Cheap stabilizers, has anyone used the Neewer 52" carbon fiber steadycam?

I

Imamacuser

Veteran
Has anyone tried this Neewer 52" carbon fiber stabilizer? The design looks pretty good for the price, but I'm curious how well it performs, as I could only find 4 Amazon reviews which weren't very conclusive.


I know it's not going to be as good as a Steadicam Pilot, but I'm wondering if it's smooth enough for weddings and real estate gigs.


Thanks
 
Imamacuser said:
Has anyone tried this Neewer 52" carbon fiber stabilizer? The design looks pretty good for the price, but I'm curious how well it performs, as I could only find 4 Amazon reviews which weren't very conclusive.


I know it's not going to be as good as a Steadicam Pilot, but I'm wondering if it's smooth enough for weddings and real estate gigs.


Thanks
Click to expand...


As far as I know, the Pilot isn't anything to get too excited about - if you want a cheap classic-style steadicam, make sure it's got easy to use fore/aft and side-to-side balancing knobs, an extendable shaft, and that you can change the position of the gimble on the shaft (up and down). I have a basic Came carbon fiber, doesn't have cabling and battery-monitor holders on the bottom, and I can get really good shots with it, but I keep the weight down (generally an NX1 with asmall lens). Good adjustments and a smooth gimbal make all the difference - these are fairly simple devices.
 
The gimbal looks like it can be adjusted vertically, but I'm curious how smooth the gimbal is, and also how good the side to side/front to back fine tuning is. I just wanted to ask on the off chance someone had used one.
 
It looks to me that it has a left-to-right adjustment knob but that the fore-and-aft adjustment is just releasing the plate and moving the camera. That's a little bit annoying because it means that if you need to take the camera off, you need to balance all over again and, since there's no markings on the plate, you can't really just remember where it was. Easily fixed by adding a quick-release on top, though.
I'm interested in this one myself since you posted it, it looks pretty basic but cost-effective and well made. I have a large PROLINE rig for my Scarlet but it would be handy to have a little DSLR/mirrorless one to throw around for some projects.

-Andrew
 
Quick release plate is a good idea, I wonder if i could print out some distance markers and tape them on the steadycam; that might solve the problem. I'm just on the fence whether to give it a gamble or not. Some of the well reviewed steadycams go for $180-$200 used, but for as much as I would use a steadycam it doesn't make sense to tie up very much money in one.

Thanks for the input guys.
 
I'd see if Came still sells their Carbon-but-simple units - mine is really pretty kickass, but about $170 new. The fore-aft and side-to-side knobs are actual sort of rack & pinion deals, so they work very well.

As far as QR goes - if you shoot for a living, it's really really REALLY nice to have the same QR on everything, which for me means manfrotto, they're ubiquitous and even the cheaper chinese systems work fine. BUT - at least on my Came, if you just stick a QR on the big release plate, there's not enough room for the lock knob (on the Came sled) to turn enough to lock it.

I just cut a small chunk of 3/4" plywood (hey, I painted it black, ain't no ghetto DIY shooter!) and it goes between the sled plate and the QR. Works like a charm. If I'm doing some corporate gig and want to go steady for b-roll, I keep the Came hanging on a spare light stand, whip the camera off the rail system and plug it into the QR on the Came. I might need 30 seconds to fine tune the balance - I spend more time changing lenses really. But no tools or mucking around (my rails use a manfrotto plate) - it's off the rails and onto the crane, or rails on the crane, or camera on the Came - in a second. It's huge for getting stuff done fast.

Speaking of, since most steadicam setups you want to shoot wide and at F4 or 5.6, I stick the little 16-50 kit lens on the NX1 - the AF and OIS is really great on that setup (though with AF you have to really watch the focus point so I usually do MF). I got a 43mm to 52mm step ring and keep some 52mm ND in the Steadicam case. I use a matte box and 4x4's on my main setup, but if we have to shoot outside, it just takes a second to stick a .6 or whatever on the NX1. And in most cases, we're either inside or out so no biggie. That sort of thing is very personal-workflow-dependant, but man, get on eBay and even high-end ND is dirt cheap at 52mm. Very very happy with the setup.

(And since the OP is - I assume - new to Steadicam): If there's no audio in your steadicam shots, kick over to 30p. It doesn't look "slowmo" on a 24p timeline, but it adds a little "weight" or gravitas to those kind of shots. Just sort of makes the float look a touch more floaty, kind of elegant. Test test test it and see what you think, but it's usually a go-to move for me (plus you can retime it back if it feels too slow - you're tossing pixels instead of creating them).
 
Well both eBay and Amazon are out of stock (at least at the lower price), so I have to hold off for now. Michael, I can't seem to find any Came steadycams for under $200, I know that's not much for a steadycam, but shooting video isn't my day job. Also, are Laing, Came and Wieldly made by the same company (their products look identical)? As far as lenses go, I'll probably use either my Nikon 24mm 2.8D or Tokina 11-16mm; the Tokina is kinda heavy, but the added mass might help the system fly a little better. Also, thanks for the frame rate tip.
 
Michael Carter said:
As far as I know, the Pilot isn't anything to get too excited about - if you want a cheap classic-style steadicam, make sure it's got easy to use fore/aft and side-to-side balancing knobs, an extendable shaft, and that you can change the position of the gimble on the shaft (up and down)...Good adjustments and a smooth gimbal make all the difference - these are fairly simple devices.
Click to expand...

I guess in the wake of brushless gimbals and their brand-to-brand idiosyncracies, Steadicam style stabilizers could be qualified as "fairly simple". There are still plenty of things to screw up in there, and the more experienced the user, the more apparent these will be. Linearity in the gimbal is important and often a concern with cheap rigs (if you static balance it then rotate the camera 90 degrees and find it out of balance, the gimbal has linearity issues), as well as friction. There is a delicate tradeoff between easily tuneable fore/aft and side/side adjustments and potential play in the mechanism, which can cause jitter especially at longer focal lengths. And if one prefers a vest and arm, this will introduce a major variable as few manufacturers have been able to equal the smoothness of the smaller Steadicam arms (how little force is required to hold the system at the bottom or top of the arm range, how well each section tracks with the user's vertical movement).
 
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