Steadicam Merlin & Steadicam Pilot

[Amedeo Fabroni]

Hello Everyone,
my name is Amedeo, I live in Milan, Italy. One year ago I have bought a Steadicam Merlin and recently I have upgraded to a Steadicam Pilot. I have read that “the Steadicam Pilot stage can be retrofitted to become a tilting stage”. Which is the difference between achieving the dynamic balance with the stage/sled tilted before shooting and the same balance with a tilting stage? Does someone know if and when the tilting stage accessory will be available? You can see a video made with the Merlin handheld on my web site at www.ciakframe.com in the video-entertainment section.
Thank you.
Best,
Amedeo

[Charles Papert]

Amedeo:

This is a good question. When you tilt a Steadicam, you have effectively moved the setup out of dynamic balance as the top and bottom masses shift relative to each other. The system can no longer spin nodally. This is why a whip pan that requires the rig to be tilted is very hard to achieve well.

The tilt head allows the orientation of the lens to be adjusted without the overall mass being affected--the whole rig doesn't "know" what the pitch of the lens is in this instance. It's a great piece of gear, and the reason you don't see it on more sleds is that it is one of the Steadicam brand patents.

I wouldn't hold my breath for the tilting Pilot stage to come out in the very near future, but it is good that the rig is designed so that this will be a possibility.

[Amedeo Fabroni]

Hi Charles,
thanks for the reply and explanations. I think that the Pilot tilting stage will be a fine piece of engineering.
Best,
Amedeo