Hey,
Sorry for starting another thread on this but I'm under a time pressure and not managing to find an answer so it's kinda a necessary evil. I know the Merlin vs Glidecam debate is a common one, however, I'm looking for one or the other with specific intentions and it's near impossible for me to get a conclusion so please may I have advice.
My filming work takes me in two places, the first is my music videos, which are often done in the way you'd expect, with people, gear and setups. The second is my personal stuff, which one day I hope to be my professional as well, which is much more run and gun, impromptu and spontaneous. I do lots of things, filming bands both live and on the streets walking about, I do little shorts and experiment. One day I hope to be about to travel and film, ideally filming the world and the local music as I go.
For the former, as mentioned, we're talking traditional setups, and for the latter, we're talking one day, as much gear as I can fit in it, and just GO, filming 'the moment' as it were.
I'm looking at the Glidecam HD-2000 vs Merlin and trying to see which can best satisfy these two ambitions of mine, which can firstly work for my music videos, but also can work for my personal projects, both those at home and my desires in the future.
Here are my pro's and cons of each, relative to my needs. Please would you help me settle the debate as I've really no way of judging the importance of each:
Merlin:
- Lighter so good for longer term usage
- Small and foldable so good for travelling
BUT
- Seems to be the most delicate - can take a while to balance in the first place, can lose the balance easily.
- Little to no potential to mount extras
Glidecam HD-2k
- Heavier and bigger so can prob use for less time, esp as one builds up the muscles
- Although can be broken apart to a smallish package, is still bigger than the Merlin
BUT
- Seems the easiest to setup and less delicate. Can be easily tweaked, but also seems to hold the balance better.
- Can work with extras - i.e. as shown by Dafung Dennis, albeit with a mod - this is good for me if I were to film music as I might want an H4N, wireless mics etc in and around it.
Both can, if setup correctly, do the job for my music video work, I've seen great videos with each. For a video with lots of 'flying', the Merlin would probably be better as it's lighter, but if one is on a tight schedule, the last thing I want to be doing is fiddling around with balancing when I need to get shooting, which is a plus for the Glidecam. Ergo I'd call this a draw.
This leaves my second ambition, the impromptu, spontaneous shooting, of music, bands etc. As stated over time I hope to expand this to a semi-nomadic filming life of shooting music and culture and social issues around the world.
The Merlin wins on weight and compactness, but I'm concerned I'll miss what's going on NOW by having to set it up and/or tweak it. I've seen the inventor describe it as not something to just pickup and use, which is a concern. Ok, so if the need takes me I can just take the camera off a quick release and handhold, but that's not the point. I want whichever I choose to act as a documentarians aid so it needs to be usable more times than not.
The Glidecam wins on speed, it seems quicker to balance and to hold settings, so suggests it'll be useful when I need to start shooting asap and the ability to hold extras w/a mod is a big plus. However it is heavier and it's design places the strain on the wrist.
Baically I can't decide between the two because both have clear strengths and I'm finding it impossible to evaluate them and pick a winner. Price wise the Glidecam is £430 and the Merlin £580, there's a difference but it's not too much to make a big impact on me. I'd rather pay the right amount for the right product.
At the moment I'm leaning towards the Glidecam HD-2k simply because I'm most concerned about missing the moment fiddling with the camera, which is my big fear with the Merlin. I love travelling light, in fact I only take one bag with me wherever I go, which would probably have to change with the GC, maybe not with the Merlin. But I can't miss the opportunity and despite being heavier that's why I'm leaning towards the GC HD-2K.
Please can you help me!
a x
Sorry for starting another thread on this but I'm under a time pressure and not managing to find an answer so it's kinda a necessary evil. I know the Merlin vs Glidecam debate is a common one, however, I'm looking for one or the other with specific intentions and it's near impossible for me to get a conclusion so please may I have advice.
My filming work takes me in two places, the first is my music videos, which are often done in the way you'd expect, with people, gear and setups. The second is my personal stuff, which one day I hope to be my professional as well, which is much more run and gun, impromptu and spontaneous. I do lots of things, filming bands both live and on the streets walking about, I do little shorts and experiment. One day I hope to be about to travel and film, ideally filming the world and the local music as I go.
For the former, as mentioned, we're talking traditional setups, and for the latter, we're talking one day, as much gear as I can fit in it, and just GO, filming 'the moment' as it were.
I'm looking at the Glidecam HD-2000 vs Merlin and trying to see which can best satisfy these two ambitions of mine, which can firstly work for my music videos, but also can work for my personal projects, both those at home and my desires in the future.
Here are my pro's and cons of each, relative to my needs. Please would you help me settle the debate as I've really no way of judging the importance of each:
Merlin:
- Lighter so good for longer term usage
- Small and foldable so good for travelling
BUT
- Seems to be the most delicate - can take a while to balance in the first place, can lose the balance easily.
- Little to no potential to mount extras
Glidecam HD-2k
- Heavier and bigger so can prob use for less time, esp as one builds up the muscles
- Although can be broken apart to a smallish package, is still bigger than the Merlin
BUT
- Seems the easiest to setup and less delicate. Can be easily tweaked, but also seems to hold the balance better.
- Can work with extras - i.e. as shown by Dafung Dennis, albeit with a mod - this is good for me if I were to film music as I might want an H4N, wireless mics etc in and around it.
Both can, if setup correctly, do the job for my music video work, I've seen great videos with each. For a video with lots of 'flying', the Merlin would probably be better as it's lighter, but if one is on a tight schedule, the last thing I want to be doing is fiddling around with balancing when I need to get shooting, which is a plus for the Glidecam. Ergo I'd call this a draw.
This leaves my second ambition, the impromptu, spontaneous shooting, of music, bands etc. As stated over time I hope to expand this to a semi-nomadic filming life of shooting music and culture and social issues around the world.
The Merlin wins on weight and compactness, but I'm concerned I'll miss what's going on NOW by having to set it up and/or tweak it. I've seen the inventor describe it as not something to just pickup and use, which is a concern. Ok, so if the need takes me I can just take the camera off a quick release and handhold, but that's not the point. I want whichever I choose to act as a documentarians aid so it needs to be usable more times than not.
The Glidecam wins on speed, it seems quicker to balance and to hold settings, so suggests it'll be useful when I need to start shooting asap and the ability to hold extras w/a mod is a big plus. However it is heavier and it's design places the strain on the wrist.
Baically I can't decide between the two because both have clear strengths and I'm finding it impossible to evaluate them and pick a winner. Price wise the Glidecam is £430 and the Merlin £580, there's a difference but it's not too much to make a big impact on me. I'd rather pay the right amount for the right product.
At the moment I'm leaning towards the Glidecam HD-2k simply because I'm most concerned about missing the moment fiddling with the camera, which is my big fear with the Merlin. I love travelling light, in fact I only take one bag with me wherever I go, which would probably have to change with the GC, maybe not with the Merlin. But I can't miss the opportunity and despite being heavier that's why I'm leaning towards the GC HD-2K.
Please can you help me!
a x
