Got $500 to spend....

[Jon Fairhurst]

When I use a monopod in "belt mode", it works great in "human tripod mode" until it's time to walk. Lifting the monopod off the belt or even off the floor generally causes a small jolt. Even with a true ENG camera, one should lift the unit off the shoulder when walking, otherwise every step will send a jolt through the body into the camera. So, lift the camera and use the arms as shock absorbers. Hopefully, the walk is short. If not, we're getting into steadicam territory.

To me, the main goal of the spring shouldn't be to float the unit as much as to allow one to place or lift the unit with a minimal jolt to the camera. For floating, one really needs the isometric arm of a steadicam.

[Steven Digges]

Agreed John. The floating I would want from a belt shaft would be a little vertical movement to raise the lens up or down a little without the rigidness and tilting required by a mono pod. I don't buy the claim of belt support manufacturers that it will absorb your walking. Definitely steady cam work.

Steve

[Jon Fairhurst]

From my experience with the monopod in the belt trick, it *amplifies" the jolts of walking! Sure works great for standing in position and aiming/shuffling without carrying the weight though! For interviews, I extend the monopod to the floor. When I need to pan, tilt and frame, I shorten the monopod and do the belt thing.

The Steadicam Solo looks like an interesting product for run 'n gunners.
http://www.tiffen.com/userimages2/Steadicam/Solo_SS.pdf

And, hey, it's kinda back on topic as it costs, wait for it... $500. ("Got $500 to spend....")

At CES in January, I asked a Tiffen rep and he said that it should be shipping in April. I have no idea if the schedule still stands.

What I like about the Solo for lightweight, budget shooting is that you can potentially use the same floor, belt, and monopod tricks, plus you can work your biceps and fly some brief steadicam shots. For longer flights, you'd want to budget for a vest and arm, but this adds more than fits in a carry-on, weighs more, and costs a bunch more. It won't help the transition from pod to flight - in fact it will likely be worse! But you could easily shoot an interview with the floor method, a long framing session with the belt method, and some flying b-roll shots with the flying method.

Another couple advantage to the Solo without vest are, 1) the vest and arm make everything (sitting, eating, rest room) more cumbersome, and 2) with a traditional Steadicam system, you need a stand to store the thing. With the Solo, you'd just extend the thing to the floor and hold it like a staff. You can't just let go like you can with a stand, but you can put your weight on it, rather than the other way around.

BTW, I tried the Solo briefly at CES and it felt good, though with the demo camera (was it a GH3?), it was so light that it was fairly touchy, as should be expected. (Hey, I'm no trained op. All those beasts feel touchy to me!) Yet even with this light camera, I wouldn't want to carry the thing for extended periods. It doesn't take long before the arm starts to burn.

Anyway, for $500, the Solo with dual gimbal and pod operation looks like a nice, small, light, useful solution for single shooters on the road.

[Jon Fairhurst]

One other nice thing about getting an external recorder, rather than recording into the camera... You can get that up-close, wired lavalier sound without having to run a wire to the camera. You can't wire anything to a camera on a Steadicam. It's all got to be wireless or independent.

[John DuMontelle]

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst

From my experience with the monopod in the belt trick, it *amplifies" the jolts of walking! Sure works great for standing in position and aiming/shuffling without carrying the weight though! For interviews, I extend the monopod to the floor. When I need to pan, tilt and frame, I shorten the monopod and do the belt thing.

I use my monopod in a belt holder method...but never while I'm trying to walk.

I like steadicams but, frankly, they limit you as well since now the camera is mounted on a bunch of extra equipment which keeps you from quickly putting the camera in a lot of places to give you extra angles.

I would never consider walking with the monopod in my belt holder to get a smooth shot...but I do hole the whole camera by the monopod OUT of the belt holder and, using my arms as "shock absorbers" get a pretty smooth moving image. But, no, I would not consider that equal to a true steadicam either.

Each tool has plusses and minuses and no tool works for every possible application in film making. That includes the type of camera used to capture an image...and sound.

[Jon Fairhurst]

Brock,

Have you received your recorder and mic? How do you like the results compared to your previous solution?

Hopefully, the results are good. :)

[Brock Burwell]

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst

Brock,

Have you received your recorder and mic? How do you like the results compared to your previous solution?

Hopefully, the results are good. :)

I got everything and am very happy with the results so far. I am still getting used to syncing audio and video up and post, but that will come with experience. I appreciate all the advice you all gave for this. It meant a lot. I'm sure I will be asking a lot more questions soon!

[Jon Fairhurst]

Excellent! Glad to hear that the advice and general information was helpful.

Regarding syncing, I always do it by hand. One tip is to look at the waveforms to get things close, especially looking at strong peaks. "P", "T", "K" and other hard consonants are especially good for visual alignment. For the final check, I mix in a bit of the camera sound and listen for phasing or delays. If you hear a discrete echo, it's not close enough. If it's a strongly filtered or phased sound, you can do a bit better. If the phase sound is subtle, that's good enough. If there is no phase sound, there are two possibilities: 1) you absolutely nailed it and should buy a lottery ticket, or b) you didn't actually mix the external and camera audio. :)

Enjoy!

[Brock Burwell]

Great advice! Thanks!