The top 8 cheap shoulder stabilizers. Which one is best?

Here is my addition to the shoulder support I listed:
View attachment 18250

I really can't stress enough the great deal this support is...it is the best bang for buck of ANY camera equipment I have purchased so far. What isn't pictured is the strap that clips on to this and goes around your body for even more support. it's really increadible and it is a MUST HAVE!!!!

Awesome.... care to share your plans for this?
 
I used that adorama/amazon shoulder mount for a good 12 hours last saturday. When i got it i put it all together and one of the pieces broke. I tossed aside all of the pieces other than the main shoulder mount and threw a older cheapo tripod head. I used that in conjunction with a $12 handle from amazon This allowed me to mount my t2i with an iDC follow focus and a light pannel mini up on the handle.

Its a very functional cheap light rig. I had to pack it all up to get on a plane at the end of the day so it worked well for that reason. I do however notice after a while that it starts to make it hard to breathe deeply and does become tiresome on your chest. This is mostly because it lacks all forms of counter-balance.

I am looking at building something a bit more robust to allow me to mount a monitor and a matte box, based on another design i plan on something like this rig

If you like this Adorama Shouler support take a look at the video here

I love this guys blog and always am able to find great resources
 
Oh.. and do you have a photo of your makeshift rig? I ordered the Amazon/adorama shoulder support and also have those L brackets sitting around. Interested to see exactly what it looked like....
 
I dont have any pictures right now, I could throw it together tomorrow and take some pics (most of the gear is at the office right now)
 
Here is my addition to the shoulder support I listed:
View attachment 18250

I really can't stress enough the great deal this support is...it is the best bang for buck of ANY camera equipment I have purchased so far. What isn't pictured is the strap that clips on to this and goes around your body for even more support. it's really increadible and it is a MUST HAVE!!!!

that addition looks like a MUST to be able to center the camera and use it with the viewfinder extension...

i was thinking... the el-cheapo support, is more like a support to stand still, right? i think that because of the very firm body connection, i suppose that whenever you start walking stabilization goes to hell... or am i wrong?

with a standard shoulder pad + weight shoulder mount movement during walking should be less i gues... what do you think?
 
that addition looks like a MUST to be able to center the camera and use it with the viewfinder extension...

i was thinking... the el-cheapo support, is more like a support to stand still, right? i think that because of the very firm body connection, i suppose that whenever you start walking stabilization goes to hell... or am i wrong?

with a standard shoulder pad + weight shoulder mount movement during walking should be less i gues... what do you think?


walking with this rig is a bit of a trick but its doable. Its sorta like walking while holding a merlin or some other small stabilizer, keep your shoulders flat and smooth and it will workish. Its never going to compete with your real stabilizers or even your $300 shoulder mounts but its a hell of a lot better than hand holding.
 
I can totally confirm that the cheapo unit produces significant wobble when you try to walk with it.

The overwhelming majority of the shots in this piece were taken from that cheap stabilizer. http://vimeo.com/14178071

The device does have some other serious advantages, it's an absolute dream to walk around with all day long and it simply works if your shot requires more rotating then walking.

Definitely worth the $30 purchase, but be aware of its limitations.
 
Here is what i was talking about for my rig.

I have a sunpak head on there that i pulled off an older monopod and then the handle which holds the light and the shotgun
 

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Have you guys seen the new wrist stabilizer from hoodman? It looks kinda kewl.

Do you mean this one?

http://www.hoodmanusa.com/products.asp?dept=1060

It looks like it would help compared to just hand holding the camera but I don't know that its really going to make it THAT much smoother. Your just taking the stress off your wrist but leaving the weight on your elbow and out in front of your body, not centered over your legs.
 
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Anyone here used the IndiRailsPro before? I really like the way it look and the fact that it could be used as a slider. For only $40 more than the express35 shoulder rig.. I might just get this one. Hoping to get some feedback from people that actually used it before.
 
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