Hi! Can someone explain me - what is the difference by adding this one weight in front? I am using Canon XHA1.

I'm not 100% sure what you're asking, but if you're wondering about the purpose of the weight out in front, I believe it is to increase rotational inertia about the vertical axis through the center of gravity.

In other words, to eliminate some of the tendency for the whole unit to spin freely about the vertical axis

That's what I think it is, but I couls be wrong. Just my opinion.

Or I could be misunderstanding your question.

Adding weights to the front (as opposed to the bottom) serves 2 purposes:

It does in deed ad greater horizntal inertia - making "pan" more stable.

It has a smaller effect on the drop time, and allows you to slightly more fine tune the drop time.


In addition, it also has an effect on dynamic balance - you need some (even just one start-weight) weight on there to be able to dynamically blance the sled properly.



But, yes, it's mostly to increase "pan" stability to match the allready huge "tilt" and "roll" stability of the Merlin.

- Mikko

Thanks guys for the Answers. My new Merlin works fine, but i am still not sure to use this one "full weight" (in add to start weight) in front or not. I will trainig with both options.
(Sorry for my bad english)
Ivan

Yup, try both options and see what works best!

Exprimenting is the best way to learn & understand Steadicam.


- Mikko

Merlin works wonderfull. I have Flycam stabilizer with the Vest too - but i was never able to tune this thing so fine as a Merlin.
But where is the best place to mount my Manfrotto 521 LANC Steering? Merlins hangrip is too small. Is there a chance to change it for a bigger one?

Merlin Bobbing
 

Is a properly balanced Merlin rock steady when held or balanced on itself?

Mine just keeps every so slowly bobbing around like a boat on a calm lake. I just can't stop this movement. What's the deal?

The metal gimbal seems super sensative compared to the plastic one I tested.

Any suggestions?

once balanced and steady it will reamin in place - it shouldn't move by itself.

That said, once you accelerate it (or slow it down, or turn a corner at speed), due to the dlight bottom heaviness, it will want to act very slightly like a pendulum .. so as an operator, it's your job to use your guide hand to very gentally counteract this swaying as you accelerate to prevent it from happening.

With practice you quickly learn what things will cause it to sway and how to prevent it.


- Mikko

Hi,
the side-to-side trim roller of my merlin is very hard to rotate. What can i do?

Is the Merlin level as you try to rotate the roller? Try rolling the rig very slightly to the side so that the roller is moving the camera "down hill" so it's not having to move the weight of the sled up.

- Mikko

i mean the roller under the dovetail to adjust the left/right level.
Another question is: have the gimbal to be exactly under the center of gravity of the cam?

Yes, I know which roller you are referring to.

Is it hard to turn even if there isn't a camera on the Merlin?

And yes, you do want to get the gimbal directly under the CG of the camera.


- Mikko

boy this thread is choc full of good info - I solved 2 problems I didn't even know I had!

..now back to the cross on the wall..

Without camera ist easyer to turn, but not as easy as the for/back roller.
Any idea to get it smoother?

It doesn't need to be super easy to turn - too loose and it might not hold balance as easily.

Try rolling it all the way to one side, and cleaning the underside of the stage beteen the side-to-side support rods. Then roll all the way to the other side and clean to other side. Try going too the way forwards and all teh wya back too, to get as much of the underisde of the stage cleaned as possible. - It's possible you have some dirt in there.

My side-to-side roller is also a little tighter than the fore-aft - and both are fairly stiff. I fyou can still adjust it without too mcuh teouble, then it's probably ok. Inly if the rollers are so tight that thye are actually preventing you from makign trib adjustments with your fingers, are they actually too tight.


- Mikko

If cameras cg and the gimbal not aligned does that mean the merlin isn't dynamic balanced?

Dynamic balance refers to how the rig acts when you pan. If when you pan at a mederate speed, the rig stays level (doesn't tilt or roll on it's own) then you are in dynamic balance.

Watch the Steadicam Pilot video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3PgqKF6ugY
Dynamic Blance is discussed starting at 6:40


- Mikko

Ah thx i see. But what happens if cg and gimbal not in the same place?
Any bad things happens?

If the rig isn't correctly balanced, it will simply hang with the camera at some undesired angle.

- Mikko

I'm selling my Merlin (used it twice) because of upgrading to the Pilot. Please check the 'private classifieds' if intererested!

Merlin Drifts
 

My Merlin appears to be balanced correctly, but it drifts when I hold it still. Does anyone have a suggestion, please? The drop time appears about right and I can move my Merlin laterally without any resulting pendulum effect, but it drifts when I hold it still.

When I hold my Merlin still without touching the guide, it starts to rock very slightly fore and aft, and also side to side. It rolls a little, too, and it drifts on the z-axis. Does anyone have a suggestion, please? My camera is light, only 1 lb. 3 oz. with its smaller battery and all accessories, and 1 lb. 5 oz. with its larger battery and all accessories. Thanks in advance to everyone who has a suggestion.

I find that under 3lbs or so, the Merlin will tend to do that as there is so little mass to the whole rig. If you have a way to mount more weight on it, see if that helps things.

I'm having trouble balancing the merlin when I added a HVL-20DW2 to my Sony FX1. I've tried trimming and moving the dovetail plate but the top just seems to want constantly flop to one side. Do I need to add more weights on the bottom? If anybody has it balanced with this please let me know what settings they used or point me in the right direction to getting this balanced. Thanks in advance.

yes... you will need to add more weight.

The accessory plate really helps as well, you can add batts or wireless receivers to it for more weight.

to be honest though... I never put a light on my cam when flying. The footage always looks like a POV shot to me.

Hi...

I recently purchased a used Merlin and Vest/Arm rig. I have been through the setup portion of the manual and DVD for the merlin, but have a few questions.

The lower spar, even with the locking knobs tightened has a bit of play to it. It will wiggle up and down a bit. Is this normal?

When I fold my merlin into travel mode, the lower spar will hit into the stage. I saw some discussion about this earlier in the thread. Some said that it was normal, others said it was not. Has there been a final verdict on this? Applying a small amount of force to the lower spar does cause it to slide down and catch in the groove under the stage.

I have been trying to balance an XH-A1 with the 970 battery, lcd out, tape in camera, and lens cover off. I try to trim the fore-aft and side to side balance. I hold the camera level and let go. It seems fairly well balanced but the camera wants to rotate (pan) around toward me, and as it does this it begins to fall to the side ever so slightly. Is this a sign of any out of whack adjustment?

I am also wondering if the 45 degree arm post that the merlin sits upon is supposed to rotate? Mine is tight, but it seems like it should rotate. Reading through Charles' review of the system it sounds like it should rotate. I will try loosening the bolt underneath with an allen wrench...

thanks for any insight,
matt

well I have been re reading the directions. I tightened up the locking knobs a bit tighter which got rid of the movement in the lower spar.

i took a look at the pilot video posted earlier, and it would seem I have a dynamic balance problem with the pan and tip problem. Is the best way to adjust this by making adjustments to the positioning of the dovetail plate on the stage?

I am still wondering about the lower spar when folding into travel mode, and the tightness of the arm post. I loosened the post a bit with an allen wrench. How tight should it be... or is it more of a user preference? Should it rotate freely, or require a bit of force?

guide hand position
 

How are you Merlinites using your guide hand?
If you have your thumb and index on the guide (or thumb/index/middle), where are the other fingers?
Are they touching the support hand's fingers?
Is your guide pinky under the handle?
Or do your guide fingers not touch anything except the guide?
Are your fingers on the guide all the time, or do you sometimes disconnect?

I normally have the other fingers of my guide hand helping support the rig, or at least touching the support hand to "lock" my hands together.

- Mikko

Had my Merlin for two hours today, and the metal gimbal already broke. I'm using it with a Sony HVR-A1U, so it's not exactly a heavy camera. For the 20 minutes that I had a balanced camera, it was great. One of those puny little silver things that connects the two gimbal pieces snapped while I was flying straight and level.

The good news is Tiffen's support has already sent me a replacement. That's impressive technical support by any measure.

Upgrated Merlin
 

I used to fly merlin handheld with FX1 and A1 lately, and I got really comfortable with it, I can re-setup merlin for the WA or oncamera light , or large battery very fast and get a perfect balance, I mean perfect, but that's handheld;
Now, I've got merlin arm and vest , and I've got EX1, and that's where things got complicated;
Before my main concern was weight of the camera, now it's inertia, I can't get rid of pendulum effect, as soon as Increase drop time the cam. goes completely out of the balance;
I understand that going from handheld to a full rig makes a big difference and takes a lot of practice, but I'm really thinking of getting a pilot sled;
Chris Witzke says that EX1 on merlin works nicely for him, not for me :-(

I need 90 seconds to get perfect balance with A1 on merlin, I can't even get close to that with EX1 for the last 4 days.
Chris? Mikko? Any advise?
Many thanks!

what settings did you use for your A1 Bubba do you remember?
 

do you recall the settings you used for the A1 handheld? Weights, Arc, Z, hole?

In order to get great balance with the ex1, I had every weight I had on the merlin.... the weights that came with the merlin, the weights came with the vest/arm, and the accessory plate on the bottom of the merlin.

I actually think the ex1 flys better than the fx1/z1 ( for me )... I feel that for the best stabilization one should put as much weight as the merlin can handle.

That's the same setup that I have, but I can't say ex1 flys better than FX1/A1 (of course for me)

that's another reason I'm thinking about pilot sled;
After Matthew's post about merlin gimbal failure with HVR-A1U on it (3 times lighter than ex1) and I'm not surprised, my first melin fell apart the firs day http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=103182

Don't get me wrong , Merlin is an awesome piece and worth every penny of it's price, it's just the EX1 is a bit over of Merlin's capacity.(IMHO)

Sorry Mike I don't have the A1 anymore to give you exact merlin settings, and I never right that down, as a base I took FX1 settings from the cookbook and with a little adjustments you ready to fly,
good luck!

Sony Z1 vertical c.g. (centerof gravity) distance..
 

Hi guys,
As a newbie , I am trying out different weight settings and configurations with my Sony Z1 with the Merlin.
I have the stock standard Z1 with the NP F970 battery.
Questions do I put an extra middle weight on the nose with the starter weight ?
I have seen photo's with those and without.... 5 weights on the bottom or 6..
I have also the arm vest so it came with extra weights.

More importantly .... does anybody have a good vertical c.g. (center of gravity) Measurement so I can enter it on the spreadsheet formula !!??

I am having problems here.. ( I have read the manual, watched the dvd, trawled the net)...

Oh wise ones .. help me OBi One...

Forget about the spread sheet/cookbook.
Put one finish weight on the "nose".
Open the arc all the way.
Add enough weights to the bottom until you get a drop time of around 2 secs.
Now fine tune the balance.
You should be good to go.

Hi Nick,
I know you have upgraded now .. but when you were flying the Z1 ( seen your making of 1% countless times !!) .. were you tweaking with your left or right hand .. as the arm was mounted on the left side .
I am right handed and have mounted the arm on the left side and operate on the right as it spreads the weight evenly ..
is this on the right path ?

Hi Ming, Yes that's right. You have to operate the gimbal with the right hand, on the right hand side so you can view the monitor properly.

Strongly considering getting a merlin and vest soon. Just wondering.. I'll be using a Canon XH-A1. I'll most likely add two UHF receivers and a wide angle adapter. How heavy is the Merlin? I'm not looking for exact numbers here, just a general idea. With the vest and arm that is. Also, how long can you wear one of these before you "have had enough"? Again, just looking for a general idea, or if someone wants to share personal experience. Thanks!

I have an A1 and Merlin and don't have the vest. I can't image using this combination for very long without having the vest. It is quite heavy (the Merlin itself is not that heavy). I also have a Sony HC1 and that's that camera I use on the Merlin...handheld.