Stedicam for HVX200a

I bought the Steadicam Flyer 24LE (approximately $7500) for my HVX200 because I use the Redrock and thought if I was going to spend the money, I only wanted to do it once and have it be worth my money and time.

You have to ask yourself several questions before taking the plunge.
- Are you going to upgrade your camera at any point with 35mm adapters (redrock, shoot35, etc)?
- What is your primary purpose for the Steadicam (weddings, features, commercials)?
- What can you charge for jobs with the steady cam?
- What are the realistic net cash flows you can earn with it (i.e. money you'd get with the steady cam - money you'd get with your current setup)?

Do some realistic forecasting and estimation (both in the number of jobs and the price you can earn with them), then figure out the payback period (purchase price / net $/month it'll earn you). If it'll take you a few years to pay it off, it might be worth holding out on it. Are jobs with your current setup slowing down?

Hopefully it will give you some more to think about before going the cheaper route. On the other hand, you do have several options for a stabilizer system.

Take a look at Varizoom's options: http://www.varizoom.com/stabilizersindex.html
I went the Steadicam brand route: http://www.steadicam.com
The Glidecam X-10 will also work (it comes as 2 different products in one kit): http://www.glidecam.com/product-x-10.php

Hope this helps!
 
Thank you. I'm only 20 years old. I do mostly music videos. It's not a steady enough job for me to go out and spend thousands of dollars because I'm a free lance solo person company. I'm thinking $1k at most. I haven't experianced much with lenses. I owned a redrock but ended up selling it because I wasent sure how to get the full use out of it, but thanks again.
 
I have one of those:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Indicator-Magic-F...item5d2930c95b

Works good for the price I payed ($800 used). You will need to do some sowing on the suit because it doesn't fit well. I put my red-rock on it and it works too. Heavy as hell though. Best if you only need the occasional steadicam shot, if you had to wear it all day you would have back problems.
 
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