[FS: General] Blackbird Stabilizer, $550 Shipped
- Thread starter dimdizo
- Start date
weismangroup
Active member
Here's a free bump & plug....
This is an awesome little stabilizer.
I fly my EX1 and a GH1 on a Blackbird attached to a Steadicam Pilot Arm & Vest. All the steadicam shots in the wedding videos on these links are with the Blackbird:
http://www.youtube.com/user/972MediaVideo
www.exposureroom.com/972media
Regards,
Michael
This is an awesome little stabilizer.
I fly my EX1 and a GH1 on a Blackbird attached to a Steadicam Pilot Arm & Vest. All the steadicam shots in the wedding videos on these links are with the Blackbird:
http://www.youtube.com/user/972MediaVideo
www.exposureroom.com/972media
Regards,
Michael
arroway
Well-known member
It is very useful. No stabilizer is quicker to balance. Great for event work.
(And seeing that the OP has sold it, I will elucidate a major gripe I have with the product and company)
Unfortunately for me, my example was one of the early ones, before they started to include the stands. The biggest problem though with the early versions is where the t-bar (one that holds the weights) connects into the vertical bar, initially this was accomplished not with a simple screw mount (which would seem the obvious solution, even to non-engineers) but with tension. Of course the problem with tension is retaining it and sure enough it wasn't long before mine had loosened to such a degree that I was forced to use tape to secure the two bars together. Obviously this makes it look quite cheap, makes breakdown take 4x as long, and most importantly, severely hampers my ability to sell it down the road for a worthwhile price. What makes matters worse is that it happened on a job in front of a group of people. Pretty embarrassing. And all because of an insanely stupid design flaw that shouldn't have survived past the first CAD mock-up...
From what I gather, they fixed this problem in subsequent versions with the simple screw mount (that it should have had from the beginning), in addition to including the aforementioned stand (which I can only imagine is very handy) but my experience has been poor enough that I probably wouldn't buy from the company again.
(And seeing that the OP has sold it, I will elucidate a major gripe I have with the product and company)
Unfortunately for me, my example was one of the early ones, before they started to include the stands. The biggest problem though with the early versions is where the t-bar (one that holds the weights) connects into the vertical bar, initially this was accomplished not with a simple screw mount (which would seem the obvious solution, even to non-engineers) but with tension. Of course the problem with tension is retaining it and sure enough it wasn't long before mine had loosened to such a degree that I was forced to use tape to secure the two bars together. Obviously this makes it look quite cheap, makes breakdown take 4x as long, and most importantly, severely hampers my ability to sell it down the road for a worthwhile price. What makes matters worse is that it happened on a job in front of a group of people. Pretty embarrassing. And all because of an insanely stupid design flaw that shouldn't have survived past the first CAD mock-up...
From what I gather, they fixed this problem in subsequent versions with the simple screw mount (that it should have had from the beginning), in addition to including the aforementioned stand (which I can only imagine is very handy) but my experience has been poor enough that I probably wouldn't buy from the company again.
Actually the stabilizer didn't sell on ebay. 0 bids =(. If you have the older version of the blackbird you can contact the manufacture directly and purchase the rest stand at a discounted price of $20. Also I'm sure if you brought up the vertical bar problem with the manufacturer they would be reasonable and replace it for you. I guess it could be considered a manufacturer defect and claim it under the 1-year warranty. Good luck.