OK this may get me
 

in trouble, but here it goes. Having read about teh flycam from india and knowing they are a knockoff, I am still curious of a few things. Looking at the now sold seperately sled flycam 6000 I was curious how well it worked, the stage inparticular and perhaps more interested in who was it copied from and is the original a good product that I should be looking for? Here is the sled and you can see the design, it also has room for some wiring to run down the shaft which I like as well.

http://www.thecinecity.com/product.p...cat=103&page=1

I have a indicam and love the setup, I also had a glidecam 4000 from before which I do not use much, only because I set up the indicam, sled and double arm and it worked great, so the glidecam is setup for handheld with an HV20 if ever needed. But I am always searching for something a little different, and I liked the design of this one stage so thats why I am asking.

Thanks, and if I can find the original I would gladly favor it over this unit if its available.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

It looks somewhat like the Sachtler Artemis DV system, minus any electronics. With a battery mount and some wiring, it could be a decent sled depending on the gimbal. The price is pretty good, even if it were just for the raw materials. I would certainly take it over the Glidecam 4000. In that configuration it will take some work to get it operating (you'll also need a monitor...which depending on quality can be pretty cheap). Who knows, could be ok. It certainly appears to be nicer than about 90% of whats out there in the weight range..... but I havent had one hands on, so I can't confirm the build quality.

I mentioned this before. The original design of the stage designed by cody and thus was upgraded and offered by Wade on HBS in the Venture forum as a group venture. Here is the link:

http://hbsboard.com/index.php/topic,....html#msg21719

You'll be surprise what the HBS members can come up with for group ventures. :)

thanks. I have applied to join so I can see what it looks like, sounds like they may already be sold out and no price listed. If it is the same design I wonder what it costs and if it would fit on the indicam pilot or not.

I've tried this... My impression..
 

A friend of mine bought one off of ebay, complete with vest and arm for about $1000.00 .. I was pretty skeptical.... its not a panacia but... here's the good and a bad about it.. I've worked as an engineer for about 30 years, so I feel I've probably got a better handle than most on evaluating stuff, though I am not a mechanical engineer, I've done a bunch of machining so I kind of get it.

I *AM NOT* a steadicam operator.. but I've borrowed this a few times to see if I can start developing some skills as I know it is a long term process to really get (just marginally) okay at.

(1) All the complex mechanical parts are reasonably well made.. the paint is terrible.. it's just a decoration that falls off when it comes out of the box (if its not off already).

(2) The arm was actually impressive.. it looked like something that may have been manufactured in the us (not shown.. go to ebay again)..

(3) The vest material .. padding was terrible.. expect that it won't last, I would think a local taylor could fix it up pretty well if you wanted to go through the effort.

(4) The vest had plastic clasps, they all had to be replaced with airline seatbelt buckles unless you want to watch your camera crash to the ground.. once done.. it all calibrated reasonably well, though their documentation was really pretty bad.. my buddy cruised other arm makers websites and pulled down some documentation which seemed to jib pretty well with this unit.

(5) Almost all the screws and bolts were loose.. all had to be tightened and then loctite used.

(6) I used my camera.. an Canon XL-H1.. bottom was weighted with a lead acid battery (a little smaller than a Motor Cycle one), and a 7" LCD monitor. You have to be in good shape to do this very long..its very physical.. is that the design? or just me? 15- 20 minutes and I needed a break.

(7) The sled head works okay.. though it looks like they could have put more work into it.. its only the plastic tightening knob (which was broken on arrival and replaced by the seller) that really looked like a weak link.. it still should be said that this was cast and not machined using common long screws, but they did do what they were suppose too even though it didn't look all that well made.

All in all.. I could see by using it that it will work fine.. my problems were those of an inexperienced operator.. I had alot of problems holding a frame, but walking across a yard and up some stairs seemed reasonable except for my own inability to keep the side to side motion minimal. I wish there was an experienced operator who could give a review, I'm sure they would notice alot of stuff I didn't.. but my experience tells me that you could probably do some pretty decent work with it if you put in the time to learn how to use it correctly.. I think if it was for pro work (meaning you would wear this for extended periods of time).. you may want to consider something else.. but for short shoots and practice, I think its probably a really great value.

on ebay.. search for "Magic Kit + Flycam stabilizer" to see the whole rig.

My 2 cents...

Brian

Thanks...
 

Hi Brian,
Thanks for the notes. Was going to order one but think I'll hunt around a bit more.
Thanks again,
Dave