Varizoom Flowpod...Any owners yet?
 

I have yet to read about anyone who has been able to use this thing yet and give an opinion. Is there no one?

https://www.varizoom.com/store/products.asp?dept=46

Rob,
I've not heard much yet, either. I think that production might have been a bit slower than expected after the NAB introduction. The units may just now be hitting the retail channels.

I expect to be reviewing one here as soon as I can my hands on one.

I played with it at NAB and had mixed thoughts about it--it may be just the thing for users who like the "Swiss Army Knife" approach in that they will switch between monopod and stabilizer, but if you are just looking for a stabilizer, there are more appropriate units out there.

Charles- I guess the question is, is it a functional tool? Does it work like it's supposed to, or does it half-ass two jobs?

As a monopod, it seems fine--after all, that's not a particularly demanding application. As a stabilizer, not so great in design. Ideally, a handheld stabilizer is as light as it can be, using the minimum amount of counterweight as possible, situated as far from the center of gravity as practical (principle of leverage). The connection between the camera and the counterweight (the center spar) should be absolutely as light as possible while maintaining enough strength to remain rigid under the inertial forces applied to it. Also, the more spread out the counterweight mass, the more inert the system will be. That's a good thing, it helps keep the rig level and not be so "touchy".

In the case of the Flowpod, the collapsed sections of the monopod make up a mass that has the opposite weight distribution than the ideal described above. Thus one is carrying more weight which is being utilized less efficiently.

In addition, I found the pan bearing somewhat sticky. It incorporates a plastic tension knob, but even with it backed off it wasn't as smooth as the gimbal on the Steadicam JR, for instance. Because of the minimal masses involved with a lightweight stabilizer, the performance of the gimbal makes a big difference.

Now, these are observations based on a brief exploration on the NAB show floor, not having spent a lot of time with the unit. I do believe that the design, while clever, makes it less ideal than other dedicated units. However, as I said before, it might just be thing for those looking for "casual" stabilizing, and for whom a dual-purpose system will be ultimately more handy.

Very good review Charles. Thanks for your insight.

Charles, what do you think of the steadytracker as a low cost stabilizer? ProMax sells it for about $200.

I'm not entirely sure that the Steadytracker will do much more than a lightweight tripod with the center column extended and the legs spread apart (but not extended). That's the setup I used back at NYU in 1984. If you already have such a tripod, your cost is 0.

A gimballed system will always provide more isolation from the operator and thus have the potential to produce more stable footage in the angular axes (pan/tilt/roll). For fast running shots, something like the Steadytracker will do nearly as well. You would see the difference in more subtle precision shots.

FlowPod Status
 

This is Tom McKay from VariZoom. The FlowPod actually has shipped in limited numbers although I see no one here has yet to use one of the production units. Charles mention of the unit at NAB sticking is true actually all eight pieces for NAB were "sticking". Unfortunately in our rush to have the units ready for NAB an oversized washer was used on the main ball bearing. This caused the inside sleeve to receive the resistance of outside edge of bearing as the washer was in contact with both. This bearing is enclosed and pinned and it could not be adjusted at nab so I oiled the heck out of it and made due with what I had.

All the responses have been good from purchasers of the FlowPod.

No one has complained about weight and I believe the testimonials and user reports will be positive as they turn up.

All steady systems are arm killers to a degree but I think users will appreciate how close you can hold the FlowPod to your body.
The narrow design allows users to keep it close keeping arm fatigue to a minimum.

During the show we had many attendees hold it out away from their body just out of habit. Once we corrected the positioning they quickly realized the advantage of this design and the fatigue they were spared.

I am waiting on my video guy to shoot a demo. He is hard to find at times and usually busy but well worth the wait. If he is reading this please call. Once the video is shot it will be available on the site where viewers can see the smooth footage it can help produce.

The Nab response caught us by surprise and we are currently sold out and weeks behind.

Tom

Tom McKay....in your early literature, you listed the Sony DSR-250 as being able to work with the flowpod. Is this true or is this camera too heavy?

FlowPod DSR250
 

Hi Phil,

Sorry so late to reply. Yes the DSR250 was mistakenly listed. The XL1 is about as heavy a camera as you can support on the FlowPod.


The DSR250 is not so much heavier but the center of gravity is higher and would require more weight to counter balance.



<<<-- Originally posted by Phil Mathews : Tom McKay....in your early literature, you listed the Sony DSR-250 as being able to work with the flowpod. Is this true or is this camera too heavy? -->>>

thanks for replying

ordered flowpod
 

After very long consideration, I have finally ordered the Flowpod. The pull factor is the fact that it can easily extend to a monopod and then easily convert back to a stabiliser.
Hopefully with some practise I would be able to do smooth moving shot with it.

Will post a wedding video shoot with it on this 11 October.

Yow,
I've been considering the flowpod myself. What cam are you using it with? I'll be looking forward to your clip. Have you ever used a hand-held stabilizer before?

no expereince before
 

Hi Dave,
I have no expereince in handheld stabiliser, this will be my very first. Longing to produce smooth shot when following subject, especially the bride and groom for my instance. Also will be useful for walkthrough shots for interior of buildings.
I am using a XM2.

What about you?

ys

Yow,
I have Sony VX2000.
Look how this guy uses a stabilizer at weddings. He sells a training tape for $40US.


http://www.jimfarrell.com/magazine.htm

but the website doesnt ave any video on shots with stabilisers.. especially flowpod

just gotten my flowpod...
i am using a xm2 with the biggest battery pack, need to put in all the 3 counter weights and now it can be stabilised upright. however when i am walking it still swing abit left and right and when i make a turn, it swings even in a bigger angle...

anyone knows why?

Are you using two hands to operate? One on the support handle, and the other on the collar just above the gimbal (with light fingertip touch)? That hand would be the one that would reign in the extra movement.

Some sway with these lower end stabilization devices is unavoidable. My steadicam and my flowpod do sway when you turn. You have to learn to turn slowly to minimize the sway and do as Charles suggested, suppliment with support from your left hand. I have a gl2 and with the 945 larger battery and I use two weights set at the bottom of the aluminum stick with the flowpod. I only need the third weight when I add an on camera light. If it is overweighted it can cause some undesirable behavior just as if it is underweighted. How high up or down on the stick the weights sit will make a bit of difference too.

Thanks,
tried that and its much better now.. do you have to adjust your X and Y plate?

yowsiang

Well Yow if you were talking to me...yes you do of course have to adjust the plate in both directions until it is perfectly balanced. I don't find the flowpod too tough to balance but decide if you are going to use it with the LCD screen open or closed and balance it accordingly. It will make a little bit of difference. It makes a difference which hole you use to mount the plate as well. I'm not at home so can't tell you which hole works for me.

Rob, you should post some of your footage so we can see how the Flowpod works.

I'd be happy to, but I don't have a server to post it on. If you tell me where to go to post on one of those public ones I will.

I believe that they sometimes let people post somewhere associated with this site. Maybe Jeff Donald or Chris Hurd could help out here?

Flowpod video
 

Okay, below is the link to my first test with the flowpod.
Before you view the video below, i want to make it very very clear that I HAVE NOT USE ANY HANDHELD STABILISER BEFORE.

To me its definitely very much better than without it. I believe with more practises the flowpod will really make your video flow...

Post your comments and help me improve please...

http://www.hemadeus.com/flowpod/flowpod.wmv
(The server could be slow, it be good if you want to download it then view it)

ys

Thanks Yow. I thought you did good. The biggest problem I noticed was the swaying on turns. Also, did you make sure to turn off image stabilization on your cam? Would any Flowpod owners recommend getting the optional balancing device that Flowpod sells that is suppose to help you balance the Flowpod?
Yow, hope to see some more stuff from your wedding this weekend.

Hi Dave,
thanks...
I did not know i am suppose to turn the camera stabilization off? i though that would help stabilize the camera even more?
Possible to explain the logic behind that?
hmmm... would give that a try...

ys

Yes, Yow, I was surprised to hear about turning off the image stabilization. I was told by Charles Papert that this is very important. He said if the image stabilization is on that it will "fight" what you are trying to do. A couple times I tried flying
my camera -- but using a crude stabilizer which is not as good as the Flowpod -- and I noticed some jerkiness in the video when I would be panning the camera from side to side. I did not notice it when I would be moving forward -- only when panning -- the video would seem like it would "stick" for a moment. I noticed this in your video also but I'm not sure if it is really there or if it was just a slow connection. Anyway, I now wonder if that jerkiness I saw when I was flying my cam was because I had image stabilization on. Maybe Charles can say whether this is what happens when you don't turn the IS off.
I had a question for you. How hard was it for you to balance the Flowpod? How are the instructions? Did you use the optional balancing plate?

Thanks for the advice..
Infact All i did was to put one counter weight (3 supplied) and adjust the YX plate slight to the right to compensate the LCD screen when opened. that's all. and the camera is blalanced. If i were to put two weight, there is no need to adjust the XY plate at all.

So it took me only a couple of minustes to get my camera balanced.

If you are using XM2 kind of camera, i would suggest you use only one counter weight. because more than that is abit hard to bear for the arm, hpwever the good thing is I use both hands and holds it close to my body. The disadvantage is its quite hard to play with the camera zoom when moving. as any adjustment will start to shake the camera....

I think the things you guys are finding in your photography that seem to be the result of using the OIS--probably are. It's mostly noticeable on pans.

Yow, have you checked the drop time (regular readers of my posts that revolve around pendulum-type issues probably guessed this one by now)? This requires turning the rig to fully horizontal, then allowing it to fall back to a vertical position, and counting how long it takes to do so. It should be between 2 and 3 seconds. If it falls much faster, you have too much bottom weight, and this will cause the rig to swing out going around turns more than usual. This is top-to-bottom balance, every bit as important as side-to-side and fore-and-aft. The nice thing is that you don't normally have to trim it the way you do with the other two axes, it's mostly a set-and-forget operation. Give that a try!

thanks charles for your advice. do you have any advice on controling zoom when using flowpod? or we are not suppose to use zoom at all during flowpod use..?

us

Charles has said before that you "zoom with your feet" -- which means you don't use the camera's zoom but instead just have to walk closer to the subject.

thanks
 

thanks for all your advice.. am quite getting the hang of it now.
thanks.

I tried the FlowPod soon after it became available. I thought it was a great concept and tried it but eventually sent it back. First problem came when I couldn't get it to safely balance with a GL2 equipped with a wide angle lens. The extra front weight of the camera required the plate to be set to far back and it did not look secure. Also, if I remember correctly, I had to use all of the weights making the thing totally unwieldly and heavy. It may be okay for a very light camera but I couldn't imagine working with it without severe arm fatigue.
Bob

It works great for me with the GL2 and balances easily with 2 of the weights, but I have not tried it with the WD58 on it.

i use only one weight infact with a vitacom. 0.5X wide angle lens and it balances very well.
Maybe you could try using a different screw slot. so the camera will not be set to far back.

ys