New French Stabilizer Models (LAigle)

[Matthias Sachal]

Im interested in buying the Concorde Model for my F3 Rig. Im impressed, judging by their videos. I would also be interested what you guys think of it. Does it seem like a sturdy design, one that might last for a lifetime? The price is at about 10k dollars.

Tutoriel L'AIGLE VISION et CONCORDE (9 et 15kg max) : régler le harnais dorsal. - YouTube

[Charles Papert]

I last tried one of their rigs about 5 years ago at NAB and was rather impressed with the function of their arms. The "rubber band" concept is somewhat radical, but it delivered a surprisingly linear response. I'm not particularly a fan of their whimsical industrial design but performance is what counts, and I felt they had a pretty solid design.

I'd also recommend you look at Actioncam, who I thought were also doing some good things.

Tiffen of course has the brand name and their arms on the smaller rigs are unequaled in smoothness, but more expensive for the specific payload. For the larger rigs, PRO and XCS were my weapons of choice back in the day.

I don't keep up with the current rigs but most changes have been incremental.

[Matthias Sachal]

Thanks for your reply. Their videos really appeal to me, but I have no chance to try one of their rigs becuase theyre built in france. Its quite an investment, so I have to rely on other operators that give the vid a watch.

I made bad experiences with the indian flycam rigs. They work to a certain point, but in time, for example, the arms have deformed because theyre made of cheap ?aluminum. So now Im looking for something to last a lifetime.

[Dave Allen]

I agree about the cine gear from ProAim and all the other shell names they use. I had one of their matte boxes and it was total garbage, with poor finish, features didn't work, tolerances were as sloppy as can be, it didn't fit the camera they advertised it to fit and the company behind it are a bunch of disreputable scammers.

[Charles Papert]

Here's the thing about body-mounted stabilizers. They need to achieve multiple goals simultaneously: lightweight, able to withstand substantial torque, precision tolerances and where applicable, extremely low friction. That's a lot of demands. Anyone who has homebuilt a stabilizer (beyond the "$14" variety) will tell you it's not as simple as it looks, if it does actually look simple to anyone. A miniscule amount of play introduced by two components fitting together loosely can magnify through the system and result in jitter at certain frequencies. External forces like acceleration on a vehicle can stress the system causing component failure.

Buying off-brand from eBay is always tempting. But there's a lot of gear being sold that just won't last, as noted above. For a long-term investment, you are better off saving for the well-established brands.

[Matthias Sachal]

thanks for your advice charles. I just ordered their most advanced stabilizer (even got a special discount). sure would have liked a "clipper" better though. Iam curios about how it performs and will post my first experieces...

[Matthias Sachal]

Now worked with it for a few Projects. The Sled, Vest and Arm are solidly built. Only thing I was a bit dissapointed with are the BNC cables that came with it. Theyre kind of cheap quality. The changing of the rubber bands is tricky at first. Now that im used to it, it works quite fast.

This is the first Test with the system and its still a bit shaky, which comes from the lack of training with the system I guess.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ehfgf8ah8n...28Small%29.jpg

Steaditest April 2013 - YouTube