Opteka SteadyVid Pro vs GEX steadyvid

S

-Sandro-

Well-known member
Hello,
I need for next week a cheap but good stabilizer (of course I'm not expecting a glidecam-like performance) to use on a Canon 550d + kit lens or 50mm 1.8. I noticed that the most used ones for the price are the famous Opteka Pro that is able to get pretty decent results and this GEX steadybvid (that looks like a "general" brand) available on Amazon Europe, here you can a sample video https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=SzDW5RwbDg4#t=118 .
I was wondering if anyone tried this GEX steadicam. It would cost me a lot less and of course if it gives the same result as the Opteka I would prefer that. They seems to support the same weight. I watched a lot of Opteka videos and I've seen from awful to awesome results so it really depends on the camera operator, unfortunately the GEX doesn't have much reviews to compare so I'm sure if what I'm seeing it's the best you can achieve.

Thanks
 
It looks to me like that GEX is a clone of the Opteka, as is this one that I recently bought (but it's out of stock at the moment):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E5OO4T0/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I found it quite good for the price. The gimbal is super smooth, and I found it very easy to balance once I learned the concepts (the left/right, front/back at the top for balance, then adjusting the weights/length to handle drop time). Yes, I've gotten better with practice. For me the trick is the second hand, not the one holding the gimbal. Too loose and the gimbal rotates a bit, too tight and you're reintroducing jarring from walking. I use it with a Canon XF100 which is similar weight. It's definitely very usable, and I'm very satisfied with it.
 
The first one - the one with the blue handle. Mine looks just like that, even down to the blue pieces. The Opteka I have seen looks the same.

I've never tried the curved style - have no idea if it's better, but from very informal reading it came across to me as if the curved style was harder to balance. Please don't take that as authoritative though :-)
 
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