now THAT is one sexy rig. Thankyou for sharing this great bit of your success.

JS

Dimensions
 

Hello,

I'm very impressed by your design. Very nice.
Could you post some dimensions of your design? I'm planning to make my own steadicam, based on your design.

Thanks in advance,
GL Vanlier

Sorry, but I do not have any detailed plans for my rig. All parts were machined on-the-fly. Quite a bit of the rig was designed by what parts we had available, so to duplicate it would be a challenge.

David,
I applaud your effort in making your own steadicam-like device. However, after seeing your photos of the lower sled, I think you may experience a problem. The length from the front tip to the back of your lower sled is too long. When flying a camera, it's best to keep the rig as close to your body as possible. Many times you'll have to turn the camera as you're shooting. With the sled that long, you'll end up hitting your legs as you try to rotate the camera. Try shortening the overall length front to back.

Hey David. How come I do not have any pics of your system up on HBS? Hint Hint.

Hi David,

I'm looking at the X-10 at $2000 vs trying to make an arm myself. Your wood prototype and video makes it look doable, but I was wondering how complicated it got for you.

I was looking at a windsurfing hook belt and thinking that it might be an inexpensive way to incorporate an arm for a DLSR system I built from D. Eric Franks: DIY Steadicam - Flying Camera Support. Thoughts?

Re: The DIY challenge...
 

Just found this thread. Too bad David never posted the arm build as he did with the other parts. I would love to see how it turned out. Don’t you have any pics from the arm?
One quick question David. Being a homebuilt rig, does it work ok?

Re: The DIY challenge...
 

David,

Just checking in to see how you major build is going?
We are all impressed that you have done so much.
Now we want to see some video of your rig in action when you can shoot some.

Tery

Re: The DIY challenge...
 

Hey Gang,

Still here. Been a busy little boy with my new little boy :) I have been itching to get back to the rig and finish the arm, hopefully by summer. I have switched cameras to a Canon HFS100, so it's quite a bit lighter, but still to heavy to hold it handheld. As soon as I get some new stuff I will post it immediately. Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts :)

Re: The DIY challenge...
 

Just revisited this thread and was wondering how you came up with the iso-elastic design of your arm.

Re: The DIY challenge...
 

Also, can you make adjustments for different loads or how would you make it work with different configurations?

Re: The DIY challenge...
 

Hey Peter,

That design is not mine, I just copied it from a different site your familiar with (HBS group). I wont be using that arm, I'm not going to be able to tinker with the project enough to try to perfect it so I'll be going with just a standard arm. My idea is to have a sliding block that will be threaded so I can micro adjust the amount of tension I will need to fly my camera. It's still a ways off, but I am thinking more and more about the design every day, so maybe I can get a prototype done soon. Keep in touch!

Dave

Re: The DIY challenge...
 

I found the thread at HBS, thanks!

What is wrong with that arm that has made you abandon it? Your demo video is quite impressive vs the non-iso-elastic Steadicam arm on my Pilot... the Pilot arm doesn't stay in place but always wants to go back to it's equilibrium point.

Re: The DIY challenge...
 

David looking fon gimbal only,your gimbal is nice ( Gimbal (3).jpg) how much the gimbal only?

Re: The DIY challenge...
 

David, do you sell the gimbal and handle assembly?