Rob's Footage
 

Rob,

Thanks for sending over the clips, you did a great job.. I will link them from the same FlowPod page as the others. Should be online in a day or two.




<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Easler : I can offer some. Tell me how. I don't have a server to post it on. By the way what's up with the longer aluminum shaft I see that extends to the first leg extension. Must be an upgrade. Mine is about half that length. I do like "the pod". I use it all the time. -->>>

Flowpod
 

Anyone know where I might find an attachment I can use
on the bottom of a flowpod (actually a monopod) with a plate
so I can mount the camera?

Well...uh yeah at flowpod.com

Does the flowpod work well? Dont your hands/arms get tired if shooting for any length of time? Will it stabilize running shots?

Using the flowpod is actually EASIER on the Arms
 

It works well and works for running shots although the Steadicam Jr probably performs just a bit better in general for flying shots. The flowpod is kind of heavy, however, since it's also a monopod I find it much EASIER on the arms because I only use the flowing shots once in a while and the rest of the time I can support the weight of the cam on the monopod instead of having to use the stabilizer all the time with something like a Glidecam or Steadicam Jr. I also get a nice steady shot using the monopod. It will get tricky though if you use it or any mini steady type device lights attached.

How difficult is the flowpod to learn? I've never used a mechanical stabilizer so I'm a newbie to it. Are we talking a day, week, or year?

:^)

Probably a day or less to learn but it will depend on you and the camera setup you are trying to use. As you use the flowpod or any mini stabilizer more you will develop methodology that makes you better with time and use. The flowpod fits my uses because I do weddings and am on the go a lot during the shooting day so the monopod get heavy use and the flow usage is light. I don't know what your use is or if the monopod concept is
advantageous to you.

Good description of the Flowpod. However there is one bit of information I miss.

What is the hight of the Flowpod when used as a fully extended monopod?

I have not been able to find it in the Varizoom documentation. It would be most appriciated if you could find the time to measure the Flowpod.

Thanks in advance

I don't have my Flowpod with me right now, but I can tell you that with the monopod fully extended, the eyecup of my Canon GL2 is somewhat close to my eye level, and I'm 6'0". I believe Varizoom revised the Flowpod to be a bit taller since this original review was written. If memory serves, it is 62" tall when fully extended.

Thanks for your answer. Could you tell me something about the set-up. Is it very difficult to set up?

I've had a Hollywood Lite and you had to sit at a table fiddling with some quite small screws in order to set it up.
After some practice I could do it in 15 min. I sold the thing because of this, as I wanted to be able to do the set up at location.

And how steady is it as a monopod?

If I had more time to use it, I could answer your questions... I just picked it up a couple weeks ago and have not had much time to play with it. It is a very solid piece of equipment - built like a tank. There are five thumb screws to control the position of the camera. There are (up to) three weights to slide up and down (which require the included hex key to adjust.)

Hooked up the FX1 with a Rode Videomic and the counterweights totalled 1.1Kg!! Holy smokes the entire setup is prob 4kg on my arm alone! The 3 weights that came didnt work for the FX1 which is stated as a 5Ibs and below cam. Anyway, its really expensive to get the additional weights here in Singapore so I used an ankle weight at 1/3 of the price to solve the prob..

Bump...

Anybody have any more info to share? Thanks

Wat else would u like to know?

Fogive the delay - I hadn't been following this post.

How difficult is it to set up, how long does it take to set up, does the footage really turn out as well as their demo footage? How long can you use it at one time?

Thank you -- I appreciate it. I'm very close to buying one :-)

Beth