Hague Mini Motion Cam

NOTE

I kind'a take back my positive comments on the Hague...it broke on me after barely a day and I'm starting to see how cheap it's made...while it can certainly work light years ahead of the modosteady, I don't imagine this thing lasting a good amount of time for a majority of it's buyers.

The handle popped out. When I put the handle back on the gimbal was stiff. I eventually got it to loosen up a bit since then, but have noticed there's a BUMP on the metal gimbal...WTF? no way that can help and is the only way to explain why the gimbal is now stiff and I see small lines inside the very soft plastic holder indicating scoring from the metal bump. Said plastic also moves TOO EASILY as I put the handle back in.

I also see a design flaw in the gimbal bearing which explains a contributor to why this thing is hard to FINE TUNE - the top of the gimbal bearing is FLAT, so if you have your rig MOSTLY balanced, the FLAT part will allow the camera to REST EVEN giving you the illusion it's balanced when you may need a hair more weight somewhere and of course, would make the motion a tad rickety and sticky if the camera decided to rest on the flat part and not roll along the bearing for a few frames here and there. I may be nitpicking (I feel guilty complaining since I'm no engineer) but it only seems common sense the top part should be round, not flat...

Time for Hague MMC 2000 - I'm half joking but I think they can put more effort into this and come under a $299 price tag and still monopolize the UBER cheap portable steadicam market.
 
Psynema said:
NOTE

I kind'a take back my positive comments on the Hague...it broke on me after barely a day and I'm starting to see how cheap it's made...while it can certainly work light years ahead of the modosteady, I don't imagine this thing lasting a good amount of time for a majority of it's buyers.

The handle popped out. When I put the handle back on the gimbal was stiff. I eventually got it to loosen up a bit since then, but have noticed there's a BUMP on the metal gimbal...WTF? no way that can help and is the only way to explain why the gimbal is now stiff and I see small lines inside the very soft plastic holder indicating scoring from the metal bump. Said plastic also moves TOO EASILY as I put the handle back in.

I also see a design flaw in the gimbal bearing which explains a contributor to why this thing is hard to FINE TUNE - the top of the gimbal bearing is FLAT, so if you have your rig MOSTLY balanced, the FLAT part will allow the camera to REST EVEN giving you the illusion it's balanced when you may need a hair more weight somewhere and of course, would make the motion a tad rickety and sticky if the camera decided to rest on the flat part and not roll along the bearing for a few frames here and there. I may be nitpicking (I feel guilty complaining since I'm no engineer) but it only seems common sense the top part should be round, not flat...

Time for Hague MMC 2000 - I'm half joking but I think they can put more effort into this and come under a $299 price tag and still monopolize the UBER cheap portable steadicam market.
Click to expand...


Well, I would go for the Merlin :)
 
Thing is, with all the time you spend balancing, modding, and improving the cheaper stabilizers - only to still have an imperfect end result, is it really worth the money saved? I know that if I had to go through so much trouble as with the Balzanz thing, I would feel like I had taken a major loss. DIY is fun as a hobby but for stabilizers, it ends up costing more in time and materials than it would cost for a perfectly tuned and ready-to-fly Merlin. The glidecam series seems to be the best you can get for the low price, but I don't really consider those hand-held stabilizers.

I never see people talk about the flowpod http://www.varizoom.com/products/stabilizers/vzfp.html

This is a relatively inexpensive handheld stabilizer with the center of mass above your hand (like on the Hague or Merlin). The thing I liked about this one is that it also doubles as a monopod, which saves your arm during some long takes. They also have a smaller/lighter/cheaper version which I haven't used, minus the monopod function:

http://www.varizoom.com/products/stabilizers/vzultralite.html
 
I ordered the Hague MMC after checking out the info on their website. After I saw what it actually is I sent it back the same day I received it. What Hague doesn't clearly tell you is that the camera mount is not even securely attached to the hand grip. Their contraption is designed to precariously balance the mounted camera above a tiny hollow cup that is perched on a ball bearing at the top of the hand grip. If the camera or grip are ever jerked quickly enough to jolt the camera mount off the ball bearing, the camera will tumble right off the grip, and there is nothing to prevent it from hitting the ground. I would never take such a risk with an expensive DSLR.

I also tried the Balvanz MiniDV Stabilizer, which is similar to the Glidecam 2000, but costs about half as much. The Balvanz is secure and well built, but it has a lot of dead weight and the camera mount is not conveniently adjustable. I think it's worth the money for occasional use, but it would be greatly improved if it had a light-weight gimbal and connecting arms, and a counter-balance for the offset handle.

In actual use, I hold the Balvanz handle in my right hand, and the vertical shaft beneath the gimbal between my left thumb and forefinger. That allows me to gently steer the camera while holding it steady. It is also possible to smoothly shift the weight of the stabilizer between your right and left hands, relieving the unbalanced pressure on your right wrist and making it something of a hybrid two-hand grip/stabilizer.
 
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Ah nice bump. Funny, I actually was planning on ebaying the Hague MMC and get a Balvanz instead.

Also
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I AGREE
The best samples I could pull off with the Hague. I think the autofocus of the 20mm in low light really shifts the weight which was probably my problem, in bright light it was much easier and secure, but also agree with the sentiment that I can't trust a piece of plastic that easily snaps off.
 
Bump. I'm curious, too. Esp if you felt any of the stabilizers worked with your new 14-54, and if you ever solved for a wider angle low-light prime solution.
 
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