lower weight on indie cam

[Dale Guthormsen]

I purchased an indie cam sled and vest and harness. After a little puzzling about, I got it together ond got it balanced with about a 2 second fall.

I have an xlh1 on the sled. How much weight should be on the bottom to keep the thing the most stable it can be and least reactive to movement??

It would seem to me the further down the weight the less weight you would need, but a little more weight down below would theoreticly make it more stable up top!??

I have the camera about 6 or 7 inches above the gimbil, weights about 18 below.



All suggestions would be highly appreciated.

A whole new learning curve, Again.


thank you.

[Dale Guthormsen]

Good evening,

Appears no one really has an answer for me.

here is what i have done:

the weight at the bottom is 3 lbs at the rear to help counter balance the heavey lens and vierw finder.

2 lbs on the front portions:

so am am shooting with five pounds at the bottom of a 9 lb camera.

It has been difficult to balance!!!

having got it cllose I was out shooting today and after half an hour of semibackbeaking effort I started getting decent enough footage I felt My money was well spent!!

one thing for sure is I have to pay real close attention to what i am doing!!!!

I do not have it balanced well enough yet.

If I spin it in place it does not spin as if on an axel, but the xlh1 has weight not evenly distributed and the counter balances below seem fine to counter balance when all is static.


Obviously someone out there probably has some tips for this.

I think a xha1 would be a better camera for this particular job!!!


I heard somewhere if you have a 10 lb camera system you should have 10 lbs below.

would like to know if that is true!!!!

[Terry Thompson]

Dale,

We'll chine in if that's OK? These suggestions are for the Indicam PILOT. Our system is called the Indicam PILOT (not indie cam) so the following would apply to our rig.

The bottom weights should be equal on both sides of the post meaning the same weight and distance from the post. Without a camera attached the post should spin smoothly with little or no wobble. When we ship the system we send it out this way so our buyers can balance their cameras easier. In your case you have two very different cameras so this should help.

With the XLH1 you would separate the camera stage plates using two wing nuts and move the camera mounting bolt to the most rear mounting hole. This moves the camera towards the back of the camera stage and helps to make up for the front heaviness of the XLH1. Reassemble the camera stage and install the camera.

With the gimbal about 2-3 inches from the camera stage you would now adjust for the drop time you want. This time might be different for different operators and/or situations. We use a 2 second drop time for general shooting conditions. The six weights that came with the system should all be installed for the XLH1. You might need to lower the extension post just a bit in order to get the correct drop time.

Now do a ruff balance both fore and aft as well as side to side. Of the two, try to get the front to back balance the closest for now. Next, as shown on our "Stabilizer Basics" training DVD, do the fine balance in both directions. Note that the "Balancing Tip" is very helpful in obtaining a good dynamic balance.

When doing the side to side fine balance you only need to loosen one wing nut and move the camera in the correct direction very slightly. Remember, this is the fine balance and your adjustment needs to be very slight.

Another help for beginners is to do a 1 second drop time then balance the sled followed by slowing down the drop time to 2 seconds and re-balancing the sled. The longer the drop time, the harder it is to get the thing balanced. That's the nature of sleds in general.

Once you get the knack of it, you can balance our system in a matter of minutes (under 10). You would be able to balance your A! in about 5 minutes. It take a little time but it get much easier with practice.

You should now have a well balance sled.

If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask. I believe you have our number?

We take care of our customers.

Smooth shooting,

Tery
Indicam

[Dale Guthormsen]

Terry,

thank you for the response!!

I went back and rebalanced it as you described, with equal weights spaced properly to each side. 2 second fall time seems pretty good.

it is a definite improvemnet over what i did on my own!!

I will say this, the sled is exceptionally sensitive. I was out shooting with it and I am farely pleased. nedd more practice and need to try some different tension adjustments on the arm to see what works best for me.


Thank you again.