Indicam Pilot

[Richard Allen Crook]

Hey all,

I just received my new Indicam Pilot and must say I'm impressed right off the bat. It's well made and easy to use. I need alot of practice and am also going to be viewing some training DVDs this weekend and doing more balancing, but I thought I would show you a little video of me testing this out right out of the box: http://www.motionbox.com/videos/7a9ad6b9171ce9c1f5

Excuse the color grading and scope aspect...I got a little carried away, haha. I'm going to be adding a few mods, like a monitor for the sled and a quick-release adapter plate.

 

[Phil H.]

I own the Indicam Pilot too and it is an awesome system. Well constructed with a great gimbal. I love the shots I can pull of with it.

 

[gco]

I adapted mine to fit a Merlin and got what I consider great results for a noob. What I did not like was that giant bolt that is used to secure the arm to the vest. That is just plain sloppy "engineering" and really needs to go. They would do better to use a quick-detach pin through an actual bearing instead of a 1/2 lb. 1/2" bolt through a bronze bushing. The plated hardware is also pretty cheesy. At the time I purchased, they had only two vest sizes. One was too small and the other fit but could not tighten the straps properly. I had to modify the strap anchor points a bit to allow the straps to tighten properly. Even with the straps tightened as far I could get them, the vest would shift sideways on me during use. I just adapted to it. Annoying but it worked.
What I liked the best was the bearings in the arm---liquid freakin smooth but you do have to double check the tension on each nut for each pivot point. Also, the arms are so slender it is totally unobtrusive which is good. Can't speak about the sled because as I stated earlier I used mine with a Merlin. Overall, there are some undesirable things about it that could be improved but the arm itself is very good. As far as pricing goes, I feel that the cost is about twice what they are actually worth. If you are going to spend that kind of money, might as well get a Steadicam Pilot vest/arm and use it with a Glidecam 2000/4000. Much better bang for the buck.