I do want to point out that my use of the term "knock-off" is possibly misleading. I think that the Glidecams are fine for their sector of the market and perform well enough. The fact of the matter is that the big rig that I operate is in theory a Steadicam "knock-off" itself--which means that it is gear manufactured by companies other than Tiffen (the Steadicam licensee); it's actually not any cheaper, it's just different and my choices were based on which manufacturer made the particular component that I liked the best. As a result I have no less than 5 manufacturers represented in my sled, vest and arm!

Anyway, just trying to make a distinction between the term "knock-off" and "cheap knock-off"--the latter being far more disparaging as it is less expensive but also lesser performing.

OK, here is a sample, but please keep in mind this was my first attempt to use "cheap knock-off" made in India handheld Flycam 3000 with FX1 on it,
with the large battery and a light it gets a bit heavy and after 30-40 sec balance starts suffer, will have to get vest and arm, but that I will buy only from Steadicam or Glidecam :-)
cheers!

http://66.49.133.206/fly.html

Buba - nice sample, it shows what it can do & to be honest I think it was great! For the price the unit is at I don't think anyone could complain with the results.

Thanks - Alan

It wasn't mine. A friend had one and he couldn't get it to balance properly. The handle on the gimble was too close to the shaft. We ended up removing it and adding some washers so he could do the "drop test" without the handle hitting the shaft.

Never could get it to balance properly with a PD170. We had to use the tutorials from the glidecam site to even get it close.

Two of the brass turn screws were also bent and unusable right out of the box.

Also, the lower extension is just some cheesy PVC tubing.

There's a reason this thing is priced the way it is. The glidecam is built much better.

Glad you're happy with yours. That's what counts.

Thanks Alan,
I think that will give you some answers
but XL2 is even heavier than FX1, so be prepared to get the full rig,
And again, they right when they say : it's 20% of steadicam and 80% of the steadicam operator, I've just started , and I have a long way of learnig this art.
To bring the thread back to the wedding vidography here is short sample from the latest, something like that I post for every client next day after the wedding, with the logo and phone nuber, they send that page sometimes to hundreds of people, and I remove the page from the web the day couple gets DVD. Can tell you, works great, getting clients from this kind of "spam"
Take a look, let me know what you didn't like,
Cheers

http://66.49.133.206/cristitest.html

Buba - great, I didn't dislike any of it!! Thought it was smooth & steady, nice song to, what is it?

Sarah Brightman

I just bought one on Ebay from the same guy in India. I live in Canada, and it got here in 4 days, no duty or tax.

A week ago, I had the opportunity to operate a Glidecam. For less than half the price, this one is just as smooth and well built.