Just got back from the LEVA (Law Enforcement / Emergency Services Video Association) 13th Annual Training Conference in Chicago. Check out the new LEVA website at http://www.leva.org/

One of the coolest items displayed by a vendor was the STASIS power support system by Anton Bauer.

As I walked toward the AB booth, truth be told, I wasn't very impressed by the looks of the thing. I did a 180 upon wearing it!

Extremely comfortable and you can power any of the cameras supported with the AB Gold Mount batteries and an AB UltraLight forever. This is especially important to those operating cameras which are not shoulder mounted and instead have to be supported in mid-air using your right arm alone. This can become very old, very quickly.

Check it out at,

http://www.antonbauer.com/pr/Stasis%20Sheet.pdf

I for one am not easily impressed, this gadget is truly an attention grabber.

RB

Hi everybody.

I am doing weddings and i am looking for a serius shoulder support. Something that will replace my tripod during the ceremny.
Does anybody tried the "stasis" from Anton Bauer? The price is,,,,high! $450. I wonder if it can the job better than the varizoom and videosmith shoulder supports.
Any suggestions?

Thanks.
Anthony

I found it uncomfortable to use just wearing a regular shirt. It seems to work better with a corduroy or winter jacket. A lot depends on which camcorder you use. The Panasonic DVX-100 is well over 4 lbs, and to counterbalance it, you need one of the heavier Anton Bauer batteries. I found that the Panasonic camcorder also needs a handle on the bottom, to get better or more comfortable control. This you can attach in one of two ways, either by using the AB mounting hole or somehow putting a flash/light extender on the bottom of the Panasonic before attaching the AB quick release plate. I once queried AB on whether it was easy to reconfigure the stasis for different camcorders, such as the Sony PD-150, and JVC HDxx. No problem, just buy a new adapter cable.

When you factor in the cost of a battery, charger and light, the stasis is over $1000. Pretty expensive for something that you bought as a shoulder support. However, the plus side is that you have a system with an integrated light and cabling. It also looks less conspicuous than the Marztech space suit. On a long shoot, I'd opt for the Marzpak. To heck with those who don't like its looks.

Thank you for your comments.

I just came back from B&H (where i tried the "stasis") . The stasis seems pretty good but not for the $500. I believe that it should be half of it's price.

,,The problem is that I am still looking for a shoulder support!

Wish me luck!

Thanks again.