Thanks to everyone for their feedback! Yes, I still need some practice controlling the movement and framing. And I know what you mean about scouting the location. Fortunately, like you said, Mikko, I do know this yard and the way these dogs run. I was not too worried about the dog stopping and turning on me. In the video when he did stop and turn, I was far enough behind him to control my moves and not run over him. (Kinda hard keeping up with a husky, even without a camera!)

I will definitely share some more videos. I just need to put some footage together.

Kris: That was a fun video! And it's true: we do pamper our dogs more than ourselves! ;-)

Hey Paul, glad you liked it. We used 2 Panosonic DVX100a cameras and mostly available light. I made one of the guys cart around a Rifa softbox, but only ended up using it in the Hall of Nations, sitting in the audience seats in the concert hall, and when he's on the phone with his boss. I'm surprised I got away with that, but I'm glad I could because it kept things moving. Apart from bringing in a real sound guy, my crew were all people from the web team.

Smile,
Kris

Some Merlin footage
 

On my website, I have put a 2.45 min QuickTime movie with a compilation of Merlin shots. they were taken during holiday, mainly of my kids walking & running around.

I own the Merlin since two months, I practiced mainly during the two weeks holiday. The lens was not very clean, I found out (too late).

Enjoy: http://www.xs4all.nl/~mali99/Merlin%...erlinMovie.mov

Pieter

i tried running with the merline a day ago...what an nightmare....it was all over the place. Lol... slowly loosing interest......... :(

Merlin footage
 

Some Merlin footage (already posted, but in the wrong place, I am afraid, as there were no reactions):

http://www.xs4all.nl/~mali99/Merlin%...erlinMovie.mov

Pieter,
That looks REALLY good!

There's a little bit of sobble and some bumps in some of those shots, but that's ok.

Your video really demonstrates the potential of the Merlin - I love all those height changes. The world is so different from a child's level! Very ncie smooth boom up shot in the middle there too.

Good stuff!

- Mikko

Thanks! You just made my day.

Biggest challenge with children I find the framing: if they walk towards you, they will always try to evade you and walk to the right or left side, so you must be able to run backwards pretty fast and simultaneously avoid tripping.

Pieter

I put together some footage I shot at the lake for a friend's retirement "cruise" on her houseboat. It is a mix of Steadicam Merlin and handheld shots taken from the houseboat and later from a speed boat.

Wind and choppy water were definitely a challenge, but I have to admit, the Merlin shots from the speed boat came out better than expected. At one point, I was on the speed boat and we were pacing the houseboat at probably 20-30 mph, so there was quite a bit of wind during the bumpy ride.

The last segment of the video (during the song "Lovely Cruise") was handheld during a 360 of the houseboat. I wish I used Merlin on that shot, but there were some zooms that I cut for this video. (Hmmm, a reshoot may be a good excuse to go back to the lake...) ;-)

The "Boat Mix" of my Lake Cruise:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...40803046&hl=en (.flv, 35.1MB)

"Merlined vs non-Merlined"
 

Am training two guys to use the Merlin with a Sony HVR-A1U (larger battery, original Sony mic with "Armour mod" reversal to it, and orginal sunshade).

After a couple of hours, I challenged them to try to do an "upstairs-downstairs-with-90-degree-turn-in-middle" sequence, both with and without the Merlin, to show off it's smooth action and convince them it's well worth the effort and money. Even though they did their best to make smooth non-Merlined sequences, after watching those two scenes on a larger TV, they were sold!

I'll try to post a couple of clips if I find the time.

BTW, it was somewhat of a pit to set up, but once we found the "sweet spot" for that particular combination, it was VERY NICE. Not perfect, but VERY VERY NICE. If you haven't flown one, find someone with one correctly setup and try it. You'll thank yourself.

Stephen Armour (Lion Cub Productions - Brazil)

Hi all,

I've just bought the Merlin and I'm getting nasty jolt in my footage with each step...any thoughts on how to fix this?

http://www.stickypod.com/videos/show...500/ppuser/991

Thanks

Looks like you're holding the guide ring too tightly which is causing your motion to transfer to the camera. Just gently keep your guide hand barely touching it and that jarring should go away.

Steve,
It does appear that you are holding something a little too tight and that's transfering motion.

Also check to make sure that everything is tight on the rig. If you can, use the G-platz screw to stiff up the camera to the stage.

- Mikko

Greg and Mikko, thanks.

It looks like a little tightening did the job. I seriously digging this piece of hardware. Now to try some running shots...