Hey Mike,

I'm thinking of getting some kind of stabilizer myself, so your experience trying it out is interesting to me.

Some very nice shots. I do see the back and forth shake you are talking about. Would you say that's something that will improve as you get used to using it, or is it a Glidecam problem?

Also, for my taste I find most of the shots are framed with too much headroom. Again, is that just because it's a frame you prefer, or does the Glidecam make it difficult to set up your 'horizon' or whatever you want to call it?

How was the fatigue factor?

Thanks,
Vito

Randy, thanks for chiming in. It's good to see another "Northerner" on the board. There doesn't seem to be many of us in the area. Most are in Salt Lake. Maybe we can get together sometime over lunch and talk shop. I'll be in touch. You're the first person to mention the shadows (though probably not the first to notice them). There was sunlight reflecting off of that new aluminum roof they just put on the Tabernacle, so even though we were in the shade there were still shadows.

Vito, I hope that this is helping you in making a decision. I think that a stabilizer definitely adds some energy to a video, but it definitely has a learning curve. In terms of the back-and-forth shake I'd say that will get much better with time and practice. If you really want to see what can be done well with a Glidecam go check out davidperryfilms.com. Just watch any of his temple videos and you'll see how smooth a Glidecam can get. He uses a Glidecam 2000. In terms of framing I think the problem was that I was trying to use the viewfinder. It's WAY too small to properly frame your shot, but my flipout LCD screen is broken and I haven't had it fixed yet. So I think it's more a matter of being able to monitor your shot than it is a Glidecam problem.

Fatigue factor was minimal. We shot for about an hour and a half and I was doing fine. And I'm not really that strong of a guy. If you had a full body setup with arms and such I'd imagine it's a lot easier. I was fine after that first shoot, and definitely had enough left to shoot the reception as well. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. Thanks again everyone for the feedback and the help.

Hi Mike,

Okay. Knowing that you did that whole shoot using your viewfinder changes my whole outlook. I can't believe you were able to shoot that well using a tiny reference like that. Well done!

Thanks for the reply. Very useful info.

Cheers,
Vito

Thanks for the compliment. It was rather ridiculous. I'm definitely getting another monitor for my camera. Ikan offers a 2.5 inch one. Does anyone know of a good 4-inch monitor that runs on batteries and isn't very heavy? I'd love to hear some suggestions. I've been looking around the board and Ikan seems to offer a few good models. Marshall seems to have the nicest (and priciest) equipment. I really just need it for framing, not focus. Bright would be good too, as most of these videos are shot outside.

Mike - nice work! Your camera movement makes such a difference in the impact of the shot. I shot my first wedding on Saturday using a Merlin and XH-A1. I just started to capture but so far I'm very happy with the results. I too was hesitant because I didn't want to miss any key shots while I was fussing around with the balance on the Merlin. I did several swaps back and forth from from Merlin to tripod and got good at the transition by the end of the day. I did find myself leaving too little headroom on some shots, I think because of the fatique factor causing my arm to drop too much. I'll post some samples soon.

Art

Art, I'd love to see some of your work. I've heard very good things about the Merlin, but have yet to try one myself. When switching from tripod to Merlin did you just use a quick release plate of some kind? I'm considering getting one, as that would definitely allow more flexibility. And next time I won't have another videographer backing me up either. Were you shooting single cam then?

Yes - the Merlin has a quick release plate with alignment markings so when you re-attach the camera the balance is pretty close - I only needed to make fine adjustments. I got it down to about 30 seconds or less for the swap. I did use a second un-manned camera (HV20). The reception was manageable but I wish I did have some help for the ceremony!

Art