CMR Blackbird stabilizer + GH1

[SonicStates]

Have been looking for a stabilizer system for the GH-1 and I was wondering if anyone had tried it out with the Blackbird system from Camera Motion Research. Merlin would be nice but the blackbird has a price advantage and adjustable friction settings on the gimbal...
Thoughts?

 

[lunged]

I just got a Blackbird two weeks ago and I am really enjoying it. I was going back and forth between this and the Wondlan Stabilizer on eBay.

The gimbal is incredibly low friction (I've experimented with making my own in the past and nothing I know of can compare to a specialized gimbal like this), and you are right, there is a way to add more friction if you desire. I left it quite loose, personally.

I shot a little short for CMR's $75 rebate, which can be seen here (the audio was from the internal mic, so it pretty much sucks):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSRPfQdrmAc

I plan on posting another video that is a bit more… normal.

I really love the horizontal bar at the bottom - it adds a lot to the stability of the unit. I am using the long bar, all the way down to maximize drop time. With the short bar, I had to raise the bar higher than desired to get a slow drop.

I could definitely use more practice, but it is very easy to jump right in. I had it acceptably balanced and shooting good footage within an hour of it arriving.

I'll post more footage once I upload it. I took some at a (very bad) golf course with a bit of wind. The wind was quite a challenge, as it blew the camera into a sway quite easily. There is no real way to stop this, of course, you just have to learn how to counter it properly.

 

[SonicStates]

Mine just came in last week (which reminds me I have to mail CMR). It is a nicely designed unit indeed. Took it out for a spin on the weekend and was pleasantly surprised...I still am unbelievably good at getting tilting, rolling and panning crap footage but I know these stabilizers take a great deal of time to get in tune with them and I was hooking it through a forest (and even then the results were ok). For the slower moves (As in your video) the blackbird is brilliant!!! I'll persevere and hopefully be slightly less crap for the short I'm putting together.
Thanks for posting your thoughts btw.
Cheers,
Sam