does anyone have experience with stedicam or similar with the xlh1, it is time to expand our production values and are looking to find a suitable stedicam...
any advice appreciated
greg

Greg;
I have shot with the Varizoom Black Hawk with excellent results. The Steadicam Flyer would be a good choice if you aren't mounting up too many extras on the camera. The Sachtler Artemis DV Pro also looks like an excellent rig, especially if you might need to fly a heavier camera. The DV Pro ranges from 11 pounds/5 kg to 28.7 pounds/13 kg.

http://www.artemis-hd.com/produkte/artemis_dv_pro/uebersicht.html

The Steadicam Flyer is by far the best rig for the XL-H1 under most conditions.

If you are putting on LOTs of heavier acceossires (big 35mm lenses, etc...), then you would need somthing bigger.

- Mikko

What's the price range on the steadicam flyer?

$6500 - $15,500 - depeding on the version, and included options and batteries.

- Mikko

There are so many manufacturers out there these days selling essentially the same basic design. Build quality varies significantly.

The two most important elements are the gimbal and the arm as they have the moving parts and provide the isolation from the operator. Many gimbals are "good enough", meaning they have eliminated enough friction to be able to get the job done for all but the most demanding operators. The arms are a mixed bag however. Only the Steadicam brand (i.e. Flyer, Clipper etc) offers a true iso-elastic arm in this weight range that will perform head and shoulders above the rest. It's not to say you can't get a visually smoothed-out shot with the other rigs, it's that you will have to work much harder, have a reduced boom range and more fatigue.