Steadicam Pilot - Getting Started Q & A

[Sean Seah]

so i see these two r totally different in application purpose. I noticed products like Glidecam and Indicam comes with a straight handle for handheld and also an option to upgrade to a dual arm system for better flying. Thks for the hints!

[Terry Thompson]

Sean,

Humm...a backpack for carrying your stabilizer. What a great idea.

PILOT...that sounds familiar as well.

Tery
Indicam

[Eugene Presley]

Originally Posted by Nick Tsamandanis

I have this: http://www.allthings.com.au/Catalogu...%20set%204.htm
It's the size and weight of a box of matches.

Hi Nick,

How do you power these?

[Nick Tsamandanis]

They are both AC, I had the transmitter modified so I can power it from the Steadicam battery.

[Eugene Presley]

Originally Posted by Nick Tsamandanis

They are both AC, I had the transmitter modified so I can power it from the Steadicam battery.

Is this hard to do?

[Nick Tsamandanis]

I had a qualified person do it for me.

[Steven Davis]

Originally Posted by Dave Gish

Now that I've gotten the weight up to 10 lbs, I'm getting the exact same sound from my Pilot arm as well. Which hinges are squeaking? I'll try some white grease on them and let you know how it works.

Hey Dave,

I finally gave up on the noise and sent mine back to California. They found several issues with the arm which is causing the noise. One issue they found was the arm was 'tweaked', which means it was out of alignment. For being only 4 months old and used once, I was a little concerned. But the guys at Steadicam are great and I expect my arm to ship back to me this week.

[Sean Seah]

does anyone have photos of the rig in the included bag?

[Nick Tsamandanis]

Tis a nice bag.

[Dave Gish]

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

Hey Dave,

I finally gave up on the noise and sent mine back to California. They found several issues with the arm which is causing the noise. One issue they found was the arm was 'tweaked', which means it was out of alignment. For being only 4 months old and used once, I was a little concerned. But the guys at Steadicam are great and I expect my arm to ship back to me this week.

Let me know how it works when you get it back and what it looks like they did. Mine seems to be working without any noise at the moment using the white grease, but if there is a factory mod that eliminates this issue altogether, then I'm interested.

[Dave Gish]

Originally Posted by Sean Seah

does anyone have photos of the rig in the included bag?

Here's some more pictures of the backpack. By the way, it's worth mentioning again that the case is much bigger than it looks in the pictures.

1st picture - backpack closed. There's a front pouch for carrying accessories. There's a clear plastic window for your name label. I keep extra name labels in there to hand out to people in lieu of business cards. Also, I've tie-wrapped the SteadiStand cloth bag strap to the top of the backpack so there's 1 less thing to carry in my hands.

2nd & 5th pictures - I've mounted my two 8xAA fast chargers on a piece of 3/8" plywood so that it fits easily in the front pouch along with an AC extension cord and an AC splitter.

3rd picture - when you open the case, the vest is on top of a 1" foam divider.

4th picture - after removing the vest and foam, you see the sled mounted in the foam cutouts. The top foam cutout layer is more rigid for structure and durability. Lower layers are soft foam for padding. There's also a cutout for the docking plate. The yellow-handled hex wrench sort of fits in there also. Another cutout is for the Merlin, which I don't have, so I use that for small tools, supplies, and extra pre-loaded 10xAA battery packs. At the bottom, there are 3 small circular cutouts for the weights. I ordered extra weights, so I needed to add 2 more circular cut-outs just left of the dock plate cutout. This was pretty simple to do just turning a hole saw with my hand (no drill involved). On the upper left and right, there are 2 velcro cloth compartments that hold the Arm sections. There's also some additional room between the foam and cloth compartments to hold more small tools, supplies, and a baseball hat for working in the sun.

Hope this helps.

[Sean Seah]

thks for the photos.. i read that the size is HUGE :) Btw, I thought I didnt see the arms anywhere... is it me or ..??? Where r they supposed to go. Is it at the 2 sides pouches?

[Dave Gish]

Originally Posted by Sean Seah

thks for the photos.. i read that the size is HUGE :)

Yes, the case is very large, but you can wear it as a backpack, which leaves 2 hands free for carrying your camera case and other stuff. Ends up saving a lot of time when you're lugging things around.

Originally Posted by Sean Seah

Btw, I thought I didnt see the arms anywhere... is it me or ..??? Where r they supposed to go. Is it at the 2 sides pouches?

On the upper left and right, there are 2 velcro cloth compartments that hold the Arm sections. There's also some additional room between the foam and cloth compartments to hold more small tools, supplies, and a baseball hat for working in the sun.

[Sean Seah]

ah i see.. thanks! BTW, can the pilot arms mount the merlin? I noticed in some photos that the merlin mount on the arm seems like 45 deg but the pilot has a short stud on the arm. Is there a need to get a interface or something?

[Dave Gish]

Originally Posted by Sean Seah

BTW, can the pilot arms mount the merlin? I noticed in some photos that the merlin mount on the arm seems like 45 deg but the pilot has a short stud on the arm. Is there a need to get a interface or something?

I think the Pilot and Merlin share the same arm & vest, although I haven't seen the Merlin arm. By your question, I'm guessing that you might want to buy the Merlin and later upgrade to the Pilot? The problem here is that Steadicam doesn't sell the Pilot sled seperately. The Merlin is quicker to grab, but one you have to deal with the arm & vest, you might as well use the Pilot sled.