Best handheld sreadicam for CAnon HV10 / 20
 

Hi,
Which is the most small sized steadicam other than Merlin for an HV10 or HV20 camera? Merlin seems a bit more bulky for such a low weight camera.
Hence the most tiniest steadicam ever produced is ........?

Thanks

Susan,

Mikko or one of the Charles' are usually the best ones to ask here.

Are you looking for something less expensive because the Merlin is about as small as it gets in a great quality, handheld stabilizer? Even our stabilizer, while very good, is larger than the Merlin. You could look into the JR as it works well, is small, and costs less than the Merlin. It isn't the same quality as the Merlin but it is good.

Have you used a stabilizer before?

Terry
Indicam

The lighter the camera, the more important the precision and quality of the stabilizer used.
As the mass of the camera is scaled down, so are all the tolerances to achieve a working stabilizer.

With a palmcorder, there really isn't anything that is as good as a Merlin for stability. The price is well worth it.

As the camera is so light, a JR would be a good 2nd option. You can find them used on e-bay for a couple of hundred dollars.

- Mikko

What is JR? ( Junior Rig???)

The official name was the Steadicam JR (it was the rig that was replaced by the Merlin). Everyone called it the "Steadicam Junior" but it wasn't really meant to be called that! Be advised that it is heavier and bulkier than the Merlin (actually gents, I'd need a quorum on this--the Merlin IS lighter than the monitorless JR, isn't it?). The great thing with the Merlin is that you can tailor the counterweighting by changing the angle of the support as well as changing out weights, which I don't believe any of the competition can do. With either of the Canons onboard, it will be extremely light (maybe too light). The HV20 will have a much better form factor for a stabilizer than the lanky HV10, by the way.

I've seen this one:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=85261

It seems interesting.