On eBay I keep seeing the U-Flycam which is being sold from India. Here is a non-eBay link:

http://anuuj.trustpass.alibaba.com/product/11696130/_Camcorder_Stabilizer_.html

Anyway, I'm not sure if this would be a disappointment and if I would end up with a Merlin at some point in the future or if it might turnout to be a hit like my Spiderbrace or HVR-A1 bottom loading offset plate (both of which I love even thought they were dirt cheap). Does anyone have any experience with the U-Flycam?

Well I ordered one. It was about $153 US including shipping from India. I'll post what I think of it here once I have it and have a chance to give it a go. Hopefully it will be a pleasant surprise like my Spiderbrace (which I absolutely love in spite of it's cheap price).

Can't wait to hear !
Great. How did you get the price of $153 ? It says $200 on their site.

There are always at least five or six of them on eBay at any given moment. I was the only bidder on the one I ordered. I didn't post an eBay link because it is against the rules of this forum. Just do a search for U-Flycam,

So how is it? :)

I recently brought one from eBay, i've been playing with it on my vx2100e and found it fairly good. My problem with it is that is swings to one side more often and easily spins around - i've ended up filming myself with it.

Walking, it does take alot of bounce out of my steps and it is smooth, although when it is actually pointing forward it tends to sway a little, when video played back looks like you are on a boat.

Maybe its because I've not got it balanced correctly, some help would be appreciated - this is my very first stabiliser and I purposely brought a cheap one because i don't shoot video that often, I shoot short films but not regularly. Think I only paid about £45 for it.

I've heard there is a technique to using these things? bend knees, etc. how can i get better footage with this, once its balanced correctly, assuming it's not?

Thanks,
Russ

The original link at the beginning of this thread is no longer in existence, for what it's worth..

yeah, the link. As I said I got mine from ebay, but the company that I think makes them are www.thecinecity.com. Same ebay pictures, anyway.

Contacted them, not sure if I've got a faulty one or whether (as usual) it's just me...

Boy they certainly like to copy don't they..

http://www.thecinecity.com/product.php?productid=16193&cat=243&page=1

the price is a bit rich for a Indian knock off and I suspect the after sales would be less than spectacular.

I couldn't stand being on the phone with yet another support person from Bangalore!

Wow. Ripoff after ripoff after ripoff on that page, with some trademark infringement thrown in for good mix. Sheesh.

- Mikko

You say that like it's illegal or something :P

The trademark infringement is.

The ripping off is just a sign of blind copying without understanding or trying to develop what you are making, meaning that the result is a product made to make money (for the maker), not necessarily to be a good product.

You get what you pay for. Hopefully.



- Mikko

Yeah, I thought the English was written quite well on that page. ;)

I actually took the plunge and bought one the other day - it is the flycam 5000 variant with the single piece arm and "comfort vest".

It came within two weeks, which from India I thought was quite good. At just over £300 i was to be honest not expecting the greatest of quality - but what I have got has actually turned out to be pretty good. Now I have never even seen a steadicam close up in real life before, so I don't have anything to compare it to.

After a fair bit of practice with it, I can get it perfectly balanced in about 2 minutes using the quick release plate and a little horizontal adjustment - it seems to like the camera ( Fx1) with the weight of a century .7 on the front better. The vest could do with a bit of an improvement, but will be comfortable for about 25 minutes without it starting to strain - I may get this modified slightly with some more padding to improve it. Again, after practice I have been able to get some pretty fluid shots - the whole system actually feels quite responsive and natural to get used to. With a fair amount of success I've managed walk arounds of a static object, short runs, follows and diagonal angles - watching the footage I can see flaws, but I'm thinking about it and getting better results each time.

"Why did i buy it?" is probably a good question to ask. Well, I needed a starting point, to figure out if this is going to be useful to me in the long run. At £300 this is considerably cheaper than any other system out there and it will give me a good feel for the concept. Who knows, when I feel ready for it I may be spending £5k on a new rig in a few years time?

An email I got from the seller on ebay says that "the weights they sent me were for the vx2100 and will be perfectly balanced so try to set it up like in the catalog"

Wow! talk about sarcastic, apparently, it's bottom heavy which is why it sways and swings around on itself, still playing though.

I, like Rob Evans, have nothing to compare this model to, I suppose for £35 brand new from the cinecity's ebay shop can't grumble. I did notice that their flycam 5000 is aesthetically identical to the Glidecam Pro - I did wonder about the possible copyright infringement and the possibility of an inferior replica, but I took the plunge...

It'll do me for starters. Its not like I'm doing weddings or anything, just short films for pleasure.

You can't really "infringe" on anything glidecam (except perhaps the name). Glidecam is just another Steadicam knock-off, just a more well known one.


The fact is that "Steadicam" is a registerd trademark of The Tiffen Company. These guys using to sell/refer to their product it is technically illigal.

- Mikko

I can understand that - calling something Steadycam would infringe copyright even if it is spelt with the Y not an I, but someone else's design, be it Glidecam, Flycam, to the $14 DIY from China; build something, change something...improvement over concept, affordability for those who cannot afford to buy Garrett Brown's genuine article. You will get what you pay for.

build something, change something...improvement over concept, affordability for those who cannot afford to buy Garrett Brown's genuine article. You will get what you pay for.

Improvement over concept is a negative thing?

Your making the assumption that these guys are working to improve the concept and not to just sell a product to make money.

That would be an incorrect assumption.


- Mikko

I agree with Mikko; these guy's are just knocking something out for the hell of it, whether it works well or not - they say "balance is perfect" so far it really isn't but I'm still playing.

And, no - improvement over concept is the whole point of design and is in no way a negative thing, sorry if I sounded a bit "change is bad" but improvement over concept is completely different from take someones idea, fiddle with the aesthetics and call it your own.

Well, my "U-Flycam" pretty much sucks. It seems to suffer more on the execution than the idea. Two of the biggest problems"

1/ The removable plate that attaches to the camera is low quality flexible plastic. When you screw it tight it deforms and the camera points off a slight angle, making any kind of balancing pretty much impossible.

2/ The gimbal seems to be deformed as well and if you stand perfectly still with the setup, the camera seems to want to spin to the side to find the lowpoint on whatever ball joint they used.

The actual design doesn't look that bad and if they used a bit better parts, it probably actually would be servicable.

I've been playing with a mate's Flycam 5000 and it's a pain to set up - the 8 screws you have to play with to adjust are fiddly. You have to remember to lock and unlock on a diagonal so you don't bump the adjustment - fine changes are difficult.

I'll be using the rig on Saturday to film a rugby league match (that's like grid iron without any padding or rules) so fingers crossed.

After playing with it a couple of times now I can see the value in the Merlin

Ya gets what ya pays for.

No not always. I love my Spiderbrace and that was dirt cheap. The Tiffen Steadystick is another low priced gem. Cheap doesn't always mean bad.

I as well have the flycam and really don't care for all the screws you have to tighten after mounting the camera to the plate. Would be nice to have a quick release in case you would have to switch over to a tripod.

I as well have the flycam and really don't care for all the screws you have to tighten after mounting the camera to the plate. Would be nice to have a quick release in case you would have to switch over to a tripod.

Just buy the dual fine tuned adjustable plates from manfrotto and you'll be set.

Regarding products from CineCity - I would order with caution.

I bought the 'U Fly Steadycam' which came to around 45 including shipping from India. It arrvied within 3 days which was good. After setting up the thing, I could not get the weights to balance correctly on the rig and equal the weight of my FX1 - therefore it was useless. Furthermore (and here's the worst part), the plate and holder for the FX1 on the rig is plastic, and my FX1 FELL OUT of the rig. Thankfully only a couple of feet from a soft landing. I was refunded 100%, but would be weary of ordering products from them again.

Guess it comes down to the old saying 'you get what you pay for'.

I've been playing with a mate's Flycam 5000 and it's a pain to set up - the 8 screws you have to play with to adjust are fiddly. You have to remember to lock and unlock on a diagonal so you don't bump the adjustment - fine changes are difficult.

I'll be using the rig on Saturday to film a rugby league match (that's like grid iron without any padding or rules) so fingers crossed.

After playing with it a couple of times now I can see the value in the Merlin

Hey Paul

I got given a Flycam 5000 today! Let's get together and compare. I will email you also

no probs - I've now got a merlin & arm/vest

You might be able to try adjustable trim weights under the camera itself something like this ( only partially successful attempt at airborne stabilisation ).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaKc6i3i9-0

I looked at the flycam and went for the glidecam in the end and glad I did. Ive learnt if you buy cheap you buy twice. Youll get it, it may do the job but youll want more :) So you end up buying the glidecam/steadicam anyway after you spent £300 on the flycam.

Then again, totally depends on your budget, its still going to be better than handheld which for a pro really is inexcusable.

... The Tiffen Steadystick is another low priced gem. Cheap doesn't always mean bad.


Now this statement makes me laugh. Simply because, you mentioned cheap does not always mean bad... ;) I am wondering if you are only referring to Steadicam products or Stabilizers in general? If you mean in general then, I won't repeat that quote on the steadicam forum...Ha Ha!! They'll probably say anything Steadicam and cheap is good...anything not steadicam but cheap is bad.... Ha Ha