Home Made Stedicam

[stevesnj]

Made this thing for $75.00 check out the pics and video of the test shots with an old Panasonic DV103d. Im a teacher at a high school starting a editing class and im having our pre-engineering dept. make a better bracket to hold a DVX100...but im encouraged with the results as you can see by the before and after shots.

Post comments, questions, opinions...thanks!!!

http://steveranieri.net/stedicam/
(slow server alert!)

Steve

[reservoir]

Dood...that's not bad at all!! It's like a step-up from the $14 dollar Stedicam!! NICE!!

~reservoir~

[stevesnj]

Dood...that's not bad at all!! It's like a step-up from the $14 dollar Stedicam!! NICE!!

~reservoir~

I based it on that but his looked too clunky for me...not that this is much better but for $75.00 I think it will work great...the video is the very first shoot with it so once i get better control it will be even smoother. THANKS!!!

[thisiswells]

Anyone reading this ought to at least *consider* purchasing an actual Steadicam product.
The Steadicam J.R. (not pronounced junior) goes for around $250.00 used on eBay.

Haven't tried one with a DVX, but a few years ago (ok, like seven) I used mine quite
often with a Sony VX1000 and a couple years before that, a Sony VX-3. Worked great
for those fun little projects in middle school. Haven't touched one in four years.

brian wells

[stevesnj]

Well for a school on a tight budget saving $175.00 is a big deal...but I will def keep your comments in mind if the budget increases...

[NO CA$H]

All this time I thought J.R. meant junior!!

Never knew they made a vx3...

EDIT: I tied free weights to a tripod once and just put my camera on the tripod. didnt work out so good

[Mike_E]

Yeah, so did I

[pookie_old]

OK Steve.

If you want to ease the use of your rig, you need to add a collar to the top shaft, about 1/2 inch above your knuckles in the second picture. It needs to be glued into position, not moveable. You'll be able to "rest" the rig on your hand that way, loosening your grip. You'll get more control, and smoother shots.

bwt, use a collar with a 1 inch lip.

[thisiswells]

The VX-3 is a Hi8 camera.
A friend of our family's purchased his in 1995 and I helped him shoot some little movies.
It was a neat camera and certainly the coolest thing ever for an eleven year old to
play around with! He never was completely happy with the picture quality, though.

[stevesnj]

OK Steve.

If you want to ease the use of your rig, you need to add a collar to the top shaft, about 1/2 inch above your knuckles in the second picture. It needs to be glued into position, not moveable. You'll be able to "rest" the rig on your hand that way, loosening your grip. You'll get more control, and smoother shots.

bwt, use a collar with a 1 inch lip.


Great ideas thanks...one reason i didnt put a collar is 1) I never thought of it...lol and 2) the silver shaft is a paint stick handle that extends with a button lock for high shots to adjust the weight balance easily...but I bet i can figure out a removable colar to fit on there...I just need to loosen up a bit...I was holding the rig tight on that shoot so that may be the problem :huh:

[pookie_old]

You'll be quite suprised how much a simple collar will help.

[AKundeti]

http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/camsupport/dvsportster1.php

[pookie_old]

http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/camsupport/dvsportster1.php

VERY lightweight arm. As you look at the pictures, you'll notice he is always holding the stabilizer up. I doubt it would be able to support the weight of the stabilizer alone ie: float level, let alone support a loaded rig. I can't see it as being of much, if any use, the spring is already extended to about 50% in the pictures, with him holding it up. It would be almost useless on even the most basic of following shots.

I'd say pass on that thing.

[thisiswells]

If anyone is in Texas, you can rent a big Steadicam from G.E.A.R. for an entire week for $300.00.
We used it on a feature a couple months back for three weeks with a DVX100a and it was a good
option for our director of photography. Definitely affordable enough to learn on as well.

www.gearrental.com

[marctronixx]

800 bucks for that varizoon kit? c'mon....

yeah the "lamp spring" in his "articulating arm" would probably snap if you added matte boxx, FF, etc..not worth your money.

steve, what are you using to stream the video. im using FF and need an additional plugin...

[stevesnj]

Im using just my web server no plugin...i did compress it using Apple compressor to an mp4...what is FF?

[Sirius_Doggy]

...what is FF?

Follow Focus (http://www.16x9inc.com/cgibin/eDatCat/169store.cgi?user_action=detail&catalogno=AC-FF-DV)

[marctronixx]

actualy i meant FIRE FOX browser.. wheni go to see it it neds an additional pluing but does not list which one it needs... andi have virtually every plugin i need (flash, QT, windows media, divx, etc...)

[stevesnj]

actualy i meant FIRE FOX browser.. wheni go to see it it neds an additional pluing but does not list which one it needs... andi have virtually every plugin i need (flash, QT, windows media, divx, etc...)


Its a Quicktime mp4.

[Shoe Shop Jill]

Hi Steve

came across your thread amongst the very many on here and was very impressed by the results, any chance you would be willing to provide instructions on how you did it and materials used. i am very interested in building my own stabiliser but dont have the diy skills to come up with my own design.

[ian lucero]

Steve amazing job. You got some pretty amazing results. Any chance you might want to post instructions on how to do this on DVXuser.com or instructables.com ?

Great work!

[zev]

I built the $14 version. When you stick the DVX 100b on it it gets reallllllyyyy heavy. I have to admit it did stabilize the movement well...for $14 !!! I was at the hardware store and thought it would be cool as a weekend project. Plus, you can put it together pretty easy and it's rock solid. PVC tends to bend a bit on the larger cameras. But, again it's whatever works for you. Steve did a great job and I think it works for him. That's what is important!

[videoshark]

what i do is use my monopod that ive added a weight to the bottom(keeps it smooth) and for low tracking shots i just do it upside down then reverse it in post. cheap.