Glidecam training sought (UK)

I

Ian Stark

Active member
UK Hampshire/Surrey/Berkshire area (I live near J4a on the M3): I am looking for an experienced Glidecam user to provide some hands-on training on setting up, fine tuning and shooting with a HD4000 with a Panasonic GH4. Any suggestions?

Many thanks.
 
Just a little side note, you will find the GH4 to be too light for the HD4000. I'd recommend the HD2000 as I've used it and it fits perfectly with the GH4.

Of course this would not be true if you are rigging your GH4 so that it becomes heavier.
 
@ ectobuilder - valid point. I did look at the HD2000 but as you guessed in the second sentence I have a modest size/weight rig to add to the weight. I took some advice from a UK supplier (two actually) who recommended I go for the HD4000 for that very reason. @ David - the Zephyr would be great, but a bit out of my budget ;-). I don't see my usage being particularly frequent or demanding - I bought the Glidecam for a specific job (shooting a promo in the Balearic Islands for a sailing company - I wanted to take some of the chop out of the motion of the rib I was shooting from - and it did a fantastic job). However, I thought it would be good to add at least basic steadicam shots to my repertoire.
 
Steadicam is the wrong tool to buy for a specific project. As I'm sure you realized it takes lots of training and practice to get acceptable results. There's alsoa lot that can go wrong if you doon't understand the rig/sled or general principles of steadicam. For a specific project I always recommend hiring an operator or going wtih different stabalization support equipment.

One of the things you will learn with steadicam is that the more weight on a rig, the more inertial control you will have. That being said, even if an HD2000 will support a camera, your will have more control flying an HD4000 and adding a weight plate or accesories. Steadicam offers workshops with certifications around the world including UK. Even if a real steadicam is out of your price range, It will allow you to play with real steadicam rigs so you can see what you are missing out on. A quick search and you will find what you are looking for.
 
Perhaps I worded that badly - the specific job was the catalyst for me to buy the Glidecam, but I have wanted to add basic steadicam capability to my list for some time. I had it for about three weeks before the project and researched and practiced as much as I could (which I accept was nowhere near as much as I should!). Like I say, it performed really well at the task of smoothing out that choppy water, but I struggled with getting acceptable results when trying my hand at walking and shooting, hence the search for training. As an aside, the project was shot over six days because of logistics and variable weather - there was absolutely no way the budget could stretch to hire an operator for that length of time. I did hire a drone op for a day but he was based two miles from the bay we were shooting in so he was (very generously) able to chop his day of services into multiple sessions over the week according to favourable weather conditions (we wanted decent sunshine with sufficient wind to fill the spinnaker sails - sadly neither of which could be demanded to order!).

Thanks for the suggestion about Steadicam training, but I'm not sure if doing it just to see what I am missing out on is the right way to approach this! Actually, I've been contacted this evening by an old friend who put me in touch with a local Steadicam op who I am now hiring for a day to give me some basic personal training using both my gear and his. He's a partner in a wedding videography business (not my thing, but I guess that's irrelevant) and his speciality is steadicam. If ever I have a need for more advanced (or more guaranteed) steadicam shots, as you rightly recommend, I'll just hire an experienced op.

Thanks all.
 
Ian Stark said:
@ ectobuilder - valid point. I did look at the HD2000 but as you guessed in the second sentence I have a modest size/weight rig to add to the weight. I took some advice from a UK supplier (two actually) who recommended I go for the HD4000 for that very reason. @ David - the Zephyr would be great, but a bit out of my budget ;-). I don't see my usage being particularly frequent or demanding - I bought the Glidecam for a specific job (shooting a promo in the Balearic Islands for a sailing company - I wanted to take some of the chop out of the motion of the rib I was shooting from - and it did a fantastic job). However, I thought it would be good to add at least basic steadicam shots to my repertoire.
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Awesome. I personally prefer Glidecam over any motorized gimbal or similar competitor. I find the Glidecam technology to be the fastest to setup and the most reliable. It just works when you need it!

I'm currently budgeting to upgrade my HD2000 to the new Devin Graham Signature addition; love the no-locking nature of it.
 
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