Well I know what you mean by "hate to wait a couple of months" , as I placed an order with Calumet for a Merlin+arm and vest back in October and never heard a thing. On a brighter note, B&H has them in stock and shipped me one the same day.

B&H also has the Steadicam Pilot in stock, in all three battery versions (AA, Anton Bauer and V-Mount) for $3800.

I spoke with Steadicam yesterday and learned I'll need to pick up the battery for what ever version I might purchase. I seams that the AB battery's with quick charger is going to run me around 900.00 bucks. Hows that for an 'addon' hehe. I couldn't see buying 9 AA's each time. That's a little crazy. I'm wondering if I could get a battery that would run the new Frezzi light I'm going to buy?

Steven,
if you're getting a Frezzi then get it with the Power Tap connection that way whether you use ABs or IDX batteies you'll be able to power it right off the mounting plate. there's a power tap recepticle on them.
Be aware though that you'll need at least 2 batteries regardless of which you choose.
The Pilot look's as though it balances out with the AB Dionic 90s (great batteries) or the IDX7 battery which is 71W so a light pulling 35 wats will only give you 2 hours which may seem like enough but 'what if'... the ABs are of course 90W and again it's the old 'what if' thing. Don't forget the charger also. A 2 battey AB charger is about $600 and the IDX charger is about the same.
I agree the AA system is fine if all you want to do is power the LCD but if you're looking to power a light (and even the camera with the power converter AB has) then you need real batteries.
Don

Since you are already looking at their light, you might want to look at purchasing a package deal from Frezzi, who also make batteries and have a 100wh Li-Io battery that comes in either AB mount or V-Lock:

http://www.frezzi.com/lithium-ion_ca...g_packages.htm

It may seem like a harsh step to have to invest into pro batteries with their associated cost, but once you are set up powering everything off a single battery, your life gets MUCH easier. Having to keep track of multiple batteries running various components greatly increases the chances of having something go down on you at the wrong moment, particularly nasty if there is a once-in-a-lifetime event going on in front of the camera.

It would be nice if there was a 3rd party interested in making dummy battery modules with the stepdown to 7.2v inside, I know Tiffen has no interest in it and the other existing solutions are bulky. The Dolgin box appears to work well but it would be a pain to have to mount it up on the top stage somewhere.

This is the package the dude at Frezz talked me into, I may have to figure out some more stuff. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ll_Dimmer.html

Just trying to figure out my master plan.

I would probably want to at least power the light if that is something that is possible. The light on the kit above is about 1.5 lbs so the weight is not too much. I was just thinking when I was putting this kit together that, hey, it would be neato, keen, rad, dynomite if I could kill two birds with one stone.

Yeah Don, I was going to get at least two batteries, Thanks for the direction. My wife was asking, why don't they just have a universal battery for everthing. At that point I started singing 'We are the World' from the 80s and wanted to know why our cars can't run on human kindness. But that's just a lack of coffee talking.

Get the battery that powers the rig and at least the light, down the road you can always add on the camera power box from Dolgin if you find you need it.

I'm going to Dallas Tx at the end of this month, going to call around and see if I can demo one there. It is time to let the fingers do the calling.

I called Frezzi today and this is what they recommended;


2- FLB-100 100WH 1.9 lbs lithium-ion batteries
1-FLC-2 Dual Channel Simulations charger with auto ac voltage select for worldwide operation
1-MFIC-PT Dimmer Mini Fill with 4 ' PT cable
1-LS-21A Mounting stud with shoe mount to hold dimmer light to camera
1-Custom Adapter 1 Male PT to 2 Female PT connectors for LCD & Light

The kit is a little bit on the high side price wise, but I guess sunshine isn't cheap.

Steadicam Pilot.
 

Here is a somewhat cheesy, but very informative clip on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3PgqKF6ugY
Can't wait to get mine.

LOL! That is hilarious! Thanks for the link Nick!


"While operating the pilot, you may notice that the arm ... is awsome!" HAHAHAHA!!!

- Mikko

But it is awesome -)

Besides the cheese, it was very informative and quite entertaining. I like the clear illustrations of the basic Steadicam principles. Much better than trying to figure it out based off of a description in a book!

Kind of reminded me of an episode of "Bill Nye: The Science Guy."

I thought it was a great video myself--seeing the effects of various types of balance as an animated clip was surreal, but I think very informative.

I've looked on the Tiffen site for the EFP training DVD that the YouTube clip says is newly released and can't find it. Google didn't help much either. Anyone know where I can buy it? My Steadicam Pilot arrives soon and it would be great to have the DVD.

Thanks