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Poor man's stabilizer.

Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 2:39 pm
by randazzo
Just got a tip about using my mono-pod as a stabilizer when walking with the cam. Just keep the top plate between my two upward fingers and stretch my arm a bit downwards. I'm filming for years and never used this simple method. I looked at expensive steady cams (way out of budget) and this really works great.

Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 2:51 pm
by Clevo
I have a monopod just for that... I have added a bit to it... a couple of things.

with the camera attached to the monopod..find the center balance. Do this over the bed so if the camera swings while searching for the centre it'll hit something soft.

Mark the centre, then add a little handle with a clamp. (I had to improvise with materials and used a slim PVC pipe)

Got myself a nice enough working stabiliser.

I did this with the tripod too...which actually works OK.

Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 5:03 pm
by Ron P.
While I don't have a "mono-pod" I did manufacture a stabilizer using pipe and a dumb-bell weight at the bottom for balance. My only regret is that I used black "steel" pipe, which is a bit heavy. The next one I make will be using PVC pipe, which is a lot lighter to carry around..;)

Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:45 pm
by John Moran_2
I tried something like that, good grief it was over 25 years ago, with one of the early RCA VHS cameras. It didn't work too well, but maybe the mass of the camera was so much that it was both a help and a hindrance. I just lugged a humongous Bogen tripod into the gym and hoped the HS basketball fans didn't jump up and down on the bleachers too much. :wink:
JM_2

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:25 am
by sweeper
Hi...,

Just out of curiosity, what would an inexpensive, factory stabilizer belt cost and where would one find it ?

We recently shot 3 days worth of video at a function and about 60% of it will have to be edited out due to bounce. The pace was fast (following the subjects) and the ground was very uneven.

Tks...
...Steve

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:35 am
by sjj1805

Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:44 pm
by Black Lab
sweeper wrote:Hi...,

Just out of curiosity, what would an inexpensive, factory stabilizer belt cost and where would one find it ?

We recently shot 3 days worth of video at a function and about 60% of it will have to be edited out due to bounce. The pace was fast (following the subjects) and the ground was very uneven.

Tks...
...Steve
There's no such thing as an inexpensive, factory stabilizer. They typically costs thousands of dollars.

See this post to construct one yourself:
http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic. ... =steadycam

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:02 pm
by okee
This one looks quite handy, mainly for small cams though


http://www.b-hague.co.uk/Camcorder%20St ... 20HCS3.htm