T2i Shooting on a Glidecam

D

DDirector

Veteran
I have the T2i and I always film with it on the Redrock Shoulder Mount. I can achieve fairly smooth movements with the shoulder mount, but I wanted to know if it would be better to sell it and get a Glidecam 200 Pro instead.

What I am concerned about is two things;
1) Focusing
2) Different lenses

I have two lenses; 50mm & a 28mm
Will I be forced to use only the 28mm on the glidecam?
Although its a wide lens, there I will still need to focus, especially if its not the brightest location. (Such as indoors) Will this be an issue?

And if I need to change my lens, I see this as a big problem.

Any thoughts?
 
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28mm doesn't look that wide either on the T2i.
on the 5D it is pretty common to see steadicam footage at 24mm and below to ease on the focusing issues.
basically the fov helps smooth out inconsistencies or pendulum effects and allows for hyperfocal depth to retain everything in focus from just a few feet away.
another issue might be to balance everything properly when a T2i+prime is so lightweight.
 
To answer your question keep the shoulder mount and use the Glidecam as another tool. I own both a Glidecam V8 and a homemade shoulder mount. I have owned the Glidecam since my DVX days. They are just different tools.

In the years I've owned my Glidecam everyone who I let borrow it wanted to shoot with it very subtle moves like literally moving the camera just a few feet foward or using it like a dolly a few feet to the side. The strength of the glidecam or anything like it such as Stedicam is when you do fairly large sweeping moves such as down a hallway or such not for a few feet. For a few feet use a wheel chair or a dolly. Or they overuse it and every shot is a Glidecam shot and shots that shouldn't be a Glidecam shot are. You get the point.

Using it like a tripod or to move a tiny bit IMHO is bad and a poor use of the equipment itself. Also people don't seem to understand when you do that you can envoke sickness from a very slight rocky feeling such as being on a boat. Especially on a big screen.

The truth is I only pull out the glidecam when I only need a particular long enough moving shot. Also it takes time to set up sometimes and it will limit and fatigue you.

As for the lens I would say the wider the better. There's no way a 50mm is a comfortable lens for a glidecam. It's too telephoto. I'm not one to tell a filmmaker no because we all have freedome to explore creativley but I'd advise against it.

28mm is okay. Realistically 24mm to 18mm is great. Wider is great too but be aware that when you get to the 10-20mm range it can have a different feel emotionally and at 10mm you will see jello jitters, aliasing, stobing, ect.

Oh and in changing a lens you will have to rebalance the rig.
 
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I never replied back, but I was keeping up with the posts.
Thanks guys!

I guess I will probably hold off on the glidecam. Maybe if a good price comes along, I might get it.
But, I will have to stick with the 28mm lens.
 
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