For you folks who have been using these devices with a PD-170 type camera, what would you say about the fatigue factor. I'm talking about wedding use where it has to be hand-held with no robo extension arm contraptions. Does it require longer stays at the gym?

I'm not sure how heavy the PD170 is, I'm using it with a DVX100a. That's at the top end of what the Merlin will handle, so I end up at a total weight of over ten pounds. It doesn't sound like a needing the gym weight, but the first time I did a 4 hour afternoon with it I woke up the next day wondering why I was so stiff. It got better after a while though.

You aren't always going to be in "flying mode". The beauty of the JR and Merlin is that it can be folded/collapsed to enter shoulder mounted mode when you don't need to be moving around.

This is very comfortable and stable and a bonus feature of JR/Merlin.

When you are ready to move again, you just quickly unfold it and go back to work.

I've been using a PD-150 with a JR for nearly a year and don't go to the gym! Seriously, provided you don't expect to do very long shots and take a few breaks this sort of weight (about 10 pounds with W/A lens , battery etc ) is no real problem. It's not the same as using a shoulder-mounted cam that you can cart about all day though, but then you don;t get the fluid moving shots!

As the previous poster says, you can always fold it up and handhold, or use a tripod when you need a rest!

Hope this helps