URSA Mini and Glidecam

El Director

El Director

Veteran
So I've had my URSA Mini 4k for a few weeks and love it. When I was shooting with the T2i, I bought the Glidecam HD2000 and it worked great. The UM however is a bit of a beast (I know everyone always says how light it is, but trust me, it's heavy) so I started looking at new Glidecam options. I opted to go with the Devin Graham signature edition due to a few of the new features and that it can hold up to 12 pounds. I honestly have no idea how heavy my camera is with lens and battery, but the new Glidecam arrives tomorrow and I'll share my experiences with it here for anyone that's interested. If it turns out to be a total bust, I'll return it for the HD4000 which should do fine. I'm also looking at getting a vest and arm to help support the weight.

 
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I'm very interested about DGS Glidecam reviews, especially with heavier cameras. So I definitely cannot wait! :)
 
So good news! The URSA Mini works great with the Devin Graham Signature Series Glidecam. The bad news is that you probably need a vest. I'm fairly strong and I could only manage about 15 seconds before I needed a minute to recover. The HD2000 I can fly all day long, no problems. I shot an unboxing and balancing video that should be online in the next day or two, I'll post it here. In the meantime, fire away any questions.
 
I was thinking of getting it for FS7. Is it really this heavy that 15 seconds is a max? I might rethink my plans.
 
It's a beast. After about 15 seconds, my hand is shaking so much that the camera picks up the micro vibrations and shows on the image. I'm working on uploading the video now, but my internet is really slow. You can actually see the micro shakes I'm talking about. I just ordered a vest and arm for $600 on Amazon, so we'll see how/if that helps. Although it is entirely possible that it'll just take time to get the strength to fly it. When I bought the HD2000, it took a solid month of using it every day to learn to fly it and get the strength to use it.
 
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Do you support it with your second hand by holding a pole? Of course you cannot hold to firm but I guess it could help at least slightly. Any guess how he can fly a Red on it for so long? :O
 
No, I just support it with the one hand. To save money, I have for the time being canceled my vest and arm order. I'm going to give it 2 weeks and see if I can adapt to the weight. I found tech specs for my lens/camera/battery and my total weight is 10.975 pounds for the camera. I know Devin shoots an Epic with sidehandle an uses RedVolt instead of V-Mount batteries, which comes out to either 8.5 or 9 pounds depending on if there's one or two RedVolts (I'm not sure how many it needs) and based on the same lens I'm using. That 2lbs can make a difference in the long haul. I can probably shave a pound by going with a smaller battery for the UM. Even so, you can see Devin gets tired pretty quick too and that most of his shots tend to be fairly short.

My intended use is mostly for chase scenes in my next film. Lots of parkour through the city, but also the mountains too. If I can fly it for 20 seconds at a time, I'll be okay I think.
 
El Director said:
No, I just support it with the one hand. To save money, I have for the time being canceled my vest and arm order. I'm going to give it 2 weeks and see if I can adapt to the weight. I found tech specs for my lens/camera/battery and my total weight is 10.975 pounds for the camera. I know Devin shoots an Epic with sidehandle an uses RedVolt instead of V-Mount batteries, which comes out to either 8.5 or 9 pounds depending on if there's one or two RedVolts (I'm not sure how many it needs) and based on the same lens I'm using. That 2lbs can make a difference in the long haul. I can probably shave a pound by going with a smaller battery for the UM. Even so, you can see Devin gets tired pretty quick too and that most of his shots tend to be fairly short.

My intended use is mostly for chase scenes in my next film. Lots of parkour through the city, but also the mountains too. If I can fly it for 20 seconds at a time, I'll be okay I think.
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I'm looking forward to your results!! FS7 + lens is basically same weight, coming at about 8-9 pounds. I want to get that for events where I use as a monopod as well, flying occasionally only.
 
what about moving the brick battery to the base of the gimbal? You should save around 700gr.
Use velcro to attach the cable to the gimbal or eventually drill a couple of holes to pass it through it
 
Recieved my vest and arm setup the other day and wow! It makes all the difference in the world. It takes some getting used too, but I'm not fatigued now after a shot and that's good. I bought the Cowboy Studio Double Arm Vest if anyone else is interested. The only issue I had was a known issue going into it, and that's that the post on the arm is too thin for the handle of the Glidecam. The solution was wrap the post with gaff tape, and attach a piece of 1/2 copper pipe about three inches long. My local hardware store gave it to me for free since they could cut it from a piece of scrap. The gaff tape ensures the copper fits snug on the post, and the Glidecam handle now fits perfectly.
 
Thanks for that kind of video.

Tho I was still wondering, the URSA Mini is approx the same weight as the Red Dragon ye?
As we all see on devinsupertramp's videos, he still manages to glide w/o any vest/arm. I know the V-Battery are really heavy and a pain in the ass, but is the vest/arm really worth the buy?
 
Regarding V-mount batteries, you can get them as light as 1.2lbs...maybe even lighter.
 
l1nkin said:
Thanks for that kind of video.

Tho I was still wondering, the URSA Mini is approx the same weight as the Red Dragon ye?
As we all see on devinsupertramp's videos, he still manages to glide w/o any vest/arm. I know the V-Battery are really heavy and a pain in the ass, but is the vest/arm really worth the buy?
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I see it as essential because it allows you to do slower, more precise moves. Shooting like Devin, you really need to move quick and do shorter takes. I can do all sorts of long, deliberate and interesting tracking shots with the vest/arm combo.
I'm also running really big batteries (I have two 177wH by Maxoak) so I can shoot all day.

There's another video on my channel where I show the entire setup with the vest and arm.
 
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