Indicam review continued

[Peter Chung]

Thanks for the info, Terry.

I don't like using lights and don't use any, if possible (haven't used an on-camera light yet :) but if I ever do decide to use it at a wedding, I have a diffuser so the light isn't so direct and blinding. (Turn on the light and look at the light and that is how the wedding guests will feel when you shine the light on them.) I have a Lumiquest mini-softbox and a camera flash omni-bounce diffuser. I like the softbox much better.

Do mind sharing what make, model, and price of your LED light? Also, how much light does it output. Is there a halogen bulb wattage equivalent or anything like that?

Thanks,
Peter

[Jon Omiatek]

I also have the indicam, thanks Terry! It's definately worth the money. I use my friends Flyer on occasion and it's about a 1/3 of the cost and it does everything I need it to do. I would highly recommend the Indicam and Terry is great as well. Answered all my questions prior to purchasing!

Terry.... If you get a chance could you let me know how much weight you use to balance a Z1. I am having a hard time getting it to balance, it works great with my pd170's.

Thanks,

Jon

[Terry Thompson]

Jon,

I use an extra weight on each side of the bottom plate (14 total) and drop the post extension to 3 1/2 inches.

You can get the weight disks at many hardware stores. Just take one along for sizing. When you get it balanced you notice it will take great steadicam footage. One good thing we noticed with our new Z1U which is different than our VX-2100 is that the Z1U has a much wider lens when in 16:9 mode. I really like that! It comes in handy for many, many shots.

Peter,

I'm glad you are on this forum so we can use your intellect to our advantage. You are an asset as are others here.

You are again absolutely correct on needing a diffuser when taking pictures of people. I'm looking at putting on a brightness control also so the LEDs can be turned down. The nice thing about that is the color temperature remains the same.

I'll look into the light output info but I didn't see anything on it when I bought it. It is fairly bright though. I did make some changes so it would mount on a hot shoe.

When we used our DVX-100a at the last wedding there were many shots that were so dark that even our post production tweaks didn't help a lot. In the future we will be using our Sonys or a diffused light (maybe both).

Terry
Indicam

[Matt Davis]

Hi Terry,

thanks for also answering my questions via email - thought I'd ask this one here though...

The "Basketball player's view" pole extension is a really great and imaginative addition - I can see a whole lot of new shots being created from this.

Is there something similar to get low shots too? Not quite doggycam, perhaps, but (if you excuse the pun) how low can you go?

I note that the Z1 can be operated upside down with the flip-out screen... :)

[Terry Thompson]

Matt,

We have been working on that very thing. We had a prototype part made for low mode that didn't work the way we wanted so it's back to the drawing board.

Yes, you can flip the post upside down (poor man's low mode) and the monitor will show you the shot you will get at about knee level. You just need to flip it upright in post. You will also need to balance the sled so that it is a bit bottom heavy with the rig upside down. It's very easy to do.

We'll let you know when we redo our prototype and it works the way we want it to.

Terry
Indicam

[Sean Seah]

The Z1U picts are lookin' goo....d!

[Joe Lawry]

Terry,

Its interesting to see the comments that have come up about the backpack on the indicam rig. Personally, i can see how its a great idea and works really well but unfortunately it is the one thing that puts me off the indicam rig. I can see that you guys can squash it down heeps but even then its still there and personally i think it looks slightly ugly.

Just my thoughts anyway. I can see you've got a great product there Terry and even with the backpack when i come to purchase a stabilizer i'll definately be keeping your product in mind.

Cheers

Joe

[Terry Thompson]

Joe,

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder or in this case the "holder".

In the future we're looking into developing a vest for people with your fashion sense but with the backpack compressed, it's about the thickness of a vest while keeping it's "backpack" functionality.

The real question should be "How well will it help me take smooth shots and is it a great value?" From the video clips (and major events) we have done, we think it is. I personally shot straight for a 3 1/4 hour stretch with only a 15 minute intermission. The PILOT is comfortable, lightweight, and allows the operator to shoot very smooth shots for a very long time. When we're done, we pack eveything inside except the camera and walk out with it. This is a good thing.

Thanks for you comments. We do listen to all that is said.

Terry
Indicam

[Terry Thompson]

Originally Posted by Joe Lawry

Terry,

Its interesting to see the comments that have come up about the backpack on the indicam rig. Personally, i can see how its a great idea and works really well but unfortunately it is the one thing that puts me off the indicam rig. I can see that you guys can squash it down heeps but even then its still there and personally i think it looks slightly ugly.

Cheers

Joe

Joe,

We've been listening to you guys and are close to releasing a new vest. That's right, it will replace the backpack for those who want that "fashion look". We will still offer the backpack because it really is a good idea.

We did a four hour shoot for a video contest a few days ago (we took 3rd out of 30 entries) and used the new vest. It worked out well. We were able to carry it to location with the backback so all we had in our hands was a HVX200. So easy to transport!

It's a good thing.

Terry
Indicam

[Peter Chung]

That's awesome, Terry!

Do post some pictures when you get a chance.

Sounds like we can now have the best of both worlds: a more professional looking vest for use and a backpack for easy breakdown, setup, and travel!

You're making my dreams come true, Terry :) Thanks for listening to our suggestions and constantly improving your product.

But please post some pictures of the new vest and the whole system in use as I'm sure many of us are eager to see the new "fashionable" look ;)

[Terry Thompson]

Peter and Joe,

Here are some pictures of our prototype vest. We are making a few of these to see how well others like them. I was comfortable while I was wearing it.

One of the pictures shows that you can get dressed up and still shoot steadicam footage. I used a lighter leather dress jacket so you could see the rig. It would or course look even better in operation with a dark outfit as the PILOT would be much less noticeable. I'll look into doing a picture like that next time.

Terry
Indicam

[Peter Chung]

Those pictures didn't look like you, Terry ;)

But it definitely looks much nicer and professional. Even looks like you could wear a blazer over it without bulging much... That would be cool.

Do you have any pictures with the whole rig and camera on? More pictures from more angles, pretty please :D

Thanks for posting these pics!

[Terry Thompson]

Peter,

I just put a couple more pictures up showing a full rig (see previous post).

Terry
Indicam

[Peter Chung]

Originally Posted by Terry Thompson

Peter,

I just put a couple more pictures up showing a full rig (see previous post).

Terry
Indicam

SWEET!

The guy in the leather jacket looks very happy in his Indicam :)

[Terry Thompson]

It's my fault. I made him laugh.

Terry
Indicam