Is a glidecam better than a well built DIY steadicam?

I

ironpony

Carbonite Member
They have DIY steadicam tuturials which are said to be as good as the glidecam but I wonder if it is actually as good, or of the glidecam itself is no better than something you can make at home? Is it?
 
Almost anyone who has engaged in homebuilding a Steadicam will tell you that by the time they have gotten through the prototypes and rebuilds, they might has well have ponied up for the real thing. You are battling keeping weight down and rigidity and precision high. Plus, there's no resale value.
 
never tried the DIY route for this - found a great deal on a used Glidecam from B&H. after having it I wouldn't think twice about buying professionally made gear for such specific uses again. I'm moderately handy, but even with help I never could have created something that is so easy to set up and use. just my opinion though.
 
I have built my own fly cam so far, and it's okay, and have been using it for my own stuff for about a year. I'm guessing a glidecam would be better though and should by one. Thinking either the glidecam 4000 or 4000 pro.
 
this is one of those things that a DIY is only going to be because you love to build things. there are a lot of complex parts to build for the more advanced styles. How often will you really use it? how often is it truely required? Could you use a slider/dolly instead? keep those details in mind.
 
you can get a half way decent steadycam for around $100. Not the best, but MUCH better then a DIY steadycam.
Just look around. I got a Flycam Nano and it preforms decently for the money. But it looks very professional to most people, and does the job i need it for.
Beyond that, if you think you can DIY it. There are many alternatives, but at the end of the day... your gonna be most happy with a "prebuilt" setup.
 
treynolds said:
this is one of those things that a DIY is only going to be because you love to build things. there are a lot of complex parts to build for the more advanced styles. How often will you really use it? how often is it truely required? Could you use a slider/dolly instead? keep those details in mind.
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I would use it often. Some of my shots are on public streets. You can walk anywhere you want with a steadicam and no one will care, but a dolly is more complicated to roll around with people around and the sidewalks are not smooth enough, so tracks would be required. That, the city will mind.
 
Beyond just factoring in whether your DIY can be better built than a commercial steadicam (depends on your skill, obviously), how quickly can you work to create a robust prototype? I say this because not only do I care about quality, but I also care about my time.

I just started in video recently. I work full-time as an accountant and own a tennis business on the side, which I hope to leverage with professional video work. In between these three career paths, I place a serious value on my time and if I can't recover the amount of time I spend on a project with a significantly more attractive amount in wages, then I refuse to spend that time. Money is something that I can make back if lost/spent. Time isn't. So in my mind if I can't create a DIY project from start to finish that outperforms a commercial product within about 10 - 20 hours (or one that I can mass produce/sell), then I won't go DIY.

Some people pinch dollars - I pinch time.
 
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