steadicam Pilot vs Sachtler Artemis

[Buba Kastorski]

Originally Posted by Chris Medico

I was curious about your decision since I was presented with the same choices to work through. Always interested in how different people figure it out.

until I win a lottery budget is always major factor for a wedding videographer, and weddings are 90% of my work;
I still have my pilot and it's perfect for my EX1 setup, but after I got Scarlet i realized that i need another rig with something around 20Lb capacity and i was choosing between Scout and Zephyr, but friend of mine offered me Flyer LE that he used may be 5 times for half price of Zephyr, so it was "no brainer" :0)

Originally Posted by Charles Papert

Buba, if you haven't taken the 2 day workshop, or even if you had, I wonder if maybe you would find it beneficial to get some eyeballs on your form to see if you are expending more energy than necessary (and putting more torque on your back). Even if your form is dead-on, it's possible that you got used to wearing the rig more than you "need" to (i.e. not docking whenever you have the chance)? Again, habits that develop from a super-light rig don't translate well to bigger rigs.

I know Charles, I noticed, and I'd love to attend steadicam workshop, but because I am always booked for the next 10 months I don't have time to have my life, not to mention get that workshop done; I do have a spine related problems and that's the main reason why I am looking at the back mounted stabilizer system and the fact that majority of operators using them for heavier setups like mk-v ar or 3D rigs makes me think that it'll take some strain from my back; i am still in the GYM every day, and I do bench my weight, but i am no 25 any more :)))

[Charles Papert]

Buba:

Congrats on 10 months of bookings! Amazing!

With the spinal thing, a backmounted vest may indeed be the right thing for you. Again my concern is that it's a far more complicated design to get right compared to the front mount and I'm not familiar enough with the manufacturers other than Walter Klassen (who makes the heavy duty backmount harness) to be able to endorse any. I'd hate to see you get into one that ultimately is LESS comfortable for you than the front mount.

Take care of that back!