just bought merlin steadicam - brother - not easy getting this thing working.

K

kevin baggott

Well-known member
HI - as the header says - I picked up the merlin steadicam - a couple of days ago. Read the manual - watched the dvd a dozen times that comes with it - watched all the youtube vids - still looks like bukowski is operating this thing. I guess practice makes....
i have the panny gh2 - the 14-42 kits lens and the voightlander 25. Thought ok - let me get the supposedly best of these kind of stabalizers under a grand. Well - i guess it's just lots of practice. I have a month to return - lets see how good i get in the following weeks. Any suggestions - words of wisdom most appreciated :)
Kevin
 
balance, balance, balance, more balance. You get the point. It's crucial to get it set up properly. Make sure your drop time is correct. drop time and balance go hand in hand, because when it's balanced properly your drop time will be to.

as you said, it takes lots of practice to fly a cam smoothly. Much of it is anticipation as to where your going and how the blocking is laid out. once your route is laid out, you can start to anticipate how your going to fly the take. After a while you will become fluid with it, as it's an extension of your own arm, then you can improvise much of what your shooting. But until then, lay out a route, stay as close to it as you can, and you will find each time you get better at it and find little ways to keep it smooth.
 
To echo Maran films - I bought a merlin when they were first released. Took me a month to get a handle on it properly. Stick it out.
 
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