Steadicam Merlin and D90 - recipes anyone?

Merlin - Shmerlin - just use a mono pod and relax your grip..

http://www.vimeo.com/2576147

Actually Im interested in a merlin or a DIY job - could someone explain ..

how they 'know when to turn' while correcting out unintentional turning by the operator

and

how they dont build up a pendulum effect

I guess the gimbal has just the right amount of friction

S
 
I myself have a GREAT DIY Steadycam. "MiniDV Steadycam" (almost looks like the smaller flycam, sold on Ebay for $99. Several Clips on vimeo of it in action.
Now I purchased it for my HF11....but since I just got my D90 I am going to try see how it fairs... I wont be able to post until Monday or Tuesday because I lent it to a friend to use over the weekend. So never balanced or tried with the D90 YET.

It uses a gimbal and for the price is great....for my HF11 its as good as the Merlin and better than the hague I feel...anyways...ill try and mess with the D90 and it but again the focus is going to be the issue...and im not going to buy a follow focus for my D90 cant justify it...i have use one of my lightest tripods folded into a monopod and had the D90 on there as a "steadyishcam" seems to work great. Given its not steady cam BUT alot better than handheld imo...

EDIT:
OH BTW forgot to mention..I have seen pics of people building a remote Follow focus with a lego set....the thing is so light weight and able to be controlled remotely (not wirelessly) the weight MAY not be an issue when mounting on a steadicam

check this he uses it on his steadicam http://www.vimeo.com/1232129
 
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morgan_moore said:
Actually Im interested in a merlin or a DIY job - could someone explain ..
how they 'know when to turn' while correcting out unintentional turning by the operator
and
how they dont build up a pendulum effect
I guess the gimbal has just the right amount of friction
S
Click to expand...

there are a number of things to properly balance it (attaching a screenshot) and multiple configs that can work to get a balanced unit.

to know when to turn and do other things comes with the skill and experience... as the founder says - it is not something you master in a day and get going, rather more like playing a musical instrument - a skill acquired with time and practice...

on the img attached where the "guide" is - this can be moved(screwed) up and down to reduce/increase pendulum effect if one occurs on a "seems to be well balanced" unit.

ultimately it comes down to using all those knobs/things available to balance it properly and practice in operating it.

EDIT: User's Manual for more detailed info (pretty much follows the video that comes with it): http://www.steadicam.com/images/content/Merlin Manual Nov8_Lo.pdf
 
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NJ3118 said:
OH BTW forgot to mention..I have seen pics of people building a remote Follow focus with a lego set....the thing is so light weight and able to be controlled remotely (not wirelessly) the weight MAY not be an issue when mounting on a steadicam

check this he uses it on his steadicam http://www.vimeo.com/1232129
Click to expand...

is there a post for this anywhere? any screenshots for exact specs?

i'm very interested.


i think this is smth that needs like a separate thread...
 
alexandroff said:
is there a post for this anywhere? any screenshots for exact specs?

i'm very interested.


i think this is smth that needs like a separate thread...
Click to expand...

cant find any exact specs...I PMed the guy who had the vimeo video....no response yet. I think he buit it custom..like had to order pieces one by one...they are only like 5-10cents anyway
 
NJ3118 said:
I myself have a GREAT DIY Steadycam. "MiniDV Steadycam" (almost looks like the smaller flycam, sold on Ebay for $99. Several Clips on vimeo of it in action.
Now I purchased it for my HF11....but since I just got my D90 I am going to try see how it fairs... I wont be able to post until Monday or Tuesday because I lent it to a friend to use over the weekend. So never balanced or tried with the D90 YET.

It uses a gimbal and for the price is great....for my HF11 its as good as the Merlin and better than the hague I feel...anyways...ill try and mess with the D90 and it but again the focus is going to be the issue...and im not going to buy a follow focus for my D90 cant justify it...i have use one of my lightest tripods folded into a monopod and had the D90 on there as a "steadyishcam" seems to work great. Given its not steady cam BUT alot better than handheld imo...

EDIT:
OH BTW forgot to mention..I have seen pics of people building a remote Follow focus with a lego set....the thing is so light weight and able to be controlled remotely (not wirelessly) the weight MAY not be an issue when mounting on a steadicam

check this he uses it on his steadicam http://www.vimeo.com/1232129
Click to expand...
Ooh, technics lego follow focus! I want I want! And I can mod it with some star wars lego and turn my D90 into a death star! I'd be more interested in modding it for hand cranking and save some money on a manufactured FF.
 
Got my merlin today

seems easy to balance

M hole

Front 1 weight and stopper
Bottom two weights and stopper
Arm open 95% of the way
Left right trim quite right to counter the asymetry of the body


Im not sure about tuning the drop time yet
maybe down one turn or two

This was with a 14mm - weighs as much as the body

I changed to the 20-35 pretty easy - 50 1.4 is way lighter - start again

I think lenses in the 14-18 range are going to shine

Forget focusing without a (radio?) remote device

Anyway - thats day one - so may be all wrong

S
 
Anyone tried using the merlin with a DSLR rig, ala the one RR is making right now? Or just some rails, mattebox, etc? I wonder if the added weight would make balancing it easier or harder.

I clearly have no idea what I'm talking about, but am interested in hearing from those who do.
 
i have a DSLR rig, i dont have top handle etc. but have RR baseplate, mattebox, etc.
i think these are not the things to load on the merlin. i think it will be too much. it's just such a light small item. maybe a very very light small mattebox no flags will be ok. if u r trying to mount some baseplate - needs to be the lightest - carbon fiber. hopefully yr lens are light too.

i also tried just balancing and walking around with using RR rig with D90 on the steadicam flyer and it's a perfect combination.
 
Ok so I have been playing for a few days now (maybe I need a few years)

What confuses me is the 'drop time' thing..

I reckon that when the rig is bottom heavy (fast drop)

It is very easy to hold stable BUT tends when one moves to start to pendulum - particularly when accelerating forwards the camera angle drops down and swings up as one comes to a stop

With a long drop time - equally balanced - the rig is sensitive and very easy to woble with the panning hand

It seems that fast drop time makes for easy stability but makes moving the camera (walking) far more tricky

It occurs to me that maybe the mass of the whole rig is too low and therefore weighting the camera or raising it from the gimble and adding extra (bottom) weights may help this situation - I notice that pro rigs the camera is often significantly above the gimble (and therefore leveraging it more)

Does this sound like a correct theory or is this just newb operator error

It would occur that the D90 is far lighter than the Z1 in the training manual

While they show a small camera in the manual too you dont actually see any walking with the small camera - all the walking running shots are done with a heavier camera (Garrett does walk with the small camera but I reckon he is just foolishly good at it)

any comments..

Edit: I think what I am talking about is the difference for a tightrope walker of having wieghts on the end of thier balance bar or a longer bar adding stability (and weight of course)

S
 
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It is good no doubt BUT I can see the pendulum thing

at 27 sec you have to break as you slow into the kids and then jerk as you move away it is having to fight the swing that makes you do this

at 57 sec the house is jelly (not jello) as the kid walks along - watch the verticals - there is a lot of lateral swing

at 114 the camera in the car is swinging - watch the horizon

and at no point do you demonstrate any smooth starts or stops

PLEASE DONT TAKE THIS AT DISSING YOUR VID !

It seems that you are fighting the effects of inertia too leading you be have to be over heavy with the control hand

You should be able to walk or even run in a staight line with the control hand not touching the rig at all once you are up to speed (a slight control would be needed during the acceleration to counter the bottom bias)

Can you do that ?

I dont think it is a lack of skill on you part I think that the whole rig doesnt have enough mass or interia to fight your natural movement

I have tried a spacer under the camera tonight (moving it away from the gimble) and therefore requireing ALL the weights on the bottom

I think this is better

I think the problem is that there are two options (unless one raises or weights the camera)

over bottom heavy = pendulum

or

near balance = control hand shakes transmitted strongly to the picture..

by raising the camera CofG and therefore requiring more wight one is countering this effect - I think

(the 90 does have a low CofG compared to the cams i the merlin test video)


The youtube one watch the verticals - he is swinging like 10 pint of beer - same scenario but worse - lighter camera

Im just trying to work out what is possible with a rig of this size and no ISO arm - maybe your footage is as good as it can be

What dya reckon...
 
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I have a perfect merlin sitting on my shelf. I will let go. It has the plastic gimble which is more than enough for the d90. If anyone is interested pm me and I will put it in the marketplace. I have used it with my dvx-100 and hvx-200. But I now use the letus ultimate and it is way to heavy to use with the merlin.
 
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