Merlin + AF100

hscully

hscully

Veteran
I have a shoot coming up where I have some outside moving shots. I'd like to use something other than a shoulder mount. Does anyone use the Merlin with their AF-100? How are the results? I found a thread with someone using it with and FS100 and they were able to get pretty good results. I know it's at the edge of the weight limit. I'm thinking stripped down with a wide lens at a fixed distance. I also have a GH2 which might be a better match for the Merlin but I don't want to plunk down unless I can use it with the AF100. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks
 
I'm not an experienced steadicam operator, but I found the AF100 impossible to balance on a Merlin, and it was quite heavy overall. The GH1 on the other hand worked quite nicely.
 
That makes sense. I may go with the GH2 and the Merlin then, if I can get the footage to match well enough. I will work that out first. If it's OK (and this is not a huge project) then I may go with that. I sorta figured that the AF-100 was too close to the limit for the Merlin.
 
The merlin really sucks, imo.

I went with the CMR Blackbird with the steadicam merlin vest and arm.

MUCH more controllable.
 
Side comment here. Though I fly a full size rig, I saw a merlin ripoff by Kamerar for $70 on ebay, and thought I'd play around with it. It was absolutely useless. Maybe their higher models work, but based on the quality of this one, I wouldn't chance it.
 
Same here, no extra weight. I generally fly a Voightlander 25mm or Zeiss 35mm f/1.4. The Zeiss is heavy but it flys like a champ. If you have other things attached to the camera, keep the CG low for best results.
 
StephenM said:
Same here, no extra weight. I generally fly a Voightlander 25mm or Zeiss 35mm f/1.4. The Zeiss is heavy but it flys like a champ. If you have other things attached to the camera, keep the CG low for best results.
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That's exactly what I had in mind. I was hoping to be able to use my Voightlander 25mm. Great that it will go with the Zeiss, and it will work with the Merlin and vest and arm. Excellent. Thanks a lot guys.
 
The blackbird is awesome and their customer service is fantastic. I had an issue where one of the plates was not clamping down, before I had even emailed them they had read my post on here, then emailed me. Within a few days I had received a new plate, gimball etc. Very impressive, especially in this disconnected impersonal world we live in, it's a breath of fresh air to have good personal service. (Plus it flys pretty awesome too but you need to practise obviously. I fly with the voigtlander and my small hd monitor.)
 
I recently purchased the merlin to use with the gh2 and voighlander 25 - after 2 weeks of trying to get it BALANCED - I returned for the glidecam 1000 hd - after 1/2 an hour I was balanced and now learning to fly it. :) Like the make of the blackbird but decided it was perhaps overkill for my setup.
 
I think another positive for me with my blackbird was the ability to set it down with the rest stand, camera still attached. Such a time saver! (Though obviously be careful still!)
 
I sold my merlin after using it for over a year with my older HD camera. I used it on many shoots with the AF100, but sold it and bought the Blackbird. MUCH happier with the blackbird than I was with the Merlin.
 
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