EX3 with Indicam Sled on Merlin Arm vest with Adapter ?

[Ming Darcy]

I purchased the Merlin / Arm Vest kit a while back to fly a Z1..
Now I am ready to move up to the EX3.
Convinced that the EX3 is well over the Merlin Stabilizer limit .. the camera weighing in at
With Lens 7.6 lb (3.6 kg) .

As we know SteadiCam will not sell the PIOLT Sled as an upgrade separately.

Terry from Indicam is selling a Merlin "adapter" (allows connection of Indicam PILOT sled to Merlin arm).

Has anybody actually used Terry's Indicam Sled with the Merlin / vest / adapter set up?
I spoke to Terry briefly .. he thinks it may be a bit heavy ? ...
" Our sled weighs just over 6 lbs so with the weight of the EX3 we think its over the limit."
The Steadicam Piolt says from the web site .."The PILOT™ 2-10 pound weight range will work with a wide array of cameras."

OK, so i am a bit confused.. If the EX3 is 8lb and is within the range for the Piolt Rig (2-10lbs) should it not work with the Terry Sled on Merlin adapter with Arm and vest ?

Terry's Indicam sled weighs just over 6 lbs .. anyone know how much the the Pilot sled weighs in at ..?

Also the magic 2-10 pound weight range.. I'm guessing that is just the camera weight , not including sled...

looking foward to enlightenment ..

[David C. Williams]

Tiffen states the Merlin plus Merlin Arm takes up to 7lbs, that's camera plus batteries, etc. The Merlin by itself is roughly 1lbs, so that means the Merlin Arm by itself can support roughly 8 or 9lbs. If you put a 6lbs sled on that arm, your left with roughly 2-3lbs for camera and batteries.

I just grabbed these figures from Tiffen's website, so they may be a little different in reality. You won't fly an EX3 on it though.

You might find you can squeeze an bare naked EX3 on a Merlin plus Arm and Vest. It varies, but many arms can carry just a bit more that the nominal rating. Worth a try.

[Ming Darcy]

Thanks for the clarity, southern neighbour :)

Indeed the Merlin Vest Arm 2 Pilot Sled weight upgrade is a Purgatory to many.

I recieved an email recently about the Indicam sled option with Terrys' adapter ..


"YOU CANNOT ADJUST POSITION OF THE GIMBAL ON THE INDICAM SLED , and you will be hitting mounting plate with the gimbal every time you go waist high camera position.
that was the most bugging thing with the indicam sled "

I wish that Tiffen would do the right thing ...

[Dave Gish]

Ming,

Have you tried calling Tiffen yet? They may sell the Pilot sled as a replacement part.

[Charles Papert]

I was under the impression that the Indicam gimbal is indeed adjustable in height...?

[Paul Mailath]

what about the new Glidecam HD 4000 ?

Load Capacity
4.0-10.0 lbs

Weight
3.3 lbs

EX3 - 7.6lb
HD - 4000 - 3.3

..ever so close - a lot lighter than the indicam - and that suits my XHA1 nicely! - great, more money to spend

[Sean Seah]

Yeah the Indicam's gimbal is indeed adjustable. I think Ming was refering to a certain setting, whereby the gimbal yoke would hit the stage if adjusted too close to the top. That happens for the steadicam Pilot as well but I never need to position the gimbal less than 2-3inches away from the stage.

[Tom Wills]

Originally Posted by David C. Williams

Tiffen states the Merlin plus Merlin Arm takes up to 7lbs, that's camera plus batteries, etc. The Merlin by itself is roughly 1lbs, so that means the Merlin Arm by itself can support roughly 8 or 9lbs. If you put a 6lbs sled on that arm, your left with roughly 2-3lbs for camera and batteries.

I just grabbed these figures from Tiffen's website, so they may be a little different in reality. You won't fly an EX3 on it though.

You might find you can squeeze an bare naked EX3 on a Merlin plus Arm and Vest. It varies, but many arms can carry just a bit more that the nominal rating. Worth a try.

The Merlin Arm and Vest holds the same as the Pilot (it's the same arm and vest). My camera is around 7 pounds as I fly it most of the time (Panasonic DVC60), and my sled is probably around 6 (very lightweight, with a monitor and batteries). I know I've topped out my rig with that weight, plus a mafer clamp and a small grip head, while doing some testing to max out my sled. Seems like it should just be able to hold the EX3 with a very lightweight sled.

[David C. Williams]

Originally Posted by Tom Wills

The Merlin Arm and Vest holds the same as the Pilot (it's the same arm and vest). My camera is around 7 pounds as I fly it most of the time (Panasonic DVC60), and my sled is probably around 6 (very lightweight, with a monitor and batteries). I know I've topped out my rig with that weight, plus a mafer clamp and a small grip head, while doing some testing to max out my sled. Seems like it should just be able to hold the EX3 with a very lightweight sled.

Well you'd better tell Tiffen their website has the wrong figures. The arm bones may be the same or similar, but the spring rates would be different.

[Tom Wills]

Originally Posted by David C. Williams

Well you'd better tell Tiffen their website has the wrong figures. The arm bones may be the same or similar, but the spring rates would be different.

There's nothing wrong with Tiffen's figures. Their quotes for the Merlin Arm and Vest *system* are correct. The Merlin with upgraded gimbal floats 7 pounds of camera. The Arm and Vest hold the extra weight just fine though. For a reference, this is the setup I referenced above, it just went a little over the arm's weight capacity - http://tom.willsvideo.com/heavy.jpg - the camera is a lot lighter than it looks though, probably around the same weight as an HVX when it has no accessories on it. (nevermind the crudeness of some of the parts of the sled - it's constantly in a series of upgrades and repairs and redesigns)

[David C. Williams]

This still doesn't make sense to me? Every Steadicam device is limited first in capacity by the arm. If the arm is capable of 10lb plus sled with a Pilot, then with a Merlin instead of a Pilot sled, it could carry much more than 10lb, yet the gimbal can only carry 7lb.
If that were true you'd have a lot of broken Merlin gimbals about? What's stopping people overloading the Merlin plus arm beyond the gimbal capacity, can it not balance greater than 7lb without tipping over?

[Nick Tsamandanis]

You are supplied with a only a certain amount of bottom weights, probably for that reason.