Which stabilizer for my AF100?

seanothon

seanothon

Active member
Just looking for some advice for those that have stabilizers on af100s. I'm thinking something in the lower budget range. I hear that flycam is pretty crappy, so something like glidecam or merlin is where I am leaning. I can't seem to find too much info on people using stabilizer specifically on AF100s.

Thanks
 
timtorpedo said:
I used the glidecam 4000 on a weddin project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9dKmfMA5H0 , satisfied for that project. but without vest and arm, I used the end of the lens most of the time. A little tough to do very subtle slow moves.... but hey... it is a low budg situation, some things will work, some won't...
Click to expand...

Looks great. Those are the type of moves I am looking to get from a stabilizer. How was your wrist at the end of the day? One of the reasons I am thinking BlackBird or Wondlan Ares is the gimble location directly under the camera. That's bound to help out with arm and wrist stress
 
Yes I have. It fits DSLR a bit better in my opinion. But if you do use it with the AF100 remember to strip it down (handle and side grip) . It's too top heavy and clumsy otherwise)
 
I'm thinking I will try the Wondlan Ares. It seems to be quality made but substantially less expensive than the Blackbird or Merlin.
 
seanothon said:
Looks great. Those are the type of moves I am looking to get from a stabilizer. How was your wrist at the end of the day? One of the reasons I am thinking BlackBird or Wondlan Ares is the gimble location directly under the camera. That's bound to help out with arm and wrist stress
Click to expand...

Thanks!

yeah... well I used it pretty much ALL day long. For sure at the end of the day, my wrist was a little sore... not as much as my back the next morning. Next time I will ( and suggest you to do so) use a back belt, to support your back. You know, the one you can find at home depot?

The handle is pretty much below the camera... I imagine it should be the same way for all stabilizer to get the center of gravity on the spot...
 
timtorpedo said:
Thanks!

yeah... well I used it pretty much ALL day long. For sure at the end of the day, my wrist was a little sore... not as much as my back the next morning. Next time I will ( and suggest you to do so) use a back belt, to support your back. You know, the one you can find at home depot?

The handle is pretty much below the camera... I imagine it should be the same way for all stabilizer to get the center of gravity on the spot...
Click to expand...


A back brace is a good idea. I do think the placement of the handle on a stabilizer like the merlin or wondlan would use more of your entire arm rather than mostly your wrist, which is what I think would happen with a glidecam or flycam
 
There is also an arm brace: http://www.glidecam.com/product-arm-brace.php . Think of the wrist protector for rollerblade, with a placement for the handle to go into. It kind of takes off the weight from your wrist to spread it more in your forearm... But for me, I left it in the case because I was more mobile without it, could hold the stabilizer the other arm to take a break, or do still shots, or if I wanted to use the rig as a monopod to get a hight angle shot type of stuff...

Just giving you another option, worth tryin...
 
timtorpedo said:
There is also an arm brace: http://www.glidecam.com/product-arm-brace.php . Think of the wrist protector for rollerblade, with a placement for the handle to go into. It kind of takes off the weight from your wrist to spread it more in your forearm... But for me, I left it in the case because I was more mobile without it, could hold the stabilizer the other arm to take a break, or do still shots, or if I wanted to use the rig as a monopod to get a hight angle shot type of stuff...

Just giving you another option, worth tryin...
Click to expand...

Yeah that brace would probably do the trick. I actually pulled the trigger on a Wondan Ares yesterday so I am going to see how that works out. I think they have body brace I may check out if it is a real strain.
 
UPDATE: Got the Wondlan Ares in the mail a couple days ago (Super fast shipping from China) and it looks really nice. I had my AF 100 balanced in about 15 minutes and I have never used a stabilizer like this before. Took it for a little test run around my apartment and it looks extremely fluid and smooth, especially impressive considering I had zero practice. I have a project with Xavier University over the next couple weeks I plan on using this for and I'll be sure to post when I'm finished.
 
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