Blackbird at NAB 2010 at DVinfo.net

Rich Greb · April 18th, 2010, 03:31 PM

The Blackbird Full Kit with its new “resting stand” along with the Blackbird Basic and a la carte pricing was announced just days before NAB.

At the show we were kept busy helping the hundreds (OK, maybe an exaggeration, since we weren’t counting) who tried to fly a camera on a handheld stabilizer, most for the first time. We had five cams set up for attendees to fly, ranging from the little Canon Optura 60 up to the XHA1.

As expected there was great interest in flying DSLR’s, and we had a 7D and a T2I on Blackbirds. We also left running on continuous replay a Youtube video posted recently by Carlos Padilla of Spain YouTube - A walk with the blackbird camera stabilizer. As you can see from the video, Carlos had an extreme rig with his 5DMII on rails with quick releases and quite high above the Blackbird stage. That required what looks like a full complement of Blackbird weights to balance. Wow, Carlos really rocks with a Blackbird!

Thanks to our K-Tek neighbors behind our booth I had a chance to fly a Sony EX3 on the Blackbird for the first time. Long ago we tested the Blackbird with assumed CG camera heights to claim the 8 lb camera weight capacity. The load on the gimbal bearings was never an issue at all, so if necessary we could add additional weights to the kit for balance. Here's a video showing the EX3 (oops, I say EX1 in the video) weighting just over 8 lbs balanced with the standard Blackbird weights YouTube - 047_wmv2.avi. We have successfully balanced everything from a Flip HD to an EX3 on a Blackbird.

It was great to meet so many wonderful people from around the world at NAB, and we hope that those returning to or flying through Europe with all of the flight cancellations resulting from the Icelandic volcano eruption are safely home or soon will be.

Rich Greb
Camera Motion Research

Sean Seah · April 22nd, 2010, 11:53 AM

Great stuff by Carlos!! Keep up the good work Rich!

Carlos Padilla · May 8th, 2010, 01:26 AM

Thanks Sean and Rich!
I put bars because was a windy days and I like the felling I had with a heavy rig in this conditions. I'm not too experienced with the blackbird. I think with a little more training I can do it better. I'll try it with the ex1 that also seems to work very well with the blackbird.

April 18th, 2010, 03:31 PM	#1
Rich Greb Sponsor: Camera Motion Research Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 57	Blackbird at NAB 2010 The Blackbird Full Kit with its new “resting stand” along with the Blackbird Basic and a la carte pricing was announced just days before NAB. At the show we were kept busy helping the hundreds (OK, maybe an exaggeration, since we weren’t counting) who tried to fly a camera on a handheld stabilizer, most for the first time. We had five cams set up for attendees to fly, ranging from the little Canon Optura 60 up to the XHA1. As expected there was great interest in flying DSLR’s, and we had a 7D and a T2I on Blackbirds. We also left running on continuous replay a Youtube video posted recently by Carlos Padilla of Spain YouTube - A walk with the blackbird camera stabilizer. As you can see from the video, Carlos had an extreme rig with his 5DMII on rails with quick releases and quite high above the Blackbird stage. That required what looks like a full complement of Blackbird weights to balance. Wow, Carlos really rocks with a Blackbird! Thanks to our K-Tek neighbors behind our booth I had a chance to fly a Sony EX3 on the Blackbird for the first time. Long ago we tested the Blackbird with assumed CG camera heights to claim the 8 lb camera weight capacity. The load on the gimbal bearings was never an issue at all, so if necessary we could add additional weights to the kit for balance. Here's a video showing the EX3 (oops, I say EX1 in the video) weighting just over 8 lbs balanced with the standard Blackbird weights YouTube - 047_wmv2.avi. We have successfully balanced everything from a Flip HD to an EX3 on a Blackbird. It was great to meet so many wonderful people from around the world at NAB, and we hope that those returning to or flying through Europe with all of the flight cancellations resulting from the Icelandic volcano eruption are safely home or soon will be. Rich Greb Camera Motion Research Attached Thumbnails

April 22nd, 2010, 11:53 AM	#2
Sean Seah Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,498	Great stuff by Carlos!! Keep up the good work Rich! __________________ Firewerkz Films SGP

May 8th, 2010, 01:26 AM	#3
Carlos Padilla Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Barcelona, Spain Posts: 33	Thanks Sean and Rich! I put bars because was a windy days and I like the felling I had with a heavy rig in this conditions. I'm not too experienced with the blackbird. I think with a little more training I can do it better. I'll try it with the ex1 that also seems to work very well with the blackbird.