Saw this Stead-DSLR pop up in eBay. A Steadicam specifically designed for DSLR (www.steadDSLR.com) designed by Aaron. The previews seems pretty good and I'm keen on buying this as Merlin is way off my budget (sadly..). But I'm waiting to see until the reviews are in (don't think i've seen it mentioned much around forums anywhere).

The only thing I'm curious is to see how it performs on running as I've seen impressive shot from Merlin. Then also, how it folds up etc.. whether it's easy to carry, easy to setup etc. and what are the limitations.

Let us know if you've tried it! :)

Looks interesting!

I haven't tried it yet. But I own a Merlin and a glidecam HD4000. I'm thinking of trying to Blackbird next. Have you looked the the Blackbird? It is right between the price of the Merlin and the Stead-DSLR. But you get the piece of mind of a quality product, that's proven.

-David

This is nothing more than a generic flash bracket, a few nuts and bolts and a few other off-the-shelf parts.

The "gimbal" appears to be nothing more than a ball-and-socket swivel clamp with a handle screwed into it (hard to tell from the pictures.)

If the videos reflect what you can actually do with the product, it does seem to work reasonably well for the money.

You could buy the major parts on ebay for about $60 and build it yourself. Is it worth what he's charging? Possibly, if you would rather not assemble it yourself. (search "flash bracket" on ebay).

But it is definitely a DIY-type unit from the looks of it.

I have that flash bracket from where I attempted a DIY stabilizer (Disclaimer: I have a CMR Blackbird). The bracket itself cost about $40. Another $18 for the extension bracket. About $35 for a Manfrotto 357 as a stage. The gimbal (http://www.primitivebuteffective.com/2009/11/blog-post.html) was made using WSCATLER's design that called for Traxxas parts ($5) and skateboard wheels (about $1).

This is the first I've seen anyone fly a 7D on such a device. Surprise! The example footage uses a lighter prime lens. Aaron appears to have customized the stage and extension bracket, maybe that's the secret? His website mentions 7lbs for the gimbal. You might want to ask Aaron about the heaviest lens he's tried if you're intending to fly a zoom.

Here's are the videos that started it all ...

Steadicam DIY on Vimeo
A smaller camcorder

D90 DIY Steadicam on Vimeo
Nikon D90, which is about the weight of a T2i

Give it some thought ...

Mike, nice video. How did you like your DIY rig vs your blackbird?

BTW, those videos aren't mine, just linked to the ones I researched.

Blackbird wins being a purpose built device. The DIY was loose therefore hard to keep consistent. I'm sure with a bit more time experimenting I could have made it work. But there's a project I want to shoot middle of this year. Whichever stabilizer we pick, it also needs practice to fly well. It just made more sense to spend the time practicing to fly than building it.