Canon XH A1 & Steadicam JR
 

hey all

just wondering if the steadicam jr would work with the xha1 (with a small battery)? im thinking of buying an a1 next week and i already have a steadicam jr from a few years back - it worked great with my xm2. i know the limit of the jr is 4 lbs and the a1 is around 4.5 - would the a1 be impossible to balance on the jr?

unfortunatly, i dont have the cash at the moment to upgrade to the merlin. my jr has the small colour screen also, not sure if that makes a difference.

thanks

steadicam jr
 

Aohon, yes it can work. I just got back into video and had a steadicam jr I used with a canon L1 hi-8 cam. I had to add a 2 1/2 pound weight near the battery compartment with two batteries because the camera was too top heavy. The monitor on the jr is useless but you have the flip out monitor on the camera. It trimmed out fine but with the added weight it sure wears the arm out. I guess its back to lifting weights again. The location of the screw to mount the camera is in #4, with the monitor flipped out of course. Hope this helps but you probably have figured all this out. Jerry

further info requested
 

Hi,
I've got a JR and an XHA1 and would wonder if you could elaborate further on the set-up. For example (even though I can try all of them) the #4 hole is on the middle left side of the plate as you look down from above. With it attached in that hole and the camera screen flipped out does it achieve balance? Seems it would be too far to the left side....
Is 2.5 lbs. the exact amount of extra weight necessary to add on the bottom-battery counterweight?
Any other things like mic holder removal, camera battery size or anything else which might be useful to know? Thanks!

not sure if this helps but great info:
Canon XHA1 and Steadicam Merlin ? Tutorial By Shiv Kumar On ExposureRoom

JS

Steven, sorry! Wrong info. To much eggnog. It is the #1 hole. Also, there are 2 "D" size batteries in the battery compartment and the weight is a small 1 1/4 lb dumbbell weight, kinda like me, with the monitor out. To mount the camera I used a small hex head bolt and you have to be aware that there ain't a lot of room for that bolt when you start trimming fore/aft and side/side. I had to grind the bolt head a little bit. I got it to balance very well. Yeah, there may be too much weight on the gimble as was mentioned and the weight of this setup wears me out quick. On another thread, I inquired about the Verizoom vest and arm($800) for the JR but there has not been a response from anyone who has used one. I'm rethinking the whole steadicam thing anyway. Do I really need one and if so, scrimp and save for a more expensive rig. Jerry

I'd suggest you save and by the pilot....the proper one for the A1/A1s/G1/G1s. You'll spend about $3600 or so and you'll be so much happier.

Jim Martin
Birns & Sawyer Inc.
"At the ArcLight"

Yeah, I think your right. But it's kind of exciting trying to cut corners. Jerry

Ultimately it depends on how much you are going to use the rig and what your expectations are of the results. Another option of course is the Merlin, which is a significant improvement on the JR in many ways. In the meantime, one reasonably inexpensive upgrade for the JR is the metal gimbal which can support more weight than the original one--it's made for the Merlin but they are interchangeable. It's on the Tiffen (Steadicam) site. Chances are a well-used JR will have a fairly beat gimbal so this will make quite a difference.