My video is a shaky mess. I have a shoulder rig, but it does nothing for when I'm on the move. I'm a newb and I do mostly instructional videos, but I need to be able to walk around with my A6000 and not have it be a shaky mess. Can anyone recommend a good stabilizer that doesn't break the bank? I see some older Glidecams on ebay for <$200, but not sure how they are. There's also many Amazon offerings..Thanks!
Glidecam, Flycam, or what??
- Thread starter crashwins
- Start date
A stabilizer is going to take weeks of practice to get both balance and operation correct. It also limits the options for shots.
Shooting with a shoulder rig also takes practice, especially if you plan to walk with it:
Step one is to make sure that you have ample counterweight behind the shoulder. If your rig is all front-weighted, then the burdens of support and balance are on your forearms, which should only have to deal with direction and operation. Balance the rig with counterweight and the support is provided by your back.
Step two is to practice walking with minimized bounce. Walk heel-to-ball, and use your knees as shock absorbers to even out your upper body's lateral motion.
Step three is to use wider lenses while walking. The longer the lens, the more magnified every little bounce and twitch will be. So if you're using a zoom, walk at 18mm and onky zoom past that when you are standing still.
Shooting with a shoulder rig also takes practice, especially if you plan to walk with it:
Step one is to make sure that you have ample counterweight behind the shoulder. If your rig is all front-weighted, then the burdens of support and balance are on your forearms, which should only have to deal with direction and operation. Balance the rig with counterweight and the support is provided by your back.
Step two is to practice walking with minimized bounce. Walk heel-to-ball, and use your knees as shock absorbers to even out your upper body's lateral motion.
Step three is to use wider lenses while walking. The longer the lens, the more magnified every little bounce and twitch will be. So if you're using a zoom, walk at 18mm and onky zoom past that when you are standing still.
"Break the bank" - how much is your time worth? It takes a lot of practice time to fly a stabilizer. It may be easier to spring for a brushless gimbal - you can get one for anywhere from about $600 to $2K and above. It may seem like a lot of money, but if you save a ton of practice time and get really good results, you may conclude it's worth it. Some caveats: a brushless gimbal also takes some time to learn to operate, though it's a fraction of what a stabilizer would take - the learning curve is much gentler; gimbals are still evolving very fast, and the landscape is changing fast from capability, to ease of use and pricewise.
drapeama
Well-known member
I won a Kovacam K-05 stabilizer from a short film contest last year. It's great. From the specs, I wouldn't have bought it at 300$US, but once I got my hands on it, I've been very pleased with it.
Here's a video of the very first days when I got it last year:
As Alex mentionned, you need some practice to master it, but once you got how to balance it, and how to walk with it (according it's handheld use), you'll get decent results. In the very few days, I saw a significant improvement in the videos.
I finally got the full-kit and bought the vest and dual-arms to complete the setup. With it, you can walk for hours and not get tired. It's great when you have to follow things/people for a little while, but the dual-arms requires a bit of place when you move.
But the stabilizer itself, for the A6000 would be plenty enough. You probably won't need any weigth on the bottom to compensate. Just adjust the center pole to get a 2-3 seconds drop-time (recommended drop time according to Steadicam©).
For more details, here's a video from a reviewer:
David W. Jones
Veteran
One thing I have learned... Without a vest, or some type of support system, your arms tend to get tired after a while.
Michael Carter
Veteran
I shoot a dozen or more really fast-paced corporate events per year - crowds, food, speeches, bands, minor celebs, and I have to grab it all, so I rely on a shoulder mount that can instantly click onto a tripod without altering anything.
My handheld stuff works because my camera has good OIS and I've learned to move smoothly - but OIS is the real saving grace. I'd look into it - even on a good steadicam rig, it's just an extra degree of cleanup. If your camera can accept a stabilized lens, go price a few.
I did buy a steadicam - I got one of those $300-ish Came models (also sold as Laing). You can watch a video review at this link which is one of the eBay auctions - the review is third party and very informative. I went with this due to great end-user reviews on the Red User forum, and the fact I can add a vest at some point if I want to.
I got "good enough" at it across a couple days practice for a music video project and I do use it from time to time. It takes some practice, but if you're not shooting the remake of "The Shining" you might do fine. On set I keep one camera set up and dedicated to it so I don't have to constantly re-balance it.
I do think it would wear me out if used all day without a vest though.
My handheld stuff works because my camera has good OIS and I've learned to move smoothly - but OIS is the real saving grace. I'd look into it - even on a good steadicam rig, it's just an extra degree of cleanup. If your camera can accept a stabilized lens, go price a few.
I did buy a steadicam - I got one of those $300-ish Came models (also sold as Laing). You can watch a video review at this link which is one of the eBay auctions - the review is third party and very informative. I went with this due to great end-user reviews on the Red User forum, and the fact I can add a vest at some point if I want to.
I got "good enough" at it across a couple days practice for a music video project and I do use it from time to time. It takes some practice, but if you're not shooting the remake of "The Shining" you might do fine. On set I keep one camera set up and dedicated to it so I don't have to constantly re-balance it.
I do think it would wear me out if used all day without a vest though.
drapeama
Well-known member
No problem! I've been very pleased with that system, and I think it's a little underestimated.
Sure, it's not a real Steadicam© but for the price, it's a very good starter kit.
That's the best thing, cause it can take up to 5 whole minutes to balance it properly. Once it's done, it works like a charm.
Karl Anthony
Active member
I've been on the fence about getting a 3-axis gimbal like the Ronin-M or the Letus Helix Jr. but I'm thinking about going against it at this point and going with the Devin Graham Glidecam. It can easily hold a C100 with plenty of room for adjustment (unlike the Ronin-M which I hear has very tight wiggle room for adjusting for balancing) and costs way less than the Helix Jr. The Helix Jr. stuff doesn't look great when running and truth be told, I haven't found myself too impressed with the footage I've seen so far (even with the lighter cameras) on the Ronin-M. Still too early to tell, but I just may go with the Glidecam since I'm used to the system. I'm waiting for reviews to come up though.
egproductions
Veteran
I'm personally very reluctant when it comes to the cheap off brand steadicam products. They are riddled with issues from weak points that could drop your entire sled, microvibrations, arms that are not truly isoelastic, and gimbals that have too much friction and/or can't be properly dynamically balanced. I personally would rather shoot handheld than have a steadicam rig that i'm not able to have proper control over.
Michael, I'm all for lenses with IS, however, you do not want to use IS on a steadicam, you will be fighting for control much like you would on a tripod. IS is good for compensating for irregular shake.
Michael, I'm all for lenses with IS, however, you do not want to use IS on a steadicam, you will be fighting for control much like you would on a tripod. IS is good for compensating for irregular shake.
Michael Carter
Veteran
Yep, I was referring to IS on shoulder mounts, which can give you a much higher useable shot count, without having to learn a radical new way of carrying a camera, balancing, etc. IS is more an evolution of what you already do vs. the completely new paradigm & learning curve of a steadicam.
But I'll repeat as well - very happy with the sub-$200 Came, a very nice piece of gear for the $$. If I were selling myself as a steadicam op, it wouldn't be my choice, but for an inexpensive way to add those sort of moves to my palette without a massive learning time-suck (and a good small size when packed), very happy (and there's an awful lot of guys on RedUser happy with their fully wired battery & camera platform rigs from Came/Laing). It's actually kind of fun to spend a day getting to know the thing.