shoulder support

[Chris Hurd]

What I do is work for it... you should try to establish exactly what you really need and only that, and then find some small extra video job to pay for it. When I was a kid I wanted a telescope, a serious 6" reflector, so I mowed lawns all summer to make the money to buy that mirror and then my dad and I built it. Then I was through mowing lawns! Same thing applies today, I just find some odd job for the camera outside of my regular pay-the-bills job, and that's what covers extra equipment expenses. I guess you could call it a form of creative financing.

I have made a very cheap and effective shoulder support for my XL1s... it attaches to the srew socket used for the tripod, and is constructed from Brushed aluminum and padded. Ti is very easy and cheap to construct but works like a charm, giving a stadicam feel if necessary... One is able to rest with hand off the camera... Email me at brin@xsinet.co.za, and I would be happy to email you pics.
regards
Brin

[Ford Minton]

I picked up a shoulder support from Birns and Sawyer (http://www.birnsandsawyer.com) in L.A. that I like very much. It was about $400. I think the model name is the Image 2000. It's pretty comfortable and no "creaks" like I've heard about other shoulder supports.
I attached a Varizoom Stealthzoom onto the grip and ithe set-up has worked out REALLY well for me. BTW-I switched to slimmer mountain bike grips from the clumbsy foam things that come on it originally and it makes a difference.

I ordered from a guy named Jim there, they do online ordering as well:
http://www.birnsandsawyer.com/canon-xl1.asp


Ford Minton
SF CA
xmod@yahoo.com
--------------------------

[Josh Bass]

Looks okay to me. Their prices seem a bit high. I noticed they offered the manual zoom lens for 1800 or so. . .I just ordered mine from the Hurd-recommended ZGC for 1405.

[Ford Minton]

Yeah, in fact they have notoriously high prices. But their shoulder supports seemed pretty solid and the price for the support was about the same for other supports I looked into at the time.
BTW- The only other item I would recomend from them is the panasonic TFT monitor, it's pretty sharp. I have not seen it elsewhere for any cheaper than what they were/are selling it for.

Josh,


I'll step back a bit in the posts and ask;


You've used the XL1 standard shoulder support (SP-100) and the MA-100, but have you used the MA-200? Is it crap too?


Regards,



Erik

[Michel Brewer]

I was shooting this weekend and heard that you can lease the glidecam V8 system from them at about $120 a month, I was shooting a event for a friend and one of the people ther had a xl1s and saw my manual lens, they wanted to know how it was working.

We discussed the cam and they told me glidecam had a special deal, v-8 system leased at 0% int. it was costing him 120 a month for 2 years. then 1 dollar to buy at end of lease I checked glidecam its for real anyone who was going to buy one and put it on their credit card should check it out at the glidecam site

Michel

thinking about doing just that

[Jeff Donald]

I've had a Glidecam V-8 for a while and I am very happy with its performance. I tried several other units (Hollywood Lite and Steadicam) and found the Glidecam to be the best. Quality of construction and overall fit and finish is very good. The only drawbacks are it is hard to transport easily. Hard cases and soft cases just don't seem to work very well. The $120.00 a month lease could be and easy goal. I get 2 to 3 jobs a month just because I have the V-8. I bump my rates 50% for the use of the V-8 and nobody blinks when I quote them my rates. The V-8 can turn a ho-hum project in a pretty cool piece. You just have to sell the concept and work hard to produce a dramatic promo piece to show to clients.

Jeff

[Charles Papert]

Michael:

The Glidecam deal is a real thing, I was chatting with one of their reps at the Cinegear show this weekend.

I always recommend that folks interested in a bodymount stabilizer find a way to try them out extensively before they purchase or get into a lease. Not everyone responds to them in a positive fashion--they can be more of a handful than they seem (so to speak!)

[Josh Bass]

For ERikFilmCrew. . .I have the MA100, have not tried the 200. From what I've heard, it's bulkiness is a detriment, weighing down the camera , and I believe I heard that because it's relatively big, it's kind of loose (I guess it attaches the same way the MA100 does) which can cause problems with audio. Heard it from a guy at the station where I used to work, so if I'm wrong, no hate mail please.


For all the other guys. . .I remember hearing that it was difficult to use any of the cheaper better'n'steaicam devices (steaditracker, cheap glidecam models) because you really need the weight belt or body pack or whatever it's called, because it's just too exhausting to simply hold it for any reasonable length of time. Is this correct? I had a friend with a steadicam junior that said he wore a weight belt when using it. Is this feasible?

[Charles Papert]

Hi again Josh...

Yes it is true, for cameras over four lbs a handheld stabilizer will be too tiring for most people to hold without an additional support system. The best involve a sprung arm and support vest to distribute the weight. There are some simpler systems that use wrist support and stiffening, but I have not heard much about these.

The most subtle and smooth results are obtained with a stabilizer that involves some sort of gimbal, and thus requires a light touch to achieve optimum results. When one is experiencing extreme fatigue from the support hand, it is very difficult to simultaneously exert such a touch in the other hand.

[Josh Bass]

Okay. . . a few things: what's a sprung arm, what's a gimbal (is that the ball that lets you rotate the camera while it's on the device?) and is there anyway a moron with no engineering skill could rig something up from scratch

[Ford Minton]

jtdonald-
RE: transporting the Glidecam vest and arm

I agree, getting a hard case to fit the gear is a challenge. I use a padded bag meant for a large speaker (event/PA monitor) from JVC called the EON. I ordered it from a local Audio place after seeing one at an event I was shooting. It fits the vest and arm well, the platform/sled needs to be broken down to fit though. With some extra foam inside and wrapped around sled you can keep things from getting jarred and/or moving around inside the bag an during transport.
Granted stuff will not be as safe as it would be in a hard case but this setup does work. Please note though, I keep batteries and monitor in a Pelican case for obvious reasons.
I'm looking into a SCUBA gear case I found on WWW that might be a better answer. It looks pretty costly though. Will post info if it seems worth while.

[Ford Minton]

Josh-

I have been using the MA200 for awhile now, I don't mind the added weight. Also the low level hum in the audio I used to get from time to time from the MA100 is not happening with the 200. One thing though, the "MA100-like" connection to the cam itself is pretty wonky, wish Canon had readdressed that design aspect.

[Josh Bass]

Well, like David Spade said in an obscure SNL skit that probably no one but me knows about, "I'm just telling you what I heard." As I am, as everyone tells me "just starting out," I haven't had a need for more than two XLR attachments at the same time (heck I've only used one so far), so I'll address the issue when the time comes.