Poorman's Steadycam

Bernie Hipos

Bernie Hipos

Well-known member
Here's my version of the poorman's steadycam. I just painted it with flat black color. I spent around $25.00 and it worked like a charm, i'll post some videos shot with this steadycam soon. I added a wood base because i have a dvx here, it's a little bit heavy although I used only the 2.5 lbs weight which Johnny suggested on his website. Let me know what you guys think. Here is the link to Johnny's website:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/steadycam/

Here are the pics:

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Thanks for viewing.
 
hey man, people are going to give you a really hard time with this set up. don't let them, its cheap ts easy, and if it does what you want it to do then thwt,

nice job
 
I should know, I posted a similar post when I built mine a couple of years ago and
got thoroughly lambasted, mainly by the pro steadicam guys comparing their 10K setups with
a $25 homebuilt device.

Now I have a Glidecam 2000. It is 8 times the money and only works twice as good.
If you are broke, the "Johnnycam" is the way to go. Especially on stairs.
 
Jason Miller said:
hey man, people are going to give you a really hard time with this set up. don't let them, its cheap ts easy, and if it does what you want it to do then thwt,

nice job
Click to expand...

Hi jason thanks, my only purpose is to share what I did. I don't have a budget for a glidecam or other steadicams out there, if this will do the same job why not right? We all know that this one doesn't have the vest but it's a matter of patience when handling it and thanks for the heads up by the way...

mainstreetprod said:
I should know, I posted a similar post when I built mine a couple of years ago and
got thoroughly lambasted, mainly by the pro steadicam guys comparing their 10K setups with
a $25 homebuilt device.

Now I have a Glidecam 2000. It is 8 times the money and only works twice as good.
If you are broke, the "Johnnycam" is the way to go. Especially on stairs.
Click to expand...

Hi mainstreetprod, thanks for viewing...the only thing that i built this was because of the budget and we all know that this device is not comparable to the glidecam but I think it's close. It's just a matter of practice and too bad you were lambasted by those pro steadicam guys but my main purpose here is to just share my project. I think it's not the gear that will make your movie better. Content is still king and besides the viewers won't see the real steadicam used in the movie, not unless they show the BTS footage. Cheers!
 
Doing a cheapo DIY project like this is a matter of pride and production value versus financial situations. You don't have $25,000 to buy the right vest and sled, so does that mean you should settle for jarring video? Hell no! You do what you can to get the best footage within your means. If that means hiring your friend with Cerebal Palsy to hold the camera while you push his wheel chair in order to get smooth shots, by all means, you do what you have to do. Now, if you are driving a Ferrari but don't want to spend money on your video gear because you are too cheap, that is a different story all together.
 
Capt Quirk said:
Doing a cheapo DIY project like this is a matter of pride and production value versus financial situations. You don't have $25,000 to buy the right vest and sled, so does that mean you should settle for jarring video? Hell no! You do what you can to get the best footage within your means. If that means hiring your friend with Cerebal Palsy to hold the camera while you push his wheel chair in order to get smooth shots, by all means, you do what you have to do. Now, if you are driving a Ferrari but don't want to spend money on your video gear because you are too cheap, that is a different story all together.
Click to expand...

Very well said...cheers!

Gary Sconce said:
Nice job! I love that you just used good old water pipe. :beer:
Click to expand...

Thanks Gary.
 
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