I've been using a rental Hollywood Lite with a dual articulated arm for the past few weeks. I really like this rig but I'm thinking of buying. I'm very new to stabilizers having moved from camera assisting commercials shot on film. I've seen previous posts concerning some problems with the Magiqcam, ie.. the gimbal, delivery, etc.. The price combined with the dual articulated arm makes it very attractive. Just wanted to know if these things had been sorted out. Thanks, Mark


Addition: I guess I'd like some feedback from Magiqcam owners if possible. Is the rig mechanically working well and are you guys happy with your purchase. I got a bit scared off by all the problems and delivery delays recounted in previous posts. Just being wary. Thanks again. M

Howdy Mark. I have the Hollywood Lite GTX model (single stage) and have had great results with a little bit of extra effort mostly because of pin pivot joints instead of bearings. Of course they released the dual stage model shortly after I bought mine. If I were you, I would get the new Steadicam Flyer. There are plenty of posts to read about it. I don't know much at all about the Magiqcam rig.

Just a bit of what I have heard and seen concerning the Magiqcam. I put my two cents in because John doesn't make comments on this forum and therefore isn't defending his product.

I heard that the guy who had all the problems is the type that has all the problems. I was told that he was sent three different gimballs and to have them all go bad? He's the only one I know who has had the gimball bolt pull out and I believe this is not a structural flaw. If it was, others would have had the same problem.

John (Magiqcam) has solved the gimbal linearity problem with the new yoke which has been machined to very high specs. There are Magiqcams all over the world and I'ld hate to have his good product dragged down by one very vocal guy.

If I didn't make my own steadycam (Indicam) systems I'ld buy a Magiqcam.

Regarding delivery time...If it was mass produced in China it would delivered sooner but John hand-crafts his stabilizer systems.

I like the Hollywood Lite ProLite system as well but it costs more than the Magiqcam I believe.

Thanks to James and Terry for your replies.
James, I looked at the Steadicam Flyer and was drooling. It looks like an amazingly built rig. Super design and finish. It's almost triple the Magiqcam in price, but looks well worth it. Are you going to get one? I might have to start working harder!
Terry, I was a little nervous concerning the Magiqcam, mainly due to 'that guys' constant complaining. I admit he seems to be the only one with endless problems. He just scared me a bit as I'm new to these forums and he was in a frenzy when I tuned in. Thanks for the advice.
Regards, Mark

Mark,

I just reviewed some footage I took with the Flyer at NAB this year. I looks very good but not "four and some change" times better than my system. I like it though. You can't go wrong mechanically buying the best but you should try to get the very most for you money. The Flyer is the best so you need to ask yourself "Am I going to use it enough to pay for it and then some?" If not, a less fancy system will work very well for you.

For an example, I can send you a clip (via www.dropload.com) of my system at NAB as I was looking for Charles P. I'll let you decide as to it's smoothness. I'm not even a professional steadycam operator but just an inventor/manufacturer.

If you would like to see the clip I'll try to send it via email

Tery

Hi Terry,

Will you share your video on your web server?

TIA

Regards
Leigh

Mark,

For an example, I can send you a clip (via www.dropload.com) of my system at NAB as I was looking for Charles P. I'll let you decide as to it's smoothness. I'm not even a professional steadycam operator but just an inventor/manufacturer.

If you would like to see the clip I'll try to send it via email

Tery

Hi Leigh,

I don't have as much control over the uploads etc. to my web server so it's harder for me to do. I have to upload and then leave a notification of my file and what to do with it. I would like it if I could have the web server here, at my office, under my control.

Tery

hi,
these is "that guy". please do call me ed, thank you.

terry, if you know the whole issue then you would not make judgement so blindly. if john were to send one good working unit, everyone would be happy, end of the story. my gimbal is sitting some where in john workshop and it have been almost a month now. the only mail i received from him is asking me to be patient but for how long? what would you be doing if you spend near to eight thousand dollar of my currency and not getting what was promised. further more, i'm not in the state, so i don't get all the previlege of instant service which most other owner have.

mark, as for the product, it look good. i can't really comment on it performance as i have not really fly it. but for the price, its a good start. at the end you get what you pay for.

good luck.

ed

Here is some demo footage of my GTX rig. Just click on the topic link at the top right of the page link below to see the whole thread.


http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost.php?p=55745&postcount=2

Hello Everyone, thanks again for the replies.

Terry, looking forward to your footage at NAB as well as a bit of dialogue.

Ed, thanks for the input. Have you got your Magiqcam working yet? If not, what's the issue? I live in Sydney, Australia and was a bit worried about customer service due to a non U.S. address. Has John rectified your problems? The gimbal? Let me know what you think.

James, very nice demo. I've been using a Hollywood GTX as wel,l and it does such a great job. I'm thinking about biting the bullet and paying the extra for a system that I know works well. Your GTX has a single arm, I think you mentioned that before. What do you think are the pros and cons for single versus dual arms?

Also, if anyone has a Magiqcam, and is using it (working it), I'd really appreciate some feedback.

Later,
Mark

A dual arm is going to absorb more shock, provide a few more inches of vertical rise and fall as well as horizontal reach.

hi mark,
the gimbal unit is still with john. no words from him yet. i was having a few problem with the gimbal, do hope that it will be solve once and for all this time round. anyone would have think i must have really work the rig as i seems to be the only person having problem. the truth is, i seems to be receiving only bad parts.

as terry have mention, ..."He's the only one I know who has had the gimball bolt pull out and I believe this is not a structural flaw. If it was, others would have had the same problem." but what he did not know is, the gimbal bolt thread was already loose when it was send to me and john know about it as he tried to cover it up with epoxy. if you check some of my earlier post, you will find links to photos of all the problem i have with the gimbal, and i mean all three which was send. also, terry seens you are such a good soul, maybe you can do these "bad guy" a favour and ask john when he intend to send back my gimbal. would appreciate the help. mark, sorry to have hijack your thread for my personal problem.

mark, if you do search, i think you will find some happy magiqcam owner from australia. maybe they can help you out on these one. my opinion would be bias in these case. as the guru here would advice, go for the best you can afford or else, just rent a unit.

hi mark,
the gimbal unit is still with john. no words from him yet. i was having a few problem with the gimbal, do hope that it will be solve once and for all this time round. anyone would have think i must have really work the rig as i seems to be the only person having problem. the truth is, i seems to be receiving only bad parts.

as terry have mention, ..."He's the only one I know who has had the gimball bolt pull out and I believe this is not a structural flaw. If it was, others would have had the same problem." but what he did not know is, the gimbal bolt thread was already loose when it was send to me and john know about it as he tried to cover it up with epoxy. if you check some of my earlier post, you will find links to photos of all the problem i have with the gimbal, and i mean all three which was send. also, terry seens you are such a good soul, maybe you can do these "bad guy" a favour and ask john when he intend to send back my gimbal. would appreciate the help.

one conclusion i can come to with my problems is, the rig was not design for my 6kg camera setup. other owner seem to be flying their rig with lighter camera such as canon xl1 and jvc dv5000. if you notice in the magiqcam listing on ebay, the load weight is changing constantly. when i place my order, it was listed as 16lbs, then it went up to 18lbs and now its down to 15lbs. mark, sorry to have hijack your thread on my personal problem.

mark, if you do search, i think you will find some happy magiqcam owner from australia. maybe they can help you out on these one. my opinion would be bias in these case. as the guru here would advice, go for the best you can afford or else, just rent a unit.

I saw John's new system at NAB for heavier cameras . It seems to be well made and sturdy. It is made for cameras larger than 100a, 2100 etc. Maybe Ed should be getting one of these.

Tery

Hi all, we are Magiqcam IIa users and from Australia, we had a delay in receiving our rig and did get a little nervous, but when it arrived, fantastic.

We have shot large amounts of footage using it, especially weddings where we (err I) run around the new couple either on a beach or park while they embrace.

Poor(er) points looks like they are being address in the IIp, most of our difficulties arrise from a XL1 and a lead acid battery, pulling nearly 15Kg all up.
small problems when we started, but with some mods the unit runs fantastic. we now have close to 200 working hours with the rig and that a lot of time using one, nothing to report, unit still performs as new.


We have no complaints, as a matter we are looking to be Australian Distributors of Magiqcam, can't do much more than that.

If anyone needs advice/assistance or just re-assurance just give us a call.

Pure Emotion
Australia
www.PureEmotion.com.au

Trevor:

Took a quick peek at your site--the picture of the rig had me wondering: the monitor seems to be mounted off to the right of the center post (can't tell from the picture but this would invite the battery to be offset to the left). Is this how you have the rig configured or am I reading the picture wrong?

Hi Trevor,

As you dislosed that you want to be distributor of Magiqcam, so your view should be considered as commercial ads of Magiqcam.

Would you please post your demo video using Magiqcam to show the wonderful point you mentioned in your previous post? Does it sound to be fair?

Regards
Leigh


We have no complaints, as a matter we are looking to be Australian Distributors of Magiqcam, can't do much more than that.

If anyone needs advice/assistance or just re-assurance just give us a call.

Pure Emotion
Australia
www.PureEmotion.com.au

Trevor:

Took a quick peek at your site--the picture of the rig had me wondering: the monitor seems to be mounted off to the right of the center post (can't tell from the picture but this would invite the battery to be offset to the left). Is this how you have the rig configured or am I reading the picture wrong?

Hi Charles, the unit is not as straight as should be, when I took the photos it was set up 'out of wack'

Trevor

Hi Leigh, as I am not a distributor at this stage, the post should be considered 'normal' hell I'm just a user, admittedly a heavy user.

Sorry cannot show footage, you will just have to take my word for it :-)
What is it that you wish to see, how the stabaliser handeled the task, or the shot idea.

I will try to organise some footage of me and the rig in operation (shot by third camera) trust this is what you are really after.

Trevor.
Hi Trevor,

As you dislosed that you want to be distributor of Magiqcam, so your view should be considered as commercial ads of Magiqcam.

Would you please post your demo video using Magiqcam to show the wonderful point you mentioned in your previous post? Does it sound to be fair?

Regards
Leigh

Hi Trevor,

I don't want to see that third person shot you and the rig in operation. I want to see that you are using the stablizer walking straight shot front/backward for a minute. No need to have a talent in front of your camera. Please add full quality video as one option for people to download. For NTSC mode is 720x480 29.97fps 1.5mbps video quality.

As you admittedly that you are a heavy user, so the quality of your video will give others some idea how wonderful your point suggested in your previous post. I am sure John from that Magiccam(IIRC) will be very satisfied that you make your commitment to be a distributor. ;-)

By the way, I already disclosed that I made a commitment to be stablizer manufacture in my previous posts.

Regards
Leigh


Hi Leigh, as I am not a distributor at this stage, the post should be considered 'normal' hell I'm just a user, admittedly a heavy user.

Sorry cannot show footage, you will just have to take my word for it :-)
What is it that you wish to see, how the stabaliser handeled the task, or the shot idea.

I will try to organise some footage of me and the rig in operation (shot by third camera) trust this is what you are really after.

Trevor.

Hi leigh, Sorry to dissapoint but I don't feel I need to show my work, I have used a few different types of stabs, including the top ones, and I consider Magiqcam to be best value for dollar.

Now dont get me wrong if I had the $'s I would invest in a more upmarket rig (possably Bssson) but would not get rid of the one I have, we will be upgrading to IIp very soon.

With all Stabaliser systems, they are only as good as the operator, each will make wonderful shots but some will allow greater movement and flexability.

We have locally, someone that runs up and down with the footballers at local games, hell I take my hat off to him, at my age I have a hard enough time just running.

Stay Safe
Trevor

Hi Trevor,

I don't want to see that third person shot you and the rig in operation. I want to see that you are using the stablizer walking straight shot front/backward for a minute. No need to have a talent in front of your camera. Please add full quality video as one option for people to download. For NTSC mode is 720x480 29.97fps 1.5mbps video quality.

As you admittedly that you are a heavy user, so the quality of your video will give others some idea how wonderful your point suggested in your previous post. I am sure John from that Magiccam(IIRC) will be very satisfied that you make your commitment to be a distributor. ;-)

By the way, I already disclosed that I made a commitment to be stablizer manufacture in my previous posts.

Regards
Leigh

Leigh,

I was just wondering why you have such a strong interest in seeing demo clips at full resolution and full frame rate. The internet really isn't the place for it-yet. A DVD would be a much better and easier way to show someone that kind of video quality and could be sent to interested potential buyers.

As Charles P. has stated earlier I believe that you should be able to judge quite well the quality of a shot even without full res and frame rate. I don't know what Charles' video quality is on his demos but they are very good.

Maybe I'm confusing full resolution with full screen size. Either way it takes a great deal of memory.

Once you did your clips in the smaller file size I was able to watch them and didn't have any problems judging their stability, composition etc.

Once my website is completed I will know more about what kind of files I can load up there.

Trevor,

On the main subject now...John will be glad for the positive posts. He doesn't defend the Magiqcam but lets it's users speak for him.

I didn't know he was using distributors but it's a good idea.

Tery

Hi Terry,

Small video will easily hide imperfection of the stablizer and make shakeness not so obvious. I suggest full resolution video as one option for download. I don't mean to allow only download full resolution video, no small size video.

BTW, great stablizer and great operator make great steadyness.

Regards
Leigh

Leigh,

I was just wondering why you have such a strong interest in seeing demo clips at full resolution and full frame rate. The internet really isn't the place for it-yet. A DVD would be a much better and easier way to show someone that kind of video quality and could be sent to interested potential buyers.

As Charles P. has stated earlier I believe that you should be able to judge quite well the quality of a shot even without full res and frame rate. I don't know what Charles' video quality is on his demos but they are very good.

Maybe I'm confusing full resolution with full screen size. Either way it takes a great deal of memory.

Once you did your clips in the smaller file size I was able to watch them and didn't have any problems judging their stability, composition etc.

Once my website is completed I will know more about what kind of files I can load up there.

Tery

hi trevor,
out of curiosity, do you experience the pogoing effect when flying with the rig? maybe you would like to share your opinion on this.

as for the streaming video file size, it does not have to be in full resolution but should have full frame rate. if you look at charles k flyer demo video, it work out quite well and its not in full resolution.

Have to admit that this was a problem early on but with the addition of weight (lead acid battery) video transmitter, and wireless audio receiver, all stopped, but then have many hours use.

I once saw a video on steadycam use, hell that was years ago, have now learned to stand on one foot (well take the weight on one foot at a stand still) and dont over control the sled, heck that's a hard lesson to learn, but when it happens, magic......

Running around a subject has got to be the strangest feeling, the unit feels as if it has a mind of it's own, all I do is keep talent in shot, assistant runs with me (inside and slightly behind) and keeps the distance for me, with a standard lens this is quite a distance and the run hard, twice around is all I do.

The pogo effect is common until the set-up is corrected, and much practice with the way one moves, I found the more I tried to avoid this the more it became, best be natural and learn to glide like a swan. :-)

Rigs like Magiqcam and other moderate priced units are a great learning system, if one can master these then Steadicam is a brease. By the way to all reading the top rigs work better because they carry more weight, but then YOU do too.

Trevor
hi trevor,
out of curiosity, do you experience the pogoing effect when flying with the rig? maybe you would like to share your opinion on this.

as for the streaming video file size, it does not have to be in full resolution but should have full frame rate. if you look at charles k flyer demo video, it work out quite well and its not in full resolution.

<<By the way to all reading the top rigs work better because they carry more weight, but then YOU do too.>>

Well, that's part of it--the other part is that they are better designed and machined with tighter tolerances and higher performance. Which is why they cost so much more.

Something I don't understand is the following :

Trevor mentioned he is from Australia.. and on his website you see a picture of a Magiqcam with indeed strange balanced monitor on the bottom of the sled..
Some months ago i did a 'google : magiqcam operator' and the website below was one of the hits :

http://www.timelessstudios.com/whychooseus.htm

Scroll down and see... YES the same picture + another one.
Only, this company is in the United States.

So Trevor, do you have pictures of your one.. or does I made a mistake or misjudgement ?

Regards, Erik

Woops, sorry I didn't think that you were looking at Pure Emotion web, Yes the photo there is not mine but one that we placed on the site for demo purpose only

Follow http://www.progalleries.com.au/pureemotion
for ours, scroll down to Magicam.

I thought this was the site that everyone was referring to.

Trevor.


Something I don't understand is the following :

Trevor mentioned he is from Australia.. and on his website you see a picture of a Magiqcam with indeed strange balanced monitor on the bottom of the sled..
Some months ago i did a 'google : magiqcam operator' and the website below was one of the hits :

http://www.timelessstudios.com/whychooseus.htm

Scroll down and see... YES the same picture + another one.
Only, this company is in the United States.

So Trevor, do you have pictures of your one.. or does I made a mistake or misjudgement ?

Regards, Erik

Here is some demo footage of my GTX rig. Just click on the topic link at the top right of the page link below to see the whole thread.


http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost.php?p=55745&postcount=2


I just watched this footage again. Still very impressive! What camera where you using and about how heavy was the sled with everything on it? It looks like you were flying a fairly heavy system.

What other things have you shot? Where has your stabilizer been the most useful?

Tery