I am doing a corporate project that requires a segment that will have a store walkthrough.
The doorways are too narrow and doorways too tight to use a dolly.
What would be a good stabilizer to walk this with?
Budget is a concern, hopefully something less than $400

Jeff,
unfortunatly "good stablizer" and "under $400" don't really work in the same sentance. (unless you are refering to a lightweight tripod)

There are only a few handheld units that you can get for this price, and in my oppinion non of them are paticularly great.

Thie BIG factor here is: What camera are you using. ..how heavy is it?

Also don't forget that it will take a lot (normally months) of practice to get good enough to to do any complicatd shots that look any good.

If this is a one off shoot, your best bet would be to hire a owner/operator to do the shots in question.

- Mikko

I am doing a corporate project that requires a segment that will have a store walkthrough.
The doorways are too narrow and doorways too tight to use a dolly.
What would be a good stabilizer to walk this with?
Budget is a concern, hopefully something less than $400
Jeff,

I'm sure there are many here who can give you good recommendations, but you will need to give them more information. Especially what camera you are using. The weight is a major factor. My JY-HD10U is fine on my Glidecam 2000, but would not work at all with my XL1s.

Which ever one they recommend, much practice before the shoot will be a must.

Good Luck

Mike

Wow, great minds------!

I would be using my Sony PD-170 or VX2000 if I need to use a lighter camera.

well thouse would work on a lighter rig.. but you've still got the practice issue...

I'd still sugest going the operator route.

- mikko

I am doing a corporate project that requires a segment that will have a store walkthrough.
The doorways are too narrow and doorways too tight to use a dolly.
What would be a good stabilizer to walk this with?
Budget is a concern, hopefully something less than $400


You can get the Steadicam JR with no monitor plus the PD-150 weight kit for right around $400 from BH Photo.

You could always go ahead and sell the thing after the job and recoup most of your costs.

As with any stabilizer--It's true you need to practice with it first --but at least the JR comes with a training video from Garrett Brown which will walk you through it step by step.

It's worth it.

After spending a considerable amount of time balancing your stabilizer, practice, practice, practice. I agree with folks here that recommend plenty of practice before you commit to shooting for real. As far as pricing, I've seen new-in-box Glidecam 2000s on ebay for less than $300 (no monitor), but you can use your Sony's flip-out LCD for that. Also factor in how long you'll be holding a Glidecam 2000 (if you get one) during your store walk-through because it'll fatigue you in a few minutes and affect steadiness. For longer shots, the Steadicam JR is the way to go since the weight is more over your hand. But like Mikko said, it might be worth saving yourself all this effort and hire an experienced stabilizer owner/operator.

Another option, if hiring someone is not practical, is to rent a wheelchair. You could either mount your cam on the chair or have an assistant push you. It should fit through the doors and store aisles.

Shooting corporate training is different fomr a feature film. You probably don't need perfect stability, because people know it is a video from the topic and narration. You do need reasonable stable shots though. My advice is to buy a Glidecam or similar, practice 15 minutes twice a day, and decide in two weeks if you want to hire an expert or shoot it yourself. Proper setup and practice is the key, but any arm-supported rig will be tiring to use. Add a body rig, and price goes up but so does quality.

Using the flip-out viewfinder as a monitor is ok until you end up on the right side of the camera. And you'll find that will happen more often than you'd like.

If this is a one-time job, then it would be better to hire an operator or at least rent a rig. Using a gimballed stabilizer effectively takes time, not only to use it well, but to set it up properly. Once you know the fundamentals of proper set-up it's not hard to do it on a regular basis. But it will take time to get to know the system well.

Hello everyone,

I plan to sell vest support stablizer. What do you think that I should include monitor in my sell package as compulsory or as an option?

As on stablizer monitor price can range from US$100 to US$3,000 or more.
The monitor I plan to sell is in US$100 range.
I don't want my customer buy my monitor and don't use it.

TIA

Regards
Leigh

Using the flip-out viewfinder as a monitor is ok until you end up on the right side of the camera. And you'll find that will happen more often than you'd like.

Another option, if hiring someone is not practical, is to rent a wheelchair. You could either mount your cam on the chair or have an assistant push you. It should fit through the doors and store aisles.

Couldn't agree more. Great money shots with this technique.

On eBay, there are wheelchairs for sale right now, from £11(!) to £100+, all of which will suit admirably.

Another twist is to sit in a wheelchair with your camera mounted in a FigRig (http://www.gpjco.tv/figriginuse.jpg), giving you a few more positions to film from.

http://161.58.78.36/asx/dvinfo/production/steadicam/STEADICAM1000K.asx

Leigh:

I would recommend you offer the monitor as an option. For $100, most people will buy it to save the hassle of researching and having something else modified to work. That's extraordinarily cheap, by the way--what size screen will that be??

Leigh:

I would recommend you offer the monitor as an option. For $100, most people will buy it to save the hassle of researching and having something else modified to work. That's extraordinarily cheap, by the way--what size screen will that be??

Hi Charles,

Thanks for the advice.

I just gave a rough figure and I don't have an exact specification in my mind. I think because the technology update so quick and the LCD monitor price drop similar to computer component, I better not to to offer LCD monitor at all. As I have to buy monitor myself and sell to my customer. I don't want to take this unnecessary financial risk as the profit by reselling the LCD monitor is only a little. In the end, I manufacture stablizer, not LCD monitor. The customer can easily buy from http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home/ at a good price freely and the shipment in the USA for LCD customer is excellent. The cost for shipment for a LCD monitor from NZ to USA will not be competent enough. I can't compete with these retail store i.e. bhphotovideo for the price and quality of a LCD monitor as my purchase volume is very small to the wholeseller.

Regards
Leigh

Magiqcam used to take the same approach, but many of their customers wanted a turnkey package that they could start using out of the box so they started selling it with a monitor. My suggestion would be to figure out how much you could comfortably sell the monitor for (feel free to mark it up a bit to cover your shipping and stocking costs) and offer the option of buying it without monitor as well, and see how it goes. A certain percentage of people will prefer to buy everything at once.

Hi Charles Papert,

Thanks

I already took too much financial risk for the stabilizer business. I do not feel comfortable to get more risk now. I will offer LCD monitor option to my customer at later stage if my business goes well.

Regards
Leigh

Leigh,
When do we get to see your rig?

- Mikko

Leigh,
When do we get to see your rig?

- Mikko

Hi Mikko,

I look forward to release the picture soon.

Regards
Leigh