Does anybody have recommendations on a fairly inexpensive glidecam/steadicam etc. I've been in desperate need of one and don't know what and where to pick one up. Budget is tight too :(

Flycam nano .. $115 and does a pretty good job once you get it balanced correctly. It's what I'm picking up soon. :)


edit: more like $150

I liked the Nano but my wrists got really tired at the end of the day. I upgraded to a Steadicam Merlin 2 months ago and its nearly the same thing but a bit easier on the arm as the weight is directly over it.

As for the Videomic, it does its job. I found it made sound quality better but there was MUCH better alternatives to the set up. I ended up breaking all my elastic bands on a trip to HK during a night out cause theyre so frail. Look into a Pro for this reason. I'd reccommend you get any mic and then hook it up to a Zoom. This way you get full control over the sound and you can minimize the static you get. What camera are you using? If its got AGC, def get the Zoom/Rode combo. If you have manual controls you can get by with the Rode for now but youll still want the Zoom later. The only pain being you have to sync up audio and video later with an app called Plural Eyes.

Right now I just use my Videomic on whenever I go out with friends cause its so much easier than bringing along more equipment. But when I start doing it professionally come summer time, def going to have to invest in lav mics and recorders. Sound quality just isn't the same.

Another quick tip:

A Videomic on the hotshoe of a DSLR is actually a really bad configuration because its a shotgun type mic. Which means that a majority of the sound capture is in the direction the mic is pointing. All the sound from the sides of the mic will be very quiet. So when you're shooting, you're actually losing out on a lot of sound and picking up whats behind the person. Best alternative if you're on a budget and shooting interview type shots is to get an extension and make the person hold the mic below them. This way it only grabs their voice and singles out all the noise from around them since its shooting at the sky. Hence news reporters and movies with mic booms.

Ahh ok thanks for the heads up, I may just order a wrist brace with the nano. Where did you buy yours from, because I see prices ranging from $130 - $200 for what appears to be the same thing. I'm going to be doing a lot of running around with the flycam nano so I guess a arm brace would be a good investment.


I think I'm going to just stick with the zoom H1 then because I can be a little rough on my equipment and I heard of a lot of people complaining about their videomic breaking just as you described it.


Thanks for the help! :D Also what kind of memory cards are you running? I need to buy some new ones and I'm looking at lexar or transcend because they seem to be fairly cheap + well reviewed.

The prices have been steadily (no pun intended) raising with more and more people buying them since like a year ago. Bought mine on eBay from the original seller in India when it was a bidding listing and not a Buy it Now.

I'm running a 400x Transcend 32GB CF which I may sell if you're interested (What cam are you running?) I mean it works awesome as a hobby, Lexar/Transcend etc. But I'm probably going to have to invest in some Sandisk Pros soon.

I have a 550D and I currently only have a 4gb card (fits ~100 raw photos). I've been looking and the only place I can find it is in india aswell and it made me think they were scammers at first :badpokerface: But if you ordered from them I guess i will too! Had I known that I'd be buying something from India I could've just had my dad pick it up a few weeks ago lol.

What did you end up doing with your old flycam nano?


EDIT: Jordan, these guys?
What's the difference between the two? $40 price jump
http://www.thecinecity.com/eshop/pro...?productid=221

http://www.thecinecity.com/eshop/pro...3&bestseller=Y

This one looks beefy for about $50 less
http://www.thecinecity.com/eshop/pro...3&bestseller=Y

The more expensive one is their new revised one with the new weight carriage set up. They're pretty much the same except one has nicer looking weights.

For the guys interested in DSLR video, there will be an event at the Vancouver Convention Centre on February 25 that will showcase products and techniques by big industry people. Canon will have the 1Dx there, and Nikon will have the D4, D800 & D800e for you to fondle at the show. Also lots of higher end rigs, sliders & steady cams will be on display and demo duty.

More info here: http://www.beauphoto.com/fusion2012/fusion_frm.html

just shot this:
was fun playing with a jib, glide cams and sliders.

which camera do u guys thinks is the best overall canon rebel t3i vs nikon d5000?

I'd go with the Canon out of those choices but then again I'd save even more money and get a T2i loaded with Magic Lantern firmware in it. Pretty much a mini 7D after you hack it.

I made this with just a tripod and a 50mm lens.

^ I subscribe to those Dub Allstar vids and theyre amazing. Didn't think you went on RS often.

Funny short I made with some of my VW friends.

HAHA. Sweet!

Yeah, I signed up a long time ago but haven't been on this site in a while. We started making those webisodes as sort of a home video for us to keep instead of photos.

Here's a video I put together for work.

Which slider did you get?

^He uses a homemade crane on pneumatic tires. Works pretty well.

Anyone get a new 5DIII yet? :ahwow:

I bought 4 of them Jordan :troll:

:rukidding:

Some vids I made the past few weeks.

Has anyone tried something like this?
http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-SteadyVid-Stabilizer-Camcorders-Supports/dp/B007FDE4Y8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1334287578&sr=8-3

I'm contemplating buying a Kessler Shuttle Pod and cranking it out to 12' of track. Spec'ed how I want it, it's just shy of $2700, though that doesn't include the different geared motors I want (which, for the life of me, I can't seem to locate on their website). I'm curious if anyone knows if there's a Kessler Crane dealer locally. I don't see one posted on their site, but considering this is Hollywood North and all, there's gotta be some company out there that sells 'em...

Shuttle Pod

Kessler Shuttle Pod V2 Portable Dolly Video Tutorial on Vimeo

^What will you be shooting? Equipment being used?

Carrying all that around and having to set up seems really tedious. But it is good I guess for suuuuper slow timelapses.

It's more the vertical climb and descend Im interested in. It's for actual film work, so it would be hauling between 5 and 15 pounds of equipment, depending on the shoot. My crane is nice and all, but its hard to work in many spaces when you're dealing with an 8' boom.

for those doing video editing and processing, i use either camtasia studio or windows movie maker cuz i am a noob at editing so i use the most basic user friendly program. Everytime i produce my finished video there are random scenes that play really choppy. The beginning is smooth then it gets choppy in the next few clips then smooths out again then rinse n repeat. Any idea why its doing that?

Uhh. Camtasia is meant for screen recording so you can show demos. We use it at work to record presentations. Totally not recommended for video editing/processing.

^

oh is that so...

any recommendations on a better program? i heard good things about adobe premier pro or the sony one. I run windows 7 64bit so i cant use mac based programs.