SteadyCam for XH-A1 and 35mm adapter

Giovanni Bertani

Giovanni Bertani

Active member
I am considering a steadycam for an XH-A1 with Brevis35mm.

Any suggestion?

This will for a documentary indie project so low-budget options will be welcome.

:thumbup:

Thanks :beer:
 
With a 35mm system you're looking at a Steadicam Flyer at the least, which at $6700 is definitely not low budget. If it's just the A1 you can getaway with a steadicam merlin at $800, but add a Brevis, rail, follow focus, lense, monitor etc. and you're looking at 15 lbs minimum. There's just no way.
 
sorry jade, but your not totally correct.

i have been able to get my canon XH A1, with rails, with a 24mm lens on my letus extreme, perfectly balanced, on which rigu ask?

glidecam 4000 pro and smooth shooter.

Now im waiting for my follow focus and whip so if there are minor adjustments ot make on the focus, someone can follow me, much the same way i've workedi n the passed with an xlr cable sticking out of the camera, being supported by a crew member as not to influence the movement of hte camera by any way possible.

The good thing aobut the added weight load is it adds to hte cameras inertia, which means if i was able to control a heavy xlr cable being held afloat on the side of my camera, a smaller whip will be just that much easier as moving the camera left and right actually takes some force now! heh. May not be perfect, but its doable!

I suggest you not add the monitor, or if you do, place it as a counter weight on the rig. But as it has been stated, controlling focus is almost impossible without a wireless ff, but this whip thing does work if practiced and if u have access to a competent assistant. Which is why id also suggest only using your widest lens when shooting on the steadicam unit. Maximize your depth of field as much as you can, sotp your lens down to F2.8 or F4 if possible, and work out your shot list to accomodate the equipment that you have access to.
 
PaPa said:
Now im waiting for my follow focus and whip so if there are minor adjustments ot make on the focus, someone can follow me, much the same way i've workedi n the passed with an xlr cable sticking out of the camera, being supported by a crew member as not to influence the movement of hte camera by any way possible.
Click to expand...

Be prepared for dissapointment.

A cable and a whip are very different animals. It is impossible to succesfully pull focus with any mecahnical system on a Steadicam.

The *only* way is with an electronic remote follow focus ... preferably wireless of course, but wired works fine too.


Giovanni,
That unfortunaly applies to you too ... you will need a remote focus system too if you want to make *any* focus adjustments during the shot - and you will want to. The catch is that a basic decent Radio Follow-Focus system runs a little under $4k .. yup, twice yoru stabilizer budget, just for focus.

You've basically got 3 choices:
If you've got the budget .. you are looking at about $11k for this system to work.
Hire a profesional operator with their gear for your Steadicam shots.
Loose the 35mm adapter for the Steadicam shots and get yourself a Merlin for $800 and you are set.

- Mikko
 
Glad you covered that, a whip would never work especially on a glidecam 4000, let alone a real rig.

Mike
 
Giovanni Bertani said:
I am considering a steadycam for an XH-A1 with Brevis35mm.

Any suggestion?

This will for a documentary indie project so low-budget options will be welcome.

:thumbup:

Thanks :beer:
Click to expand...

The www.indicam.com with double arms can handle 25lbs which should be enough if you do not have many options like lights, monitors, firestore and more. The real problem will be focus with a 35mm adapter you may need a remote follow focus which may tip the scale to high and cost more than the setup.
 
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