Another new Pilot "operator"
 

and i use the word operator loosely, give me a year and then maybe..

Just put paid for my first steadicam, a Pilot VL setup through Lemac in Australia, now the wait begins.

The only rig i've ever flown is a 3a and that was a bit of a beast, a great experience though.

Steadicam is something i've wanted to get into for a long while and there arent many people doing it down here in NZ, especially with the little rigs so i cant wait to get into it.

Cheers

Joe.

A proper steadicam certainly adds a totally new dimension to shots. It's taken me about ...I would guess 100 hours ....to really start taking advantage of and discovering the possibilities the steadicam offers.
Good luck

congrats...
 

what camera will you be flying?

Greg

I'll be learning with my HVX however i have a feeling there will be a fair bit of Ex1 flying and possibly a stripped down XL H1.. apparently it only weighs 3.7 kgs with viewfinder.. feels like a lot more.

You might want to have a quick look at the "What do I do while I’m waiting for the Pilot to arrive?" part of my "Steadicam Pilot - Getting Started Q & A" post:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/stabilize...started-q.html

Hope this helps.

oh yes, i've read it through once.. and will do it again as soon as i get out of this blasted edit suite.

Do you happen to know if that 3.7 kgs includes the 7.4v battery? In any case, the the XL-H1 at 3.7 kgs (8.2 pounds) is cutting it pretty close. You'll want to have some weights on the bottom for pan inertia. How will you be running sound? Will you add the weight of a wireless receiver or shotgun as well, or will you use 2 system sound?

Canon/BH say 3.7 kgs with battery lens and viewfinder, but good point, might be the stock small battery. However i'd definitely be removing the viewfinder which ways at least a kg or so.

I'd run a single G2 receiver for sound.

The canon was just an idea a client of mine had as they shoot on them a lot, but i'll mainly only be flying my HVX so im not too worried if the Canon ends up being to big.

The ex3 and the xlh1 appear to weigh in pretty close. With my ex3, I am running pretty close to max weight on the pilot with no eyepiece and the small battery, wireless g2, and a shotgun. This setup pretty much max's out the arm on the pilot. So I will be running the camera from the vlock battery to shave a few. I can power a litepanels micro via splitter from the vlock also. The rig feels good... but you can feel it when booming up. I initially bought the merlin to fly the ex1... but took it back to bhphoto and got the pilot figuring I may upgrade to a heavier camera. I now feel like i should of bought the flyer... because every piece of gear you put on the sled or camera adds up and before you know it you are at max weight.

When factoring in the max weight of your gear... don't forget to add the weights needed to balance the pilot! That TOTAL weight shouldn't exceed 10lbs.

Greg

Doesnt the max weight also include the battery?

yes it does... I meant I will be eliminating the camera's battery and using only the vlock to power camera/lights...

Greg

Sorry, i should have been clearer, i meant, doesn't the max weight also include the steadicam battery?

Hey Joe, yes the Steadicam battery must be included in the 10 lb max weight.

Tiffen says yes, but I've found it to be more subjective. The Steadicam V-lock battery and AA battery pack both weigh around 3/4 pound. The Pilot arm seems to have that much extra tolerance built into it. In fact, the arm seems to lift the sled plus around 11 pounds up to a level position, which is what they recommend.

However, if you are shooting someone tall at a short distance, you might want to adjust the arm so that it rests higher than level. This way, you don't have to use as much force on your right hand. A lighter touch always makes the shot more stable. So this situation would indicate that you should count the Pilot battery in the 10 pounds.

In addition, I find it best to fly with 1.25 pounds of screw-on weights at the bottom. This provides optimal inertia. Specifically, this is 2 of the larger "middle weights" + one of the smaller round "end-weights" at each end of the bottom crossbar.

So to be safe, I would say you have an 8 pound limit for everything you add to the stage.

On a related note, you also want to have the gimbal close to the stage. This keeps any movement on the sled post from being amplified at the lens. Here's an analogy: hold a pencil between the thumb and forefinger of one hand, and then wiggle the bottom of the pencil with your other hand. If you hold the pencil closer to the eraser, the eraser will move less when you wiggle the pencil.

But you also want a 2-3 second drop time to reduce the swinging effect when you start and stop. So the only real way to move the gimbal closer to the stage is to add weight to the stage. If the weight on the stage is around 8 pounds, the gimbal will be close. So this is all a long winded way of saying that you should always fly the Pilot with around 8 pounds of stage weight.

I mostly fly the following configuration:
• HVX with battery
• Manfrotto tripod adapter
• G2 receiver
• small, light wireless video transmitter
With this configuration, I need to add 1 pound of screw on weights to the stage to get the gimbal closer to the lens. This corresponds to 2 middle weights on each side of the stage. I've also flown the EX1, and it's very similar. For lighter cameras like the XH-A1, you would need to add even more weights to the stage to get it right. So the bottom line is that I would highly recommend buying additional screw-on weights ASAP. Order details are in my Q&A thread.

Hmm interesting food for thought, cheers Dave.

What are the screw on weights made out of? My Dad is a precision engineer with a full workshop, i have a feeling he might be able to make some once my ones arrive.

actually in hindsight, its cheaper to just buy them from BH than put the time in to get them made.

Im guessing its these 3?

Steadicam | 801-7920-04 Start Balance Weight with | 801-7920-04

Steadicam | 801-7920-05 Middle Balance Weight with | 801-7920-05

Steadicam | 801-7920-06 End Weight with O-Ring | 801-7920-06

What combo would you guys suggest i get?


Also (jumping the gun majorly here) has anyone used the lowmode kit?

Steadicam | Mini low-mode kit | 078-7393-01 | B&H Photo Video

Low-mode may be one thing that your dad may be able to help you out with, Joe. The Tiffen handle clamp is not all that ideal in that many handles these days are quite contoured and the best you can do is sandwich the handle in there as tightly as you feel comfortable. The easiest and quickest way to shoot low-mode is the "poor man's" version, where you simply invert the rig, adjust your top-bottom balance to maintain slight bottom-heaviness and shoot away. Since your monitor inverts with the camera, you will see a properly oriented image. Even better is if the camera itself has a flip mode, just throw that and you are good to go (and you can re-mount the monitor right-side up so you can see it better).

If you do need to build a conventional low-mode bracket, you may be better off designing a cage for your camera--this can be as simple as a three-sided assembly (shaped like "c". similar to what you see with lightweight jibs that undersling) that screws into the bottom of the camera, comes up the "dumb" side and either clamps to the handle, screws into an available 1/4"-20 thread on the handle if there is one, or to the hot-shoe. This will make a much more rigid and reliable connection than a handle clamp alone, which tend to allow the camera to shift over time. Not particularly difficult to build, some design work required of course. And you'd need a different one for each camera.

Another option is a traditional low-mode cage, with full size plates top and bottom and 4 rods at the corners. These can make it hard to get to the camera, eject tapes etc. and with a Pilot, might add more weight than you can afford, but properly designed it would be useable with multiple cameras.

Overall with the 1/3" cameras I think you are best off just shooting with camera inverted and flipping the image in post.

Thanks Charles,

I'll definitely have a play with the poors mans setup when the rig arrives, and if need be, your right, the low mode kit wouldnt be to hard to make - even if i just had the F bracket made.. but then again, im already vertically challenged, i dont think im going to need any more help getting the rig lower haha..

Joe

Quick question here... I am wondering how many weights come standard with a Pilot? It seems pretty clear that extra weights are generally a good idea, but I can't seem to find out how many come with the unit in the first place!

Thanks in advance!

Wow! I didn't realize they were selling the weights at BH. And they are In Stock!

You want the Middle Weights. If you ever plan on flying lighter cameras like the XH-A1, order 8 of these. If your HVX is the lightest thing you will fly, order 4.

4 middle weights and 4 end weights. Each middle weight is 4 oz. Each end weight is 2 oz.

Thanks Dave!

I'm a few weeks from receiving mine, so this gives me time to acquire some weights at a "leisurely pace"!

I haven't shot a lot in low-mode yet, but I did check out the low-mode kit in the workshop, and I did some research into this as well, so I'll try to add a little to what Charles said already.

If you are shooting progressive video, there is no issue, just shoot with the camera inverted and flip it in post.

If you are shooting interlaced video, then there may be some quality issues, or there may not, depending on how your editor does the flip. Do a test shot to be sure.

I agree with Charles that the handle clamp is dicey, but a cage that doesn't wiggle around may add too much weight. If you can't flip it in post, I don't really know what the best option is here.

If flipping it in post is good, you can buy just the F-bracket for $190 and forget about the handle clamp:
Steadicam | 3007901 Mini Low-Mode F Bracket | 300-7901 | B&H
I also found this at another place for $177:
Steadicam 300-7901 F Bracket-Low Mode AValive.com
This link also was in my original Q & A post.

The nice part about the F-bracket is that is that it makes the sled around 6-8" lower, so you don't have to boom down so hard with your right hand. This was nice in class.

Another thing to mention is that the Steadicam Pilot monitor can flip the image any way you want, so this is a total non-issue. You can place the monitor anywhere for low-mode and then get the image right in a few seconds.

I'll give the ol post flip a go and see how it works, I've got 1 client i only shot progressive with and then another i only shoot interlaced with and i have a feel both might want to utilize the low mode. So it might be worth me looking into the low mode kit at some point.

Cheers dave, i'll place an order of 8 middle weights today, i have no idea what i might end up flying, better to be safe than sorry.

I've used the Tiffen low mode f-bracket and handle clamp with my Flyer-LE with an EX3 and an XLH1. They both have strong handles, and it works great. If your handle isn't great you could pad it out with foam rubber, or even just use one end of the clamp. That would still have plenty of strength for a light weight camera.

Hey david, are you able to give me some rough dimensions of the F bracket..?

Definitely cheaper to make the low mode kit, sorry tiffen, the exchange rate is killing me.

Cheers