Opteka steadyvid pro steadicam review

[Terry Thompson]

Alan,

I think you did an excellent job on your review. Unless you are a gifted orator you had to do the voice-over a few times to get it correct. On a further note...what a shop!

Tery
Indicam - Indicam

[Alan Lilly]

Nope, not a gifted orator.... I had to retry recording every few seconds or so. The beauty of digital audio. You can mash many smalll clips into one apparently contiguous audio clip.
I love tools... the shop isn;'t as cool as it appear... anyone can have the same or better with a little patience and ebay or craigslist.

[D.J. Ammons]

Does the handle on the Opetka have a hold in it so you could fly it with a steadicam or flycam arm and vest?

[Alan Lilly]

Yes... the handle does have a hole in it.

[Jake Segraves]

Hi Alan,

Great review. Thanks for shaing.

I've got a 7D and the 10-22mm Canon lens, but how would the Opteka work with the smaller Sony NEX-5N and 16mm lens? Would it handle something this light?

[Alan Lilly]

Never tried it with a small camera, but it should work.
Of course there must be a minimum weight limit, but I don't know what that would be.
Maybe I will eventually try my wife tiny canon elph.

[Jake Segraves]

Cool. Thanks again!

[Fred Foronda]

Does it come with a quick release plate?. My understanding, you'll have to set it re balance it every time you put it down? Or once you got it dialed in your set if you use the same camera and lens. Ready to pick one up. Thanks!

[Alan Lilly]

It is not a quick release plate.
Some folks have attached a quick release plate, but in my opinion that won't prevent the need to tweak the balance between shots. The balance remains consistent during a long continuous shot, but you will see minor shifts in balance after setting it down. Fortunately, you'll get enough practice readjusting the balance between shots, that it is very quick and easy (few seconds). I love to compare it with a Merlin2 but I can't afford one yet. I've heard that the Merlin is better, but you'll still have to tweak balance between shots.

[Stelios Christofides]

Just got my Opteka steadyvid pro. After 2 hours of trying to balance this and still strangling, I am nearly there but I am getting a headache now....I know time is the magic word. I a a bit disappointing though that they haven't included a DVD to explain you (in details) how to go about it. You have to do this yourself ang Google.

stelios

[Richard Tetik]

I wouldn't recommend this stabiliser to my worst enemy.

I received my Opteka Steadyvid last week and spent about 8 hours on Sunday trying to balance it! What a nightmare.

I have quite a light camera, the Nex 5n, so I think this doesn't help. Finally, I got it balanced, however it continually needs minor adjustments and is always twisting to the right, even though I'm making sure that I'm always holding the handle straight.

I purchased this for wedding cinematography, but I don't think its going to be usable as its too inconsistent.

I wouldn't be recommending this unit to anyone, but maybe its better with a heavier camera, even though I have added weight to the top plate.

I'm thinking about splashing out on the HD4000 which I'm hoping will be more reliable and easier to balance.

Any comments on the twisting would be great.

Rich

[Alan Lilly]

Based on my experience and feedback from others... I believe the decision is a balance between cost and patience.
I get great results with a heavier 7d and 10-22mm lens, but I would agree that you need patience and the balance must be tweaked often.

If I had more money, I'd spend it on one of the many other nicer and more expensive alternatives.
I stand by my opinion that there is nothing better in this price range.

[Stelios Christofides]

Well after spending many many frustrated hours in trying to shoot "steady" shots with this unit I gave up. Money spent for nothing. The Active Steadyshot function of my NX5 is much, much better that this Opteka nightmare.Well can't always win.Are all the steady cams like this difficult?


stelios

[Trevor Dennis]

Sorry to hear you are having such a frustrating experience Stelios.

Out of interest, what particular features make the more expensive alternatives work better? Alan spoke about a problem with the gimbal in his initial video review, saying how the rig rotates one way or the other depending on which way you tilt the handle — you could almost call that a feature!

Does the quality of the gimbal make or break a good design? Or what is it that makes the difference between a ‘joy to use’ and ‘hair pulling frustration’?

[Derran Rootring]

Originally Posted by Richard Tetik

I'm thinking about splashing out on the HD4000 which I'm hoping will be more reliable and easier to balance.

Have you also considered the Blackbird? I got it to work with a NEX-5N and the pancake lens with ultra wide converter and it performed beautifully. And within no time I could configure it to work with my FS100. It has a great payload range. I can recommend it over the HD4000 and I believe the price is very similar.