Good news from Glidecam

disjecta

disjecta

Lucky Duck
I just received my recently purchased Glidecam 4000 Pro and it's awesome. I had the Steadytracker before but the gimbal system in the Glidecam truly allows the camera to float.

I encountered the usual frustrations trying to balance my DVX, which I did successfully after about an hour. The test shots I took looked awesome the first try. The big problem is the fatigue on your wrist. I also got the arm brace, although I haven't received that yet. My arm was fatigued after about 5 minutes of use. Although I was using my muscles extensively for the balancing so I guess I should take that into account.

Anyway, I'm looking at a picture of the V8 model and it looks very similar to the 4000 pro and I am wondering why Glidecam won't allow 2000 and 4000 pro users to upgrade to a "rig" by selling a compatible vest and arm for these lower cost units.

I sent an email to Glidecam asking them about this and here's the reply I got from David:

"The goods news is that Glidecam will introduce the Smoothshooter later this year which is an arm and vest specifically designed for use with the Glidecam 2000 and 4000 Pro models. Check the web site after Sept 1st and then we hope to have specs and pricing."

This is very good news indeed. :)

Anyway, I wanted to pass it along.
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

That sounds pretty good. I hope it has a good price.

Hey, has anyone used the arm brace? What are your thoughts?
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

Even without using it, I can tell you it's a great idea and an absolute essential with this setup. Also, a quick release plate is handy so that you have to do a small amount of rebalancing each time you put the camera on the Glidecam instead of starting from scratch.
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

Well I am ecstatic about this. I shot a music video with the DVX using the Glidecam 4000 Pro and it was very difficult and fatigue was an understatement. Five minutes was max for using it, then you would have to rest, do it again, rest, and so on.... Glidecam was also suppose to come out with a dvd on how to balance the rig but I haven't heard anything since I received an email from them late last year.
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

I own a Glidecam V8 and am very happy with it and the Glidecam team...got to meet them at NAB and it was great to put a face to the product...alot like when I met rush at EVS.

I did modify my V8 to be backmounted and have increased my time from 8 minutes to 40 minutes ....

Practice, Practice, Practice.
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

my bro tried to go into BH photo today to ask about glidecams, we are looking to get either the v-8 or v-16, and they weren't too big on letting him check them out. i guess they are quite a chore.

we might take a ride to plymouth or something who knows...

3,500 bucks is ALOT to spend without actually testing the product. bleh.
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

They had to do that because some other manufacturers are coming with such products and at a better price. From the first review of one that is called "Aigle", it is better than the V8 and for the whole rig for a camcorder under 4 kg it's 2000 euros (~2300$). For camcorder up to 8 kg, the price is 2500 euros (~2800$).

It's backmounted.

The website is in french only
http://www.laigleparis.fr/le harnais.htm

http://www.laigleparis.fr/commande.htm

They even use the dvx for the pictures....

If you want more details, I can translate.

Alex
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

What about the body pod for $169 that can be ordered for the Glidecam 2000. Is that worth ordering to take care of the tiring problem. I'm ordering one this week along with glidecam 2000. Is it worth it, does it solve the problem? Better than the arm brace? Thanks

jared :-/
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

I don't have the body pod and have never seen one, so take this for what it's worth... the body pod has no articulated arm, no stabilization effect at all. It appears that it's primarily a "mobile tripod" type of device -- i.e., you set the GlideCam in it, and then you lean up against a wall. Or, when your arm gets tired of holding the GlideCam, you can take a break by resting it on the body pod. But the body pod is not a stabilization system. It does not do what you'd think it does, nor what you'd want it to do. You could not get nearly as smooth a shot with the body pod as you would be able to *without* the body pod.

I'd think the body pod might work for an event/wedding shooter who really, really wants to be able to get the occasional floating shot, so you'd position yourself and dock the camera for most of the time, then for your occasional gliding shot you'd un-dock the camera and hand-hold it for the stabilized shot...

The rumored SmoothShooter, whatever that is, will likely be an articulated arm/vest system, and probably much more expensive, and would be what you'd want...
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

[quote author=Barry_Green link=board=nws;num=1086676457;start=0#9 date=06/10/04 at 12:52:12]
I'd think the body pod might work for an event/wedding shooter who really, really wants to be able to get the occasional floating shot, so you'd position yourself and dock the camera for most of the time, then for your occasional gliding shot you'd un-dock the camera and hand-hold it for the stabilized shot...
[/quote]

For event situations, like Barry mentions, I'm wondering if the arm brace allows you to hold the GlideCam for longer times and then the body pod would be used to rest in between. In essence, it would be what Barry just mentioned but more time could be devoted to the floating shots because of the arm brace. Considering that the arm brace and body pod combined cost only a fraction of a V8 or V16, I wonder if this combination would be the "poor event videographer's" alternative to those expensive units. While is sounds good in theory, I'm wondering if it would be practical. (I've spent too much money in my life on things that seemed good in theory but didn't pan out in reality!) Anyone used this combination?
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

I've got the arm brace, and it does help. Ask Filmmaker58, he shot that car show for me, and every week he'd be hand-holding that GlideCam for 30 minutes!

I used to think the Body Pod would be an interesting upgrade, but now I'm putting that on hold pending whatever this "SmoothShooter" turns out to be.
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

I agree with Barry, hold off for the Smoothshooter. I'm chomping at the bit to see what the pricing will be on this combo.
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

dont forget about the "Magiqcam" from Animagique. ..im supposed to be reviewing it, but ive got a big -0- for time lately.. however it is a great stabilizer.. i wore it for 4 hours of shooting straight last month in outdoor hot weather. ill try to get the review done ASAP .. :-/
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

The wear and tear on your arm can be brutal no doubt; but remember, choosing your shots and planning them. The stabilizer is a great tool in the box for selected shots but unless you doing an E.R. episode Id use it sparingly.
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

[quote author=Barry_Green link=board=nws;num=1086676457;start=0#11 date=06/11/04 at 10:52:34]I've got the arm brace, and it does help.  Ask Filmmaker58, he shot that car show for me, and every week he'd be hand-holding that GlideCam for 30 minutes![/quote]

Am I to understand you to say that with the arm brace, Filmmaker58 could hold a GlideCam4000 for 30 minutes at a time? Is that a testimonial to the effectiveness of the arm brace or is that a testimonial to Filmmaker58's arm (or a little of both)?

If this is the case, that the arm brace increases holding time from  5 minutes to 30 minutes, then I would suspect that the arm brace is a "must have" item if you get a Glidecam 2000 or 4000 (i.e., one shouldn't consider having one without the other). However, I suspect that in some movie making situations, where the camera never rolls more than very briefly for each take, this may not be necessary - but still!
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

I have the Glidecam 4000 with all the accessories... (body-pod & arm brace).

Body Pod - See Barry Green's assessment earlier in this thread. He is on target with his assumptions/comments about it.

Arm Brace - This could be more appropriately named a "wrist brace" because that is exactly what it does... it takes strain off of your wrist. It's your biceps, shoulder and (to a lesser degree) your triceps that do the real work.

The arm brace takes strain off the wrist at the expense of giving you less articulation in your wrist to control the gimbal.

Should you buy it? If you plan on using the Glidecam often and for extended periods of time... well then, yes.

Sometimes I like it... sometimes I don't. :D :-/
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

No, we didn't do 30-minutes at a time -- we'd do about 10-minute takes, cut for commercials, and then back for 10 more minutes at a time. Still, 10 minutes is about 9 minutes more than I care to handhold it! ;) He recommended (well, nay, he demanded) that I get the forearm brace :) and I listened. It does help, but it's not a magical cure-all... the simple fact is these handheld stabilizers are a beast to use for any length of time, with or without the arm brace or whatever. As Terry says, the arm brace helps... but it doesn't make it "comfortable", by any stretch.

Let's put it this way: there's a reason a full-fledged Steadicam vest system costs $30,000 and the GlideCam/Steadicam Jr/etc cost $400... but for short (very short) shots, they can do very well indeed.

I am hoping that the SmoothShooter will be some sort of vest/articulated arm, under $1000, that will give us reasonable performance at a great price -- but I know nothing about it other than what's been reported here, so it's anybody's guess.
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

I SUSPECT that if you got much of the functionality of the Glidecam or Steadicam vest systems for around $1000, MANY people from this site would be lining up to buy one! But as you said, it's anyone's guess on price and level of functionality.
 
Re: Good news from Glidecam

[quote author=alexander link=board=nws;num=1086676457;start=0#7 date=06/09/04 at 13:48:50]They had to do that because some other manufacturers are coming with such products and at a better price. From the first review of one that is called "Aigle", it is better than the V8 and for the whole rig for a camcorder under 4 kg it's 2000 euros (~2300$). For camcorder up to 8 kg, the price is 2500 euros (~2800$).

If you want more details, I can translate.

Alex[/quote]

that would be appreciated...
 
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