Steadicam Tango Masterfully Operated by Chris Fawcett at NAB 2010
 

Chris Fawcett operated gracefully the new Tango at the NAB 2010. some footage has been capture and can be seen here: YouTube - steadivision's Channel , or here: YouTube - Chris Fawcett Flying the Steadicam Tango @ NAB 2010 - yt3d video . Tango is just awesome in the hands of a master.

thankfully no-one appears to have gotten any footage of me in the Tango--I'm definitely NOT a master of that machine just yet, but I look forward to getting more time in the the thing down the road.

The great news about this rig (especially versus the Alien Revolution, to which this inevitably draws comparison) is that operating the actual camera, i.e. pan and tilt, has the same feel as a "regular" Steadicam. Learning the booming operation and how to work with the inertia and extension of the Tango takes time, but it should be within the capability of anyone who has gotten down the Steadicam skill.

It sounds that you liked it over all though, correct?

Yes, I think it's a great new tool and has a lot of potential. It won't be a full-time device, more like a specialty item that you use when you need it. It is designed as an accessory that you mount to a "normal" rig (this being one of the compatible Tiffen rigs).

I know a lot of people who have been asking what the point of the Tango is because of the light loads it takes.

However I think of it like a Polecam on a Steadicam. The Polecam is used on high end productions, concerts etc. So I think that the Tango, once it gets out into the wild, may well become a defacto device to have for many owners. Certainly as a speciality I think there may well be a lot of demand for it.

With regard to the weight load, did you see the Red Epic? That thing is tiny and does 5K at about 6 lbs!!!! Hopefully the modular design will allow you to spread the weight around the rig.

Chris, Jerry and Garret himself were doing a great job with the Tango, even though they only had a week or two of experience with it. I was smitten with the Zephyr myself, no news on pricing yet.