Shoulder stabilizer

L

Lor

Well-known member
Any reviews on this thing? Will it work well with a 12-18lbs rig or am I better off with a steadicam of some sort?
 
then shoulder rig absolutely. You cannot touch the camera on a steadicam, so no focus changing, unless its on auto.
 
Okay, so let me try to understand this. On a steadicam or glidecam of some sort, pulling focus is not possible, correct? Why is that?
 
Lor said:
Okay, so let me try to understand this. On a steadicam or glidecam of some sort, pulling focus is not possible, correct? Why is that?
Click to expand...

It would be like trying to draw a basket ball that's spinning on your finger.

Steadicam like devices "balance" the camera on a fluid gimbal like the basketball in the above analogy. It's attached, but on a very fluid point. You don't really hold the camera, you guide it. So touching the camera will make it tilt or move, because it is kind of floating on a system of counter weights.

A steadicam is for glass smooth flying through the air camera work like in the Shining. That movie is almost all steadicam.

A shoulder support is for SUPPORT, not STABILIZATION. It allows you to hold a heavy camera and accessories and get stable, but not glass smooth shots.

Also that thing is for SMALL camcorders. Not 12-18 pound rigs. Look at DV Multirig pro, go to the varizoom website, look at the tiffen steady stick at DVestore, look at the cameraman's Multi Tool
 
it will also require you to spend months on learning how to properly operate.

a shoulder rig is just much more practical for your needs.
 
Many thanks for explaining. I have never used or even come close to a steadicam unit so I'm totally in the dark on this. Okay, so for something as heavy as 12-18lbls rig, what are my options...assuming I want to pull focus my self and not use remote? I saw the Zacuto version but that is just too expensive for my budget.
 
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