GH-1 / Steadicam Merlin 'recipe'

[Blue_Food]

Hello everybody…


First time caller; Long time lurker…

I’ve just tried balancing the GH on the Merlin for the first time, and thought I’d share my ‘recipe’ as a starting point for anyone else who might be planning on trying out the combo…

With the stock lens at its widest, plus card, battery, and lens-protector (no QR plate):

Front - 1 x finish
Lower - 1 x mid, 1 x finish
Arc - 27cm approx.
Mount Hole - ‘M’
Stage Position - 0
‘Z’ - 0

Of the cameras I’ve previously used with the Merlin (XM-2/GL-2, HV30 [w/ & w/o wide-adapter]), I’m finding the GH to be the Goldilocks of the bunch, weight-wise…

Hope this is of help to someone! I’m finding these settings to be pretty damned solid, but I’d be happy to hear about anyone else’s experiences before submitting them to Tiffen for the official online ‘cookbook’…

Cheers,

Danny

[Blue_Food]

I’ve just been playing around some more, and – somewhat surprisingly – I‘ve found that the gross settings I listed above are actually applicable to the entire range of the stock zoom… That is to say, at any given length, you need only fine-tune the balance using the blue thumb-wheels ….

What’s more, the arc-size that I’ve found to work doesn’t need any adjustment in order to collapse the Merlin snugly into storage mode… Meaning: you can be -- literally -- out of the case and up-&-running, at any given focal length, within a couple of minutes…

I’m looking forward to seeing how the AF features of this cam/lens might help to capture shots that previously would have been impossible in the absence of a remote FF, and a skilled AC (and extraordinarily difficult even if those things WERE present!)

DP

[puredrifting]

Would love to see some GH1 footage show with your Merlin when you get around to it.

Thanks,

Dan

[admactanium]

Agreed. While I probably wouldn't buy one for my personal use I'd like to see how it looks stabilized and get your thoughts on how it handles.

[tackleqb]

I am curious to know why the steadicam sells for a whopping 850 dollars when you can buy a Glidecam 2000 HD for half the price and it holds more weight. Is there a feature to the steadicam that I am over looking?

[ydgmdlu]

The Steadicam Merlin is a much more finely engineered and crafted instrument. Just read some reviews on various forums, particularly at DV Info Net. It's the most stable, yet also by far the lightest, handheld rig available. The caliper-style design, along with the light weight, makes it far more comfortable to operate than the Glidecam. If you've tried handheld stabilization rigs, you'd know that they become hard to handle after only a couple of minutes.

Part of the price premium is also the Steadicam brand.

[hoarp001]

The merlin positions the camera weight over your hand, which is much more comfortable than the glidecam, which wrenches your wrist down and is very uncomfortable to hold.

That and all the glidecam stuff seems to be made of compressed beercans and chinese newspapers, whereas the Steadicam stuff is made properly, made to last and by people that know how to make a proper stabiliser. The glidecam is a good toy if its all you can afford, but dont expect it to last, and dont expect operating it to be easy or painless.

[tackleqb]

yeah, you guys are exactly right. I had a glidecam 2000 for 4 years and just sold it because the free floating handle became very rough and I tried to put wd-40 on it and that just screwed it up even more. Not only that but I put my dvx100 on it and threw out my back more times then I can count so I will definitely be looking more into a steadicam. I just really want a rig that will reduce the pressure on my back and one that wont make feel like I need to set it down every 2 minutes to stretch my back out.

[hoarp001]

As with any hand held device, it will strain your arms, even with a decent setup like the Merlin, but it is much less fatiguing, as the weight is right over your hand, you dont get the wrenching levering force that you get with the glidecam.

The merlin with arm and vest is a nice compromise, without spending too much, although I would advise that you get the Pilot as this has a more sled like sled.

[puredrifting]

The Glidecam is really crude and barely works while the Steadicams of all types are pretty well engineered and refined.

I will say that I used to own the Steadicam DV though and while it worked really well, it fell apart and even when I babied it, the tuning controls literally just broke apart while using them, very fragile and brittle plastic.

I would suspect that the Merlin is built much better because I have never heard of any complaints about the fragility of the Merlin. The Pilot looks sweet.

Dan

[Peter J. DeCrescenzo]

Just an FYI if you haven't already seen this Merlin & GH1 footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvMS70MyI-g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfj7U8SjbMg&feature=channel

[hoarp001]

Tiffen have invested a lot of money in improving their smaller rigs recently, I think the older rigs for smaller cameras were neglected a little bit. The Merlin and Pilot are very well made.

[puredrifting]

Good to know because the Steadicam DV broke my heart. I shot some killer footage with it and my little TRV900, made it into lots of broadcast shows but then after using it a couple of times, it just sort of fell apart. That was when Tiffen was buying Steadicam so there was no parts availability and I bascially ended up just throwing it away. Couldn't be fixed after about a year of inquiring.

I still love their products and if you say that their new small stuff is built better, good enough for me. I may try out a Merlin with the vest for the 5D MKII at some point.

Dan

[ydgmdlu]

Good to know because the Steadicam DV broke my heart.
The DV Steadicam had a short product lifespan. It was discontinued long ago specifically because of design and build issues. The Steadicam JR, which I think was released before the DV, remained the choice product for small camcorders until it was replaced by the Merlin. So please do have some faith in Tiffen; the DV really was the black sheep of the Steadicam line.

[arroway]

yeah, you guys are exactly right. I had a glidecam 2000 for 4 years and just sold it because the free floating handle became very rough and I tried to put wd-40 on it and that just screwed it up even more.

lol

i hope you disclosed all that to the buyer...

[xbourque]

I own a Merlin and I find it very well made, but the plastic parts in the metal gimbal are it's Achille's heel.

Expect to have to get a replacement gimbal at some point during the lifetime of the unit (unless you *really* baby the unit).

Otherwise, it's an amazing piece of engineering.

-X

[timbook2]

I tried my old steadicam junior with the GH1 today and found them to be a nice match! The wide angle lens @28mm sees the upper part of the monitor ( and the lil green spirit level) so I have to fold that out of sight.... otherwise a good balance!

Sunshade touches the base plate though so no easy zooming. I tried some Nikon lenses and its even better!

[SMaurice]

Hey guys,

I've tried this recipe and for some strange reason the camera flops to the side balancing horizontally. Any recommendations to solve this situation? I'm fairly new to the Merlin. Any additional tips would be greatly appreciated!

[josephj]

how the heck did you manage to keep the camera mounted on the plate securely??

[ProjX v2.0]

Anybody have any suggestions on how to weigh down the sled of my Steadicam Flyer so I can use it with the GH1?

Even if I run with 0-1 batteries on the sled, I will probably need additional weight mounted to the camera plate under or over the GH1. Any ideas what I can use?

[jamesc]

For Merlin GH1 users, how do you tighting the Merlin base plate with the GH1? No matter how much I tighten the screw, it's still a bit loose.

[Kellar42]

Mine too...I'm just careful with it. Still don't have it perfect with this recipe, though!

[Ken Steadman]

Ordered my GH1. While I wait, can I get the weight of the camera with the lens on from someone?

Anyone used the GH1 with the merlin vest? I'm worried it's gonna be too light and bounce too much.

[astronorick]

Ken - If you haven't got info yet, my GH-1 weight 2 Lbs. 0.2 Ounces. That's with memory card in, stock lens, battery in, and sun shield on it. I'm still working out how to balance it better on my Merlin.

[Ken Steadman]

Astronorick - thanks, I'll pass on my settings once I have it set up. I have run 4-5 different cameras on my merlin, so I'm assuming this wont be that hard.

[astronorick]

I'd appreciate that. If I find anything magic, I'll post it here.

[Kellar42]

I actually stuck a little square of velcro to the mounting plate and the bottom of the kit lens. Helps A LOT to prevent the thing from moving around up there.

[elko99]

Hi everyone. Does anyone have the detailed weights and set up for a GH1 and the Merlin Steadicam?

The first post in this thread seems quite inaccurate to me.

If anyone could...ahem...post some detailed with photographs set up procedures for the Merlin Steadicam and the Panasonic GH1, it would be fantastically appreciated.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

[mitchell]

Hi everyone. Does anyone have the detailed weights and set up for a GH1 and the Merlin Steadicam?

The first post in this thread seems quite inaccurate to me.

If anyone could...ahem...post some detailed with photographs set up procedures for the Merlin Steadicam and the Panasonic GH1, it would be fantastically appreciated.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

The posted weights seem correct for me.
My arc is about 75% open (the 27cm was throwing me off) - about 1 notch past center (towards positive)
A bit of adjustment needed with thumb screws to balance battery.

Make sure the plate is in place. This is the Achilles heal for the Gh1 and the Merlin - no hole for the alignment screw; If anyone finds a good way to lock the plate in place please post it here.
Hope this helps.

[mitchell]

"User submitted" recipe on the merlin cookbook page uses more weight and different measurements:

http://merlincookbook.com/user.php

Please let us know if anyone tries these.

[andrzejkra]

For those of you guys having trouble keeping the GH1 mounted on the baseplate, put a couple strips of gaffer tape between the camera and the plate when you attach it. It looks like the screw is bottoming out and not tightening fully. Adding some tape will prevent it from bottoming out and also create a slight elastic force keeping the camera pulling on the mounting screw.

[DavidPz]

I don't think it's the scew bottoming out. If you look carefully the tripod mount on the GH1 seems to be very slightly proud so you end up with metal on metal. 2 strips of gaffer on the base of the camera seens to work. I'm investigating whether a small 'o' ring would do the same as well as keeping the screw in place on mounting plate. One less thing to lose in the bottom of the case or fall off whilst out in the field - not to be found naturally!