Glidecam forearm brace - does it free up that hand control sled?

[Marshallarts]

I have a glidecam 2000 which IMHO is really only good in certain situations. Sort of a hassle in most others. When holding the handle I'm required to use my other hand to control and stabilize the "sled". Therefore I have no hand available to do other much needed stuff (i.e. focus, zoom..) Plus having only the one hand to stabilize and the other completely dedicated to just holding the rather heavy device is very awkward.

If I wanted a real stabilizer I was get the whole deal, vest arm and all.

But I don't have a forearm brace. I know using a forearm brace releaves some of the weight, but since the handle locks down in the brace (like docking a sled on an arm in the bigger models) does that free up that hand to control the sled shaft? (for pans or even small tilts)?

I know since that's still the hand with the forearm brace attached you can't "reach out". But how much space does it provide between forearm brace and fingertips to allow these much needed controls?

 

[Jeff Anderson]

Generally steadicam is a two handed ordeal - one hand on the post to swivel tilt and dutch and the other hand controls the arm.

 

[Andrew Brinkhaus]

You shouldn't be worrying about zooming and focus, that is the job of the 1st AC, which you should have if you are shooting any serious projects. If you are just running around with it on your own, set the specific settings for the shot, and either track the same distance from your subject so you don't have to pull focus, or stop down to give yourself some deeper DOF to work with.

 

[Marshallarts]

Thanks, I agree with all your feedback.

But specifically I have a question about this forearm brace, does anybody have experience with it.

Being I'm speaking of a Glidecam 2000 it should tell this is something I would be using on my own. Something to have at home and use on my smaller camera when doing non-professional stuff.

Obviously if it were a job I wouldn't rely on a Glidecam 2000 and I would have a vest and arm and AC. But before I go out an buy a X-25 full rig I'm wondering if a forearm brace would be good in the mean time to make use of my 2000--specifically regarding the questions I originally posted.

Anyone have experience?