Flycam 6000 - A little help?
- Thread starter Joe Mahma
- Start date
Justin Kuhn
Veteran
There's a reason those guys get the big bucks. Steadicam is a *****.
First and foremost, Flycam is rubbish. That's pretty well-known around here. Their stabilizers are very touchy, hard to balance, and are constantly slipping out of balance. If you cannot afford Steadicam, Glidecam is the best alternative.
Second, your gripe about the stabilizer needing a hand on it to keep it from rotating is not entirely founded. The point of the gimbal is so that the camera can rotate freely and easily. Keeping the tips of your thumb and forefinger on the center post, just under the mounting plate, allows you to steer that motion and to keep it from rotating when it isn't supposed to. Rotating wildly on its own is a balance issue.
I noticed the battery is missing from the camera. Did you balance the rig with the battery? It's tilting to the front, which means it's just slightly front-heavy.
Also, why so many weights added to the front if the rig? It shouldn't take that much for a naked AF100 with lens, especially that many on the front with so little on the back. Try keeping both sides of the sled at the bottom. Go with as few weights as you possibly can. Start with steady balance, then work on drop time.
The arm is sagging down, probably due to the fact that the vest isn't secured right. The back of the vest is sticking out on the bottom, throwing things off on the front. The arm's anchor shouldn't be sloping downward as it is. That's throwing the load-bearing off on the arm, and causing it to sag... though, have you tightened the arm's tension? Looks like it's much too loose. it should be pushing up, not sagging down.
Don't count on being able to get it balanced very easily. It can be done, but it won't last and will need to be re-balanced several times throughout a shoot day. Again, Flycam stuff is known to be bad.
Last, if you do get this thing balanced, you're going to have to learn to walk. Have you ever worked with a stabilizer before? These aren't things that you can unpack and suddenly be shooting like a pro the first day. They sometimes take days just to learn how to balance. After that, it takes learning how to adjust your gate, since walking (or running) with one of these rigs is a motion that has to act as part of the stabilizer. Expect a few months of practice to get it to look somewhere close to decent.
For what it's worth, here are some other videos worth checking out regarding the Flycam 6000. Be sure to read notes in the descriptions, and some of the comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTZrMNPhQAc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Euq3nXQDw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugI1tS59-dI
Second, your gripe about the stabilizer needing a hand on it to keep it from rotating is not entirely founded. The point of the gimbal is so that the camera can rotate freely and easily. Keeping the tips of your thumb and forefinger on the center post, just under the mounting plate, allows you to steer that motion and to keep it from rotating when it isn't supposed to. Rotating wildly on its own is a balance issue.
I noticed the battery is missing from the camera. Did you balance the rig with the battery? It's tilting to the front, which means it's just slightly front-heavy.
Also, why so many weights added to the front if the rig? It shouldn't take that much for a naked AF100 with lens, especially that many on the front with so little on the back. Try keeping both sides of the sled at the bottom. Go with as few weights as you possibly can. Start with steady balance, then work on drop time.
The arm is sagging down, probably due to the fact that the vest isn't secured right. The back of the vest is sticking out on the bottom, throwing things off on the front. The arm's anchor shouldn't be sloping downward as it is. That's throwing the load-bearing off on the arm, and causing it to sag... though, have you tightened the arm's tension? Looks like it's much too loose. it should be pushing up, not sagging down.
Don't count on being able to get it balanced very easily. It can be done, but it won't last and will need to be re-balanced several times throughout a shoot day. Again, Flycam stuff is known to be bad.
Last, if you do get this thing balanced, you're going to have to learn to walk. Have you ever worked with a stabilizer before? These aren't things that you can unpack and suddenly be shooting like a pro the first day. They sometimes take days just to learn how to balance. After that, it takes learning how to adjust your gate, since walking (or running) with one of these rigs is a motion that has to act as part of the stabilizer. Expect a few months of practice to get it to look somewhere close to decent.
For what it's worth, here are some other videos worth checking out regarding the Flycam 6000. Be sure to read notes in the descriptions, and some of the comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTZrMNPhQAc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Euq3nXQDw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugI1tS59-dI
Last edited:
Ironman
Active member
I have Flycam 3000 and I have to agree with you, their stuff SUCKS.
It took me 4 days to try to balance the garbage and finally, when I though I had it figured, I took it for a test and guess what, the piece of garbage just wouldn't stop going off balance.
Luckily, I didn't spend as much as OP.
It took me 4 days to try to balance the garbage and finally, when I though I had it figured, I took it for a test and guess what, the piece of garbage just wouldn't stop going off balance.
Luckily, I didn't spend as much as OP.