Best Steadicam for Under $1k?

salils

salils

Well-known member
I've looked at the Merlin steadicam, it looks pretty good. I would be using a DVX100B and an at-897 shotgun mic mounted on a rode SM-3 shockmount. Any other recommendations?
 
Do a search, there has been a few threads the past couple of weeks asking the same question... Which is probably why you didn't get a response.... And yes for under 1k the Merlin is very good. Furthermore Steadicam just realeased an Arm ( a mini version of the Flyer's arm) and a vest specifically design for the Merlin. Which mean that in the future, it you wanted to upgrade to a full rig, you could do so without loosing your initial investment... Of course Arm and Vest sold seperatly.

http://www.tiffen.com/merlinarmvest.html

good luck.
 
i bought my Glidecam 2000 pro for about 200 on ebay. Used it for the first time on a shoot last night and everyone was ooooing and ahhing at the footage. Its defintily affordable and as long as you have strong wrists you can really get some nice footage. I've heard good things about the merlin too but i'm sure with either i'm sure they take practice. Took me at least 3 nights to try different things and get it balanced properly but now that i know what to do its a 2 minute job to set up.

With the extra cash you could buy accessories for it or even save up for the smooth shooter to really get it workin' for you.
 
Moojangles said:
i bought my Glidecam 2000 pro for about 200 on ebay. Used it for the first time on a shoot last night and everyone was ooooing and ahhing at the footage. Its defintily affordable and as long as you have strong wrists you can really get some nice footage. I've heard good things about the merlin too but i'm sure with either i'm sure they take practice. Took me at least 3 nights to try different things and get it balanced properly but now that i know what to do its a 2 minute job to set up.

With the extra cash you could buy accessories for it or even save up for the smooth shooter to really get it workin' for you.
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Hmm...leaning towards the Glidecam 2000 Pro, from what I have seen, Merlin and the Glidecam give similar results. Can anyone recommend any stabilizers besides Merlin and the Glidecam 2000 Pro??
 
Hands down, the merlin is a better option if you can afford it for a great reason: It is much more user friendly.

The gimble is directly above the operators hand, making it much more balanced for the ergonomics on the wrist and arm. It is a lighter rig is definitely worth the extra if you can afford it.

I own the glidecam2000 pro. I love it to death. It has helped me achieve some beautiful footage and it is probably the best investment i could have made for any of my digital work. It is much much less expensive and can provide identical results to the merlin, after much, much, much, practice.

Either one will make you vary happy. But i would advice the use of the arm brace. It does slightly affect your vertical bounce/up and down movement, but with practice, this is easily removed from the picture.

Enjoy~!
 
I mostly agree with PaPa. Also the Merlin is much easier to balance and fine tune than the Gildcam, which it the most important feature to good camera stabilisation. The Merlin as, PaPa mentioned is also more ergonomic. My personal opinion is good engineering will always give you better result, and good engineering will never come cheap.... I also don't think you will get identical result, ask any pro steadicam operator, I doubt you'll find one that will actually agree with that statement... The will both get the job done, no doubt, but it won't be identical.
 
B&H Video has them for a pretty standard price. Steadicam equipment is one of those brands that has relatively fixed prices. If you're looking for a deal, search for a used one. It should work just as good as new. Even so, $800 is a great deal for what you will get - especially relative to the prices of other Steadicam equipment.

Best of luck,
Afton
 
SomewhereinLA said:
I mostly agree with PaPa. Also the Merlin is much easier to balance and fine tune than the Gildcam, which it the most important feature to good camera stabilisation. The Merlin as, PaPa mentioned is also more ergonomic. My personal opinion is good engineering will always give you better result, and good engineering will never come cheap.... I also don't think you will get identical result, ask any pro steadicam operator, I doubt you'll find one that will actually agree with that statement... The will both get the job done, no doubt, but it won't be identical.
Click to expand...

Sorry man, but i have already proved this statement wrong with shots that are almost as smooth as Dolly. I have yet to have any problems mimicing any shot i've ever seen through steaidcam, unless its a tilt or on some axis that isnt near chest level. If you care to see, just search jdubsky on youtube, and look at my glidecam2000 pro test.
 
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