Simple DIY Handheld Stabilizer

egproductions said:
lol, the bogen quick relase adapter and plate kills this DIY deal....$43! The other suggestion of a cheap plate is good or just attempt to build one yourself.

What would be the piont of mounting the stabalizer onto the tripod? Jus tot have the convience of not taking off the quick release plate of the stabalizer?
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Make a 1/4" thread on the bottom of your DIY device, Screw your tripod plate to it and leave it there, slide the whole device in and out your tripod head.

This is the way it works in our MultiRig.
 
wow, actually alot better than i thought. Still doesn come close to a steadicam but it definately stablilizes the image more than hand held!

good job!
 
can we get a detailed parts list if you dont mind? I know its a spray nozzle for a hose but what brand in particular and what is that metal washer around it? Also where would i get an aluminum bar like that? I was at home depot and i couldn't find the right parts to put it all together..
 
I put a PARTS LIST at the beginning of this thread, along with some new photos. Hope it helps.

Thanks again for all the nice comments, guys. Really nice community here.
 
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Papa,

I apreciate your question, but this thread is concerned more with this stablizer than my Photoshop skills. As far as the shadows go, it takes about 15 years to learn how to do it well, and about 15 seconds to accomplish within the program. It is hard to explain, and I would need pictures, when what I should really be doing is writing a script and shooting more. Sorry, not enough time in the day...

Google some photoshop tutorials.
 
Very nice you could market these with those photos. I see that you reversed the aluminum plate...looks even better. Why does it appear that the aluminum is rounded on the corners in the second photographs? Also did you drill into the aluminum to cut the whole for the spray nozzle?
 
Lets give WJM a round of applause, nice job !! :)

I just finished the handles and I'm now working on the mount, I'll try and post a pic or two.
 
Well my only criticism would be that it's not very practical is it, I mean the dvx doesn't actually weigh that much to get the shots that you achieved with or without the 'stabiliser'? Also, focusing would be a *****??
 
Yas Kassana said:
Well my only criticism would be that it's not very practical is it, I mean the dvx doesn't actually weigh that much to get the shots that you achieved with or without the 'stabiliser'? Also, focusing would be a *****??
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Hmmm... DVX doesn't weigh that much. Yep- I guess image stabilization wasn't really necessary as he backed fluidly down those stairs.

And gee, considering how light the dvx is, it sure is strange that the fig-rig and steadicam merlin are such hot thread discussions here at DVXUSER... considering that all us jacked up on caffeine run and gunners have nerves of steel and all.

Makes you wonder why PANASONIC even bothered building an OIS button onto the DVX in the first place. Heck- for that matter why even bother using a tripod? Just crank that puppy out to full zoom, leave the OIS button off and do everything handheld. I'm sure the lightness of the camera will compensate...lol.

I'm teasing obviously, but ...uhh, I think the whole point for him building this thing is that the DVX is so light... you need some weight to a rig to smooth out the bumps in a shot... Whether its an 85 dollar version from HD or an 850 buck Merlin from Steadicam.

As to question of focus, I am assuming an approximate manual focus pull on followed "actress" and focus assist (auto) on going down hallway shots?

My point is- this guy designed what looks like an awesome rig for pennies on the dollar which WORKS- and the footage looks pretty decent to me. Kudos on design WJM.

Yas, no disrepect but don't knock it till ya try it- there's a lot of folks out there selling similiar stuff for a lot more than the price he offered his plans to us for... which is FREE. I say market the thing WJM. Id be happy to try it out and review it for you here at DVXUSER.
 
This alone will have difficulty focusing much like the fig rig when in use however you can aways buy a a remote handle for focus and zoom and hok that up with a little elmers glue or something. Weight is your friend for stability..the more you need to use your whole body to hold somethign teh more stable it will be rather than allowing simply your hand to do all the work. By allowing the user to outstrech his arms and whole a condierable mount of weight the person really starts using his body to compensate for the weight.
 
good ol glidecam. weight weight weight..

and when i put the adapter one... more weight on top, then i have to extend the pole ( buy something that can increase the length of this glidecampro 2000 ) and add more weights at the bottom/
 
I built one about 2 months ago with a peice of 1/4" alum flat bar with some 1" alum solid round bar welded to the flay bar for handles. I bought some bike handle grips as well as the bogen quick release.

I shoot videos for a company that makes outboard motors and do a lot of shooting from moving boats. This sure beats handheld.

I see in the pic above that the quick release tightening handle hits the bar, mine too. You have to set the handle to where it's almost tightened before mounting it to the bar, otherwise you sometimes won't be able to get a good tight bind on the camera.

Works great.
 
Actually, the quick release plate lever pulls out, and you can then rotate it for proper use. It works perfectly as is.
 
WJM hehehe I was just about to build something like this today before runing into this thread. Your stablelizing bar is AWESOME!!!!

About the problems with the bar.....
Well I don't see anything bad about using this rig at all. The focusing problem is just a creative problem that would only require a creative solution :) .

The idea of the camera mounted on a bar is actually an old idea. Watch Simple Blood by the Cohen brothers. There is one shot where the camera just moves around and slides on top of the counter like a dolly would on the ground. It's a CAMERA mounted on a WOOD POST. Crazy huh! It was held by two people. It is also used in other shots.

Necessity + Brain juice = Creative Solutions :)
 
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