Best shooting technique for hand held video

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Where did you find a monopod section that was sprung Noa???

Same place where you got it which was by far the cheapest I could find, it was also easy to modify.

[Peter Rush]

Originally Posted by Luke Miller

Thanks, Steve. While the discussion of stabilizers, gimbals, monopods, and 5-axis in-camera stabilization are interesting, I'm trying to minimize the noticeable wobble/shake of my LS-300 when on my shoulder mount. So technique, rather than different equipment is my focus. I have tried a monopod and my experience thus far is that it is not quite as stable as my shoulder rig, which is very heavy and uses its inertia to dampen camera movement.

My original post was a reaction to watching the live feed from a cameraman following a group during a televised golf tournament. He was using a large shoulder mount camera and kept the camera in continuous motion (slight pans and zooms) so any wobble/shake was not noticeable. That prompted the question as to whether there were additional techniques I could employ in my shooting.

I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to serious video, so the collective wisdom of the forum is very much appreciated.

Well I'm still rocking the Steadicam Merlin so I'm very much behind the times but for me I only use it for a small part of the day, as a solo shooter I tend to play it safe! The rest of the time I use my monopod tucked into a Manfrotto belt pouch and I can get rock steady shots - way better than hand held or shoulder mount. Also I can perform a few limited pans and tilts (I use a manfrotto tilt head and keep the tilt loose) - I've only started to use this technique this year but it's made a massive difference to the way I film and saved me a lot of back ache in the process.

It's a pretty cheap Libec monopod (my Manfrotto ones are too long) with a Manfrottoo #200 tilt head and QR base - works a treat for steady shots! While not exactly a technique - a bit of kit not to be overlooked

[Nigel Barker]

AFAIK the DVTEC Multirig was the first rig to offer the sprung rod & belt support Multi Rig camera support DSLR SHOULDER MOUNT - ***** DVTEC camera supports There are lots of Multirig knock offs available very cheaply now
DSLR Rig Support Rod Belt fit Shoulder Mount Video Camcorder Camera DV DSLR?UK? | eBay
Retractable Waist DSLR Rig Support Rod and Belt with 3/8" Screw fit. | eBay

[Chris Harding]

That actually looks better than the Camtree ones from India ... Neewer mades quite a few things nowdays and that has neater fittings than the Camtree one.

Thanks Noa ..I was confused when you said "monopod" ...... You could quite easily also make one with some tube and a spring but they are so cheap it's hardly worth it!!

[Steven Digges]

Smooth shoulder technique: Last Saturday I was shooting a reception with people dancing and moving a lot. I was shoulder with my EA50. At one point I kind of laughed to myself at a realization I had. I am currently trying to learn to use my Blackbird with a dual arm vest. Anyone learning steadycam will be hearing a lot about "the walk" and footwork. Well....I have been shooting shoulder since the big Betacam days. Saturday when shooting handheld/shoulder I realized that I have been instinctively using my FEET and KNEES for twenty years to keep my shoulder shots steady! I noticed that I was almost dancing with the subjects as I sidestepped, cross stepped, and moved with bent knees. Luke, handheld/shoulder shooting is something I do with my whole body, not just the shoulders. That is how I keep it as steady as I can. I do not need to learn the steadycam walk. I need to refine what I have been doing from my shoulder for many years.

I also have to be careful of my back. So when going for a static steady shot I place my feet a little front and back and center my hips over them in a nice "grounded position". Again it is about my body position. There is nothing worse than getting caught having to hold a long static shot when your body is in a poor or painful position. I have to be aware of posture at all times or it hurts. Good posture starts at the feet and goes all the way through center mass and shoulders.

Kind Regards,

Steve

[Steven Digges]

Originally Posted by Peter Rush

Well I'm still rocking the Steadicam Merlin so I'm very much behind the times but for me I only use it for a small part of the day, as a solo shooter I tend to play it safe! The rest of the time I use my monopod tucked into a Manfrotto belt pouch and I can get rock steady shots - way better than hand held or shoulder mount. Also I can perform a few limited pans and tilts (I use a manfrotto tilt head and keep the tilt loose) - I've only started to use this technique this year but it's made a massive difference to the way I film and saved me a lot of back ache in the process.

It's a pretty cheap Libec monopod (my Manfrotto ones are too long) with a Manfrottoo #200 tilt head and QR base - works a treat for steady shots! While not exactly a technique - a bit of kit not to be overlooked

Pete,

Does this system work with your EA50 or just the A7S? With my heavy EA50s I think I may have to go with a spring rod rig?

Steve

[Luke Miller]

Originally Posted by Steven Digges

I also have to be careful of my back. So when going for a static steady shot I place my feet a little front and back and center my hips over them in a nice "grounded position". Again it is about my body position. There is nothing worse than getting caught having to hold a long static shot when your body is in a poor or painful position. I have to be aware of posture at all times or it hurts. Good posture starts at the feet and goes all the through center mass and shoulders.
Steve

Thanks, Steve. I have been practicing with my shoulder rig, but my first real shoot is a five day event next week. I will definitely need to practice good posture.

Regards,
Luke

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Steven Digges

Does this system work with your EA50 or just the A7S? With my heavy EA50s I think I may have to go with a spring rod rig?

It's my experience that a springloaded monopod works better because you can tilt the camera without bending your body or making height adjustments on the tripod, just push the camera down if you want to point the camera down. The toppart of the springloaded monopod can bend in all directions, this is a big advantage when you pan the camera a bit because it allows you to keep the camera level, something you cannot do with a regular monopod with a tripod head.

[Peter Rush]

Originally Posted by Steven Digges

Pete,

Does this system work with your EA50 or just the A7S? With my heavy EA50s I think I may have to go with a spring rod rig?

Steve

Steve my EA50 has been put out to pasture and resides currently on ebay! I use this with my A7s and it works a treat - it's a pan/tilt head with the pan locked and the tilt left loose so I can easily adjust tilt on the fly. The difference to my back the morning after a wedding is amazing! Also if I'm caught out for a lengthy still shot I can just extend the legs and use it like a traditional monopod

[Noa Put]

it's a pan/tilt head with the pan locked and the tilt left loose so I can easily adjust tilt on the fly

I have tried this before with a monopod and head which was attached to a belt and what I didn't like about it was that when I wanted to tilt the camera I couldn't keep my eye against the viewfinder and had to look at the lcd screen instead. If I wanted to keep my eye against the viewfinder, which I prefer, I had to bend my upperbody forward which is not good if you have a bad back.
A springloaded monopod however allows you to keep the viewfinder against your eye without the need to bend your upperbody to do tilts.

[Peter Rush]

I might still try that Noa as I have that very setup - just haven't got my head around shortening the rods!

[Steven Digges]

Luke, We can move the talk about shoulder supports if you want but it does apply here too, they help.....after all my years of shoulder support I could use some help ;-)

Guys, is this the one to start with? I have followed all of the other treads. The one Chris has about shortening it and Noe's vest rig. I could try this and if I like it I have a PortaBrace vest (probably to light for enough support) and a heavy duty Lowell harness/ belt kit I could rig it to, remember I am still an EA50 guy:

Neewer Retractable Waist DSLR Rig Support Rod and Belt with 3 8" Screw Fit SH | eBay

Kind Regards,

Steve

[Luke Miller]

"Luke, We can move the talk about shoulder supports if you want but it does apply here too, they help.....after all my years of shoulder support I could use some help ;-)"

Its all good. I don't have enough experience to discount any approach. My shoulder rig is well counterbalanced, so I don't have a lot of weight on my hands & arms. I also have a lightweight rig that has a grip and shoulder brace. I have a support rod going to my belt, or (alternatively) a longer one that goes to the floor and acts like a monopod. It's a little fiddly getting it set up, which is why my preferred rig is currently the shoulder mount, which stands on it own making it easy to add the camera and EVF.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Steve

That's very similar to the Camtree one so that should work fine. I did a couple of mods to make the one I had better but ended up not making the tubes shorter. Instead I dropped the mounting point on the waist belt. Pop onto the EA-50 forum here and looked for a post from myself called "Saved by the Rod" It has all the mods I made and was vital for the EA-50 especially when I had something like the Sigma 18-35 F1.8 mounted which added a good 2lbs to the front of the camera.

This is the one Noa and I bought ... DSLR Shoulder Rig Support Rod|Camtree but your link seems like a better product ..I would suspect they copied each other anyway so the cheapest will suffice!

If you need any help just yell.

[Duncan Craig]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

AFAIK the DVTEC Multirig was the first rig to offer the sprung rod & belt support

Actually the DVRig Pro and ProHD came out well before the Multi-Rig, and they both had telescopic springs.
I own all three and I helping Danny from DVTek at a few trade shows in the UK back in 2007.
I took along my VX2000 and my shiny new Sony Z1!

Danny also still makes an ENG-Rig designed to simply support the front end of large shoulder mount cameras.

AFAIK he invented all this stuff himself, and it's a shame his designs have all been ripped off.

The MultiRig Pro has a tilt mechanism, so you can simply twist the camera up and down without bending the spring section. It was perfect for the Z1 weight range, and isn't too bad for modern DSLRs. I still have all three rigs and occasional use them for this purpose.

The Multi-Rig is a lovely bit of kit. You can arrange the arms in a number of ways to suit your camera layout and shooting style, and can have a QR plate mounted underneath.

The pictures show my Z1 on the DVRig ProHD, and a DVRig Pro next to it.
My VX200 on the MultiRig.
Also Danny's splendid Moustache (long before November) at the IOV show in 2007.