Hi folkes,

I've been reading lots of post here about different options-Glidecam V8, Magiqcam- and I can not decide which one would be better for a Sony FX1. This camera have the LCD in a somewhat unusual position, so I was wondering if the LCD monitor on the stabilizer is still need with this camera.

As you can notice,(and I apologise) this is going to be my first stabilizer and I do not have a clue about this.

cheers

Ric

The best DV stabilizer is obviously the Steadicam Flyer, but magicam and glidecam are goods units too. The flyer cost more, about 6500$. The glidecam come with a single action arm, while the magiqcam is a dual action arm. You sould buy the best you can afford, but the operator's skills are more important than which rig you use.

As far as the monitor goes, there are many reasons to put it in the botom of the sled. It help to balance the sled (having the desired drop time to avoid the pendulum effect) and it help you to see where you put your feet!

I don't think that the new placement of the FX1's monitor will help in this area.

Hope this help,

Does the FX1 output an HD or SD image to the monitor? If it doesn't automatically downcovert the output, the supplied stabilizer monitor won't do much good...

I am looking for a Class A opinion on the footage kindly put up by Kako Ito here >

http://www.hdvinfo.net/media/kakugyo/GlidecamTest

My critique is not concerning the steady skills but the very obvious softening of the image. Even when down-converted to an SD stream at MP@ML quality it looks very soft to my eyes - quite possibly unusable

If you're reading this Charles Papert, please post your valued opinion on the image quality in this clip. As before my critique is with the image delivered by the camera and not Kako's stabilser skill.

My concern is also the use of the camera for 'cinematography' where a smooth camera movement may very definitely spoil the image in a popular truck and pan shot.