Glidecam relief

[Matt Bishop]

I have been using the glidecam 2000 for about 6 months now. Really got used to it and then switched to HD so I have a heavier load and needed more weights to balance it out. It currently weighs in at 12 lbs and I'm carrying it around all day for weddings right now. I'm not wanting to use a full steadicam vest and I've never been interested in the arm brace but most of my bad shots or shaky moves come from movement in my wrist anyway.

I decided to go out and buy a wrist brace at a sports store and it is amazing. It puts more of the weight onto my forearm which, so far, has taken out the little bit of shake that I was getting. Now I can move more slowly and hold the camera longer for tracking shot.

Just thought I would share! $10 brace makes a difference !

Matt

[Tom Blizzard]

$10 ?????? Where...???? Ohhhhhh you don't mean the Glidecam arm brace. What do I ask for at the store???

[Matt Bishop]

you could ask for a wrist support or just go look by the bowling section...they'll also have knee, ankle, elbow, etc braces in the same area.

Here is the one I got.

http://www.sportsauthority.com/produ...ductId=1796826

[Tom Blizzard]

Thanks Matt....
Hey, my dad and his dad were from Davenport, Iowa

[Ken Hudson]

What camera were you using before. Just got a Glidecam and am having problems getting it balanced. I'm shooting with a VX2100

[Terry Thompson]

Matt,

Are you using the brace on your wrist area or your forearm area? We have found that a "tennis elbow" elastic support helps our customers who use our sled handheld operate longer with less stress. We're interested in anything that can help in the handheld configuration as we ourselves do it quite often but only for short shoots.

Tery
Indicam

[Jason Robinson]

Originally Posted by Matt Bishop

I have been using the glidecam 2000 for about 6 months now. Really got used to it and then switched to HD so I have a heavier load and needed more weights to balance it out. It currently weighs in at 12 lbs and I'm carrying it around all day for weddings right now. I'm not wanting to use a full steadicam vest and I've never been interested in the arm brace but most of my bad shots or shaky moves come from movement in my wrist anyway.

I decided to go out and buy a wrist brace at a sports store and it is amazing. It puts more of the weight onto my forearm which, so far, has taken out the little bit of shake that I was getting. Now I can move more slowly and hold the camera longer for tracking shot.

Just thought I would share! $10 brace makes a difference !

Matt

I noticed this as well. I plunked down the cash for the Glidecam & forearm brace but since I have a bit of carpel tunnel, the additional wrist support was very useful to keep my "thumbs up" posture from torquing down to either side.

[Gints Klimanis]

Originally Posted by Matt Bishop

I have been using the glidecam 2000 for about 6 months now. Really got used to it and then switched to HD so I have a heavier load and needed more weights to balance it out. It currently weighs in at 12 lbs
Matt

Thanks for the lead on the forearm brace.

I have a 6-7 lb camera (Sony EX1) and am wondering what happens if I go with the Glidecam 2000. I prefer the shorter retracted column length as that 6" difference is significant when following babies and martial arts ground fighting. The Glidecam2000 retracts to 14.5" while the 4000 can only retract to 20". Will I only need to add some more of those washers for a GlideCam2000 to accomodate a camera that is heavier than specification?

BTW, those Glidecam demo and tutorial videos are fantastic.

[Jason Robinson]

Originally Posted by Gints Klimanis

Thanks for the lead on the forearm brace.

I have a 6-7 lb camera (Sony EX1) and am wondering what happens if I go with the Glidecam 2000. I prefer the shorter retracted column length as that 6" difference is significant when following babies and martial arts ground fighting. The Glidecam2000 retracts to 14.5" while the 4000 can only retract to 20". Will I only need to add some more of those washers for a GlideCam2000 to accomodate a camera that is heavier than specification?

Due to the physics of how torque works (force Y applied at distance X from center of gravity...... in otherwords multiple the weight you are using by the distance from the center of gravity which should be just below the gimble) you may end up needing to apply a LOT of weight at the shorter distance of the 2000 in order to make up the same torque needed to balance the heavier camera using the longer base of the 4000. What that means is it may be shorter to use the 2000 but you may need to add a pound or more of weight to equal the additional camera weight. And that extra weight all focused on the handle (unless you are using the smooth shooter spring arm & vest) will make the usability of the unit suffer significantly.

As for very low angle shooting to capture good footage for ground fighting, consider a quick upside down flip of the camera. If you have an external LCD and a flip mechanism, then you can flip the glidecam and capture decent footage while shooting upside down. Then in post you can just flip the footage back again to compensate.

If you cannot have any pauses or obvious jarring changes in the footage like that. then have a stationary camera on wide angle to cover for the momentary flip transition.

[Gints Klimanis]

Originally Posted by Jason Robinson

Due to the physics of
As for very low angle shooting to capture good footage for ground fighting, consider a quick upside down flip of the camera. If you have an external LCD and a flip mechanism, then you can flip the glidecam and capture decent footage while shooting upside down. Then in post you can just flip the footage back again to compensate.

Thanks for the advice. I went with the Low Mode FX adapter for the Glidecam, which includes a very sturdy handle mount that doubles as an accessory mount. Cool. The 2000 just wasn't low enough anyway and would compromise my mobility as I'd be stooping too often. So, I went with the 4000.

[Jason Robinson]

Originally Posted by Gints Klimanis

Thanks for the advice. I went with the Low Mode FX adapter for the Glidecam, which includes a very sturdy handle mount that doubles as an accessory mount. Cool. The 2000 just wasn't low enough anyway and would compromise my mobility as I'd be stooping too often. So, I went with the 4000.

I looked at that adapter, but it is just a couple of zip ties away from being a DIY fix. I'd rather keep the camera completely stable and in the same configuration as normal shooting and just flip the image in post. Much faster to switch back and forth for live event shooting that way.