:
http://cheesycam.com/flycam-nano-now-available/

• 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