Off-Brand Steadicams

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digitalinnovations

Well-known member
Hello everyone!

I am hoping to get some input on some of the off-brand "steadicams" that are out there now. I know some of you may be of the opinion that if it's not Steadicam brand it's garbage and I totally respect that but in my market I cannot justify the the $10k+ outlay for one as much as I would like to own one... So the trade off seems to be something that will deliver 90% of the performance at 1/10th the cost and I would love to hear some of your experiences. Thanks!
 
There are two primary critical components to consider with Steadicam type stabilizers: the arm and the gimbal (the latter term is now confusing since it was appropriated by the Movi/Ronin etc stabilizers). A great deal of the performance of the system revolves around the design and precision manufacturing of those two parts. Over the past few years the knockoff manufacturers have come a long way, but often they fall short on one or both of those. The gimbal is the easier of the two and most will be reasonably good as far as friction goes (which will provide isolation from the operator as well as smooth pans/tilts etc) but few are properly centered, meaning the rig will tend to precess or dip when panned. I have seen very few lower load arms that approach the Steadicam brand design for performance, by a long shot. An inferior arm will provide much less vertical isolation resulting in footsteps appearing visible in the footage.

Beyond that, you need the rest of the sled to be as rigid as possible to avoid vibration, and should allow for easy adjustment of the critical axes otherwise balancing will take longer. The vest needs to be comfortable and strong so it doesn't torque on the operator's body as well as allow for easy movement and avoid pinching.

90% of the performance for 10% of the cost doesn't exist. If it did, that would hardly be a tradeoff, more like a miracle. If you can settle for 50% of the performance, you've probably got a few options.

When it comes to the larger rigs, there are a number of options available that equal or best the Steadicam brand but they aren't less expensive. For payloads under 20 lbs, I don't know of any to recommend that can perform anywhere near as well overall as the Steadicam brand. I'm not really keeping up with the newcomers these days but from what I've heard anecdotally, the cheap eBay systems are better than they used to be but not true competitors.
 
Thank you very much for that breakdown on the components and what to look for, Charles. It's always a balancing act (pun intended) of trying to push to the next tier of production ahead of the budgets but I know all of us experience that over the various stages of our careers.
 
How heavy is your camera rig? Do you want a vest and arm for it? This one looks interesting; it's not as good as a Steadicam, and maybe not even as good as Glidecams, but people seem to like the Came and Laing stabilizers.
 
Thank you. I'm actually looking at some of the Laing versions now; namely the M30Pii and the M35ii. My rigs are running in that 20lbs range mostly when kitted out.

I love the EasyRig clone I have but it seems almost impossible (for me) to get somewhat steady shots when "on the move" so that is what has brought me back around to the steadicam.
 
digitalinnovations said:
Hello everyone!

I am hoping to get some input on some of the off-brand "steadicams" that are out there now. I know some of you may be of the opinion that if it's not Steadicam brand it's garbage and I totally respect that but in my market I cannot justify the the $10k+ outlay for one as much as I would like to own one... So the trade off seems to be something that will deliver 90% of the performance at 1/10th the cost and I would love to hear some of your experiences. Thanks!
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I would strongly suggest that you don't think for a second, that you'll get 90% of the performance of a steadicam, from one of the cheap knockoffs. Even 50% of the performance is being generous, it's just not going to happen.

I had a steadicam op over in India who came along with a knockoff rig. His showreel looked good, and the rig was supposedly rated comfortably for the camera we'd be putting on it, so I wasn't worried. But it was a total clusterf**k. The rig couldn't handle even our 5kg camera rig, and virtually everything we got was useless.

I later learnt that everything on the operator's reel had been shot on proper Steadicam rigs that he'd hired for those shoots.

Long story short, you get what you pay for.
 
I held out and was able to get an older Steadicam, the Flyer LE, for a VERY good price on Ebay. I am able to fly a RED DSMC on it with remote video and follow focus with the battery low on the sled. I did have to rewire the sled for that and to accommodate a modern monitor (800 nits - serviceable) which was an additional purchase but it's a great rig. I would also love to upgrade the vest some time. I was lucky to get one that didn't have a lot of use because those vests can get a little funky ;)

Still not as cheap as some of the knock offs but it is a fine piece of gear which balances quickly and surely. I am having a blast learning to fly it. There is something beautiful and elegant about steadicam that I just love. Learning how to "land" in a frame is a challenge but yields tremendous value for great blocking. Also if you frame out a little, you can stabilize in post, which, for a beginner like me, saves shots.

You've gotten advice from one of the best in Charles. The work they did on ER is still some of the best steadi blocking ever IMHO. I'm making a study of American Hustle for the kind of moves and grammar they used. Check out the new Get Shorty series. They do a ton of it. When I'm zipping through the channels and I see Bridge of Spies, I always have to stop to enjoy some of the great steadicam blocking in that.
 
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digitalinnovations said:
Now you've got me thinking I need to revisit some of those movies and series. It's great to watch work you aspire to for sure!
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There are so many examples at this point it's hard to know where to start...one of the clips I used to show when I taught Steadicam workshops was this amazing piece of work from operator Larry McConkey on "Carlito's Way". Since many people are starting to work with anamorphic lenses, it's a virtual masterclass in 2:39 framing on the move (watch how Larry slides Pacino around in the frame throughout the shot, how it hands off from objective to subjective and back again, the sheer elegance of the blocking ).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0S0gvvhaqg
 
I need to look closer at that one but on first glance I would be pushing that upper limit right from the start. I mean, I could always strip down my rig some I guess but that's not really the direction you want be headed in, you know?
 
The more mass you have, the better it will remain in position without motion (higher inertia). But that also works against you once you do get it moving and want to stop.
 
The Aero is the only Steadicam I've tried on in past few years--it's a very nice small rig. Probably the nicest in its weight class. Still probably more than Jeremey is looking at spending though I'd think?
 
Honestly, probably so Charles. I'm just trying to do as much research as I can to see what other options are out there but it's difficult to find any info besides what's on the listings.
 
May be worth mentioning that there are two different models of Aero, for camera payloads up to 10 and 20 lbs respectively.

Gary, depends on what you are thinking of for lenses and how much you fly for accessories, but I would think you'd probably be fine with an FS5?
 
I'd rather use a friend who does B camera/stedicam on a major TV show and use him and his stedicam. But he's either working on it when I plan my shoots.
 
I agree; you may even be able to get away with the Aero 15 with the Fs5 depending on how you rig it out. Which would be great because it's about 1/2 the cost of the Aero 30.
 
hscully said:
I held out and was able to get an older Steadicam, the Flyer LE, for a VERY good price on Ebay.
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This is probably what I'd recommend. You can get a used Steadicam Flyer LE for maybe $1k-$2k on Ebay. That's up to 19 lbs.

OP said his camera rigs weigh around 20 lbs, so 19 lbs is pretty close. I say better to lighten your camera rig a little to accommodate a pro Steadicam rig than to not need to lighten it and put it on a cruddy knockoff rig.

Either that, or save up for an Aero 30 or Zephyr.
 
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I also say look around for a quality used rig instead of a new 'knockoff'. Lots of guys(and gals) out there everyday flying used rigs. As a matter of fact, and this shows what a small world we work in, the rig our SteadiCam operator was flying on Monday was one of Charles' old ones.
 
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