xl1s & DV Steadicam?
 

I'm just about to get my first xl1s and have the opportunity to also get a DV Steadicam.
Whilst it will be an uphill task to familiarise myself with the xl, I am also looking forward to future short film production.

I know the steadicam is a few years old now, but this seems to be too good an opportunity to miss, even though it may not be used immediately. It is certainly something that I had been thinking about and the price is affordable.

Has anyone any experience with the DV Steadicam and would you reccomend it?

See our own report on this site. Are you getting
the vest? I don't have any knowledge of this device myself, but
it looks like it doesn't utilize an arm?

Jean-Luc:

The DV Steadicam was pulled from production due to design problems. The venerable Steadicam JR remains the flagship handheld offering from Tiffen. I have had limited experience myself with the DV Steadicam but most of what I heard was negative, including former employees of the manufacturer.

With the size of the XL1, it is a difficult camera to use with a handheld stabilizer even in its stripped form as described in the article in the Watchdog. Add likely filmmaking accessories like wide-angle adaptors, XLR adaptors/wireless receivers and so on; and you most likely will be, in the words of John Goodman in "The Big Lebowski", "entering a world of pain".

A better choice would be a body mounted rig such as the Steadicam Mini, the Glidecam V series, the Hollywood Lite, or Magiqcam. Obviously these will cost more but they will be more practical in the long run.

Thankyou for the help with this matter.
I had heard that some people didn't like it, but this information has helped me with this decision.
It is certainly something that wouldn't be used immediately and therefore I think I can make better use of the money involved elsewhere.