Easiest stabilizer to setup?
- Thread starter rawfa
- Start date
El Director
Veteran
Least setup time I'd say is the DGSS Glidecam. If you have no clue what you're doing, you'll never get it right, but watch the included video and it will take you no more than 15 minutes to setup the first time. What's cool is that this Glidecam has graduated markings on it, so once your rig is balanced, just write down your numbers. The next time you build it up, use the numbers from before and you'll only have to tweak it slightly, if at all, bring your setup time down to less than a minute.
Learning to fly a Glidecam, that will take some time. The advantage though is that once you do learn it, you're in complete control of the shot.
Learning to fly a Glidecam, that will take some time. The advantage though is that once you do learn it, you're in complete control of the shot.
puredrifting
Major Contributor
If you are using a smaller, lighter DSLR/Mirrorless, the Zhiyun Crane can be set up and balanced in less then two minutes and is MUCH easier to use than any gimbal or Steadicam-like device. That said, the movement has a mechanical/robotic feel to it in comparison with a Steadicam device but using the gimbal requires much less practice and skill to obtain a decent result. I have been tuning the parameters of my Crane using the Zhiyun app and by dialing up the smoothness and decreasing the pan engagement, the moves are much better and more organic looking. I used to own a Steadicam Jr. back in the day and have used some of the larger Glidecams. They are better than gimbals overall but take a lot more skill and practice to get a decent result. Most of us don't want to become professional Steadicam ops so a gimbal gives us a quicker, simpler, easier way to get an occasional moving shot. It's the same with drones, most of us don't want to become professional drone pilots, we just want an occasional drone shot for our work.
Overall, Steadicam devices give a more organic result with more float than a gimbal, but are physically larger and more imposing, they also have more problems with wind if you have a smaller, lighter device/rig. I personally think the best setup may be using a good gimbal like the Movi or Helix on a Steadicam vest/arm combo. Kind of the best of both worlds. But that's a big investment in money, size and hassle. I've seen Crane footage that looks really good. Check out Joshua Morin's work with the Crane, pretty impressive for a $600.00 device.
Link for lame smartphones that won't display embedded video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJOcD3JEfj4
Overall, Steadicam devices give a more organic result with more float than a gimbal, but are physically larger and more imposing, they also have more problems with wind if you have a smaller, lighter device/rig. I personally think the best setup may be using a good gimbal like the Movi or Helix on a Steadicam vest/arm combo. Kind of the best of both worlds. But that's a big investment in money, size and hassle. I've seen Crane footage that looks really good. Check out Joshua Morin's work with the Crane, pretty impressive for a $600.00 device.
Link for lame smartphones that won't display embedded video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJOcD3JEfj4
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puredrifting
Major Contributor
I was just in your beautiful city a couple of months ago, shooting a documentary, used the Crane extensively. The Crane maxes out at 1800 grams. If you want a gimbal for your A7 and are going to use the bigger, heavier, longer lenses and want to hang audio gear off of the gimbal, you need the next class up of gimbal (if you want a gimbal?). Problem for you is, you go to the class up like a Ronin M, Letus Helix Jr. etc. and you have waved goodbye to quick setup and balancing times, those gimbals are a ton more hassle and time consuming to use.
CharlesPapert
Director of Photography
I picked up a Zihyun Crane M recently for my RX100IV, it's been more fun than I would have expected! Not really interested in the larger ones for the reasons noted above. There's still a long way to go with these things but the tech is pretty interesting. One of my Steadicam operators spent some time with it today, we agreed that it's a fast learning curve and a bit of a guilty pleasure, even though the follow mode is antithetical to everything we believe in!
puredrifting
Major Contributor
Exactly. I am going to an event at a restaurant tonight for a doc we are working on. It is not a video shoot, it is merely an event where we were told that we could discreetly shoot some footage of what is happening. The Crane plus a small camera will let me get some usable shots for the documentary that I could never hope to get with the C100 or C300 setup. For low key situations where you want to appear like a tourist, the Crane is magic.
The distinction of the Zhiyun Crane is that Zhiyun designed their own hardware and wrote their own software. Virtually every single-handed and most budget/mid-level two-handed gimbals use the Basecam's Simple BGC electronics and software. So Zhiyun can distinguish themselves from the others by simplifying the tuning. Most all others are in the same performance pot because the all use the same code. The complaints you read about tuning are all the same complaint about the same code.
puredrifting
Major Contributor
I use the Canon 80D with both of those lenses, actually shooting with the EOS 28mm 1.8 tonight. The 80D weighs 710 grams with the battery and I believe the 28mm 1.8 weighs 310 grams. The tricky thing trying to run an external mic with a gimbal like the Crane that you'll run into is that any cable from mic to camera jack if mic is mounted on gimbal or if the mic is mounted on camera, will interfere with the operation of the gimbal. I run into the same problem with the Letus Helix Jr. I have to put a mic on the C100 as it has no internal mic without the handle attached. The C100 with a mic restricts movement of the camera on the gimbal, throws off the balance. I'd say you are stuck using our A7II internal mic unless you are going for a larger gimbal with mounting points where you could mount a mic and suspension mount and strong enough motors to not be affected by the cable. How are you going to focus with either of those lenses on a Sony? That's one the of the reasons I am running a Canon 80D, it's DPAF with the Canon lenses is superb. Without it, I would find using a gimbal, especially for interiors to be impossible. I've been considering the Fujinon XT-2 as a 4K gimbal camera but even it's AF is kind of sucky compared to the Canon DPAF.
puredrifting
Major Contributor
I bought the Crane specifically for this reason and it is super easy and quick to get going. That is the main reason I am not digging the Letus Helix Jr. Magnesium. Tuning it to get just the right moves with Simple BGC is a PITA.