Made some slight mods to support a heavier camera and lens. Now it's a Canon 7D + Tokina 11-16mm on a Giottos quick release plate. I needed to pull the front heavy camera a bit backwards. Threw on some extra counterweights from a Flycam Nano, and then performed a slight test. Brings me back to my roots of flying an expensive Steadicam Merlin, except this one is only 1/5th the price.
Steadicam
GH2 on Baby Merlin (modded Smoothee)
So the goal was to modify this Steadicam Smoothee for lightweight cameras, but it was surprising to see it fly my Canon 5D Mark II + 50mm F/1.4 Lens. Getting back to the real reason for the mod, I tested out a smaller setup with the GH2 + 20mm Lens (total 1.2lbs). It took about 6.8oz of counterweight, but she balances just fine. In fact, I really think Tiffen should offer something like this for all the new smaller lightweight cameras coming out. If they can keep the price about the same, they'd make quite an impact. There's some additional information in the video about the Quick Release mount and Counterweight attachment.
If you're late to the party, you can find all the build information on modding a Steadicam Smoothee for your small cameras in the previous article (here).
Can you modify a Steadicam Smoothee?
I want to say when these things were first released they were over $200 dollars. Ridiculous pricing if all you plan to fly is a cell phone. They have since dropped down in price, and while they are listed at about $180 dollars elsewhere, this month they're on sale at B&H (click here). Not bad if you could possibly do much more with it.
[Update] here's the video
With one of the smoothest Gimbals on any stabilizer ever, I decided to pick one up and see if it can be pushed to carry much more than a small GoPro. So far the Gimbal is made with a metal bearing, and the frame is mostly a lightweight metal. If it's possible to modify the frame to add more weights, then you're looking at an ultra smooth Gimbal on a Merlin-like stabilizer for almost 5 times cheaper than the Merlin itself.
[Update] It's been Modified here: http://cheesycam.com/diy-steadicam-smoothee-mod-cheesycam-baby-merlin/
Steadicam Smoothee for GoPro and iPhone
Original (more expensive) Steadicam Merlin Camera Stabilizer
Steady Dragon Camera Stabilizer
There's a million different little stabilizers on the market, but about a month ago (maybe a bit longer), the Steady Dragon brand upgraded the Gimbal to a universal joint. This type of gimbal provides the maximum amount of range compared to the little Ball-and-Socket type like found in the Hague MMC. The Steady Dragon seems to have all the right parts with front and rear counterweights, side to side weights, and adjustment of the camera forward and back.
With the optional camera plate, you can also add side to side from the top stage. A Tripod mount is also available so you can dock your camera. There's ways to create your own stabilizer with U-Joint from a Traxxas RC, but If you're not the DIY type, this little stabilizer looks like a good start for small cameras and under a hundred bucks. The Steady Dragon states it's rated to balance cameras just around 3 lbs and you can find some demo videos following the link (click here).
Steady Dragon Video Camera Stabilizer Streadicam
Skyler MiniCam DSLR Video Stabilizer
The Skyler MiniCam has been a work in progress floating around the Internet for a very long time, but this is the first time i've seen it available on eBay. A clever little stabilizer which stands on it's own like a tripod, looks to have great build quality, and very simple fine tuning knobs. A 1/4-20 thread under the stabilizer allows you to mount it on a Monopod so that you can don't need to dismount your camera.
Unfortunately the asking price of over $620 dollars is a big umm..'heck no' for me. It's too bad they couldn't get the Skyler under the $200 dollar price tag, I think it could be a hit. I guess if you want to compare the price to an $800 dollar Steadicam Merlin, it's not looking so bad, but there's so many more stabilizer options now for under $300 dollars. If you're still curious, there's some additional demo videos of the Skyler MiniCam stabilizer in use over at the auction page (click here).
Skyler Mini DSLR Video Camera Stabilizer Steadicam
New Gear – Steadicam Merlin 2
Today Tiffen announced at CES a newly designed Steadicam Merlin 2. One interesting additions is an upgrade to the handle that includes a remote to start / stop video. Not available in retail stores yet, but a full FAQ section and PDF user manual is available on the Tiffen website https://www.tiffen.com/steadicam_merlin2.html
Life After Death – Steadicam Vest
Preparing for a last minute shoot today, I found my Steadicam Merlin Vest had cracked on the upper chest piece. Crap. The quick fix for me today was to use the top portion of the Konova Vest and mate it with the Steadicam Merlin Arm (which is held on with the waist area). There was a bit of hackery, drilling, and modding, but it managed to all come together in the end. The reason I needed to stick with the Steadicam ISO Arm is because the rig I had already built up was fairly lightweight. The Konova requires a good payload to be effective, but the Steadicam arm can be dialed to fly lighter sleds. So for today's shoot i'm Frankenstein-ed out with a vest that consists of a Konova Chest Piece, Steadicam Arm, and Glidecam sled...
Wondlan Carbon Fiber DSLR Video Camera Stabilizer
Wondlan's sporting a new Carbon Fiber Video camera Stabilizer and Vimeo member LJ Lee has a nice little review. I like the fact that it can be extended long enough to be used as a short monopod, something the Glidecam stabilizers won't do. It also has a ready quick release system to get the camera off. The top stage has all the adjustments for front / back / left / right to find the center of balance, but the lower sled doesn't look wide enough to prevent the common twisting motion.
Most Steadicam type stabilizer have a long bottom sled which increases the area for the turning axis (something like that). If you have all of the weight too close to the center of the post, it can easily drift, twitch, or jerk while walking. The handle looks a little small also, something that might be a comfort concern for those with large hands. There isn't a whole lot of sample footage in the video, but for the small movements it seems to work pretty well. Of course there's a lot of practice and skill involved to pull off good footage too. [Thanks LJ] The Wondlan Carbon Stabilizer is already available following the link (click here).
Wondlan Carbon DSLR Video Camera Steadicam Stabilizer
Hollywood UltraLight Video Camera Stabilizer
Another Hollywood Ultralight turns up on auction. This ultralight stabilizer is a discontinued product, but works like a mini Glidecam (as seen in the video demonstration above). It can support cameras of up to 4lbs, but with all the new GF3 like cameras with HD video, it's too bad they don't start making these things again. eBay auction found (click here)
Hollywood Lite VS1 mini Video Camera Stabilizer