I HAVE IT!!!!!!!!!

THE PERFECT CAMERA BRACE!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S SO SIMPLE IT'S REVOLUTIONARY!!!!!!!!

IT WILL TURN THE INDUSTRY ON IT"S HEELS!!!!!!!!!!






Make the cameras larger and heavier.

John

I inherited one from my parent's estate. I've tried it out, but haven't yet used it on a serious shoot. It certainly eliminates all the small movement you get from holding a small camera in front of you. Basically, it gives you the same steadiness you used to get with a shoulder-mount camera. The only downside to my particular rig is that it has a pad that fits against your chest, as well as the shoulder mount, and I found it made the camera move up and down slightly as I breathed. I found, however, that if I stopped breathing, this fixed the problem.

Craftech or Johnmeyer,

What's your take on arm-fatigue that farss mentioned as a possibility?

And Craftech, what was that comment about making cameras larger???

And Craftech, what was that comment about making cameras larger???
=================
The older cameras were MUCH easier to hold steadily due to their size and weight. All these devices such as steadicams and other contraptions are oversized and expensive compensating devices for the industry's downsizing and weight reduction efforts whose purpose is to save them money under the guize of doing the public a favor. Shoulder mounting is the most natural solution, but practically impossible with today's cameras. Look at what the broadcast industry carries. For my camera (VX2000) I use a simple monopod as a weak solution.

John

Paul, regarding arm fatigue... any time you hold your arm exended like in those photos, there's going to be arm fatigue. I'm confident this gizmo will give the user quite a workout! (Note the arms on the camera operators in the demo!)

Holding with both hands arms pressed into body with the shoulder support in place, looks doable for extended periods of time, but like the shoulder brace in the other thread, can't do much but point and shoot (although I could buy a zoom controller).

Still love to hear from someone who actually uses one and can comment on arm fatigue using it. I don't know if Craftech's post was tongue-in cheek (all the capitals and exclamation points), but it would be nice to hear from someone actually using it.

I'm waiting for some small device with electronics and motors in three axes which will act as a sort of "gyro stabilizer" platform. Oh, and it has to be cheap, too.

Until then, I've enjoyed using SteadyHand and, more recently, DeShaker as means of stabilizing the shot after-the-fact. The only problems with DeShaker are that (1) it takes a loooong time to stabilize a lot of footage, and (2) it softens the image slightly in the process. Maybe if I shoot HDV, stabilize, and then downconvert to DV I will have image-softening defect beaten.

Riredale,

Wait no more!

Kenyon Labs Gyro Stabilizers

OK, maybe not as cheap as you had hoped, but they work great.

I miss the old, heavy cameras, because of their mass, you could get amazingly steady "hand-held" shots. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough mass to do it for very long. (Anyone remember the RCA TK76?)

John

Can someone tell me why a monopod wouldn't be ideal for these smaller cams? Unless you had to do a lot of panning, it seems like your hands could be on the controls all of the time. If you had to do a quick pan, you could just pick the cam and monopod up and then set it back down after the pan...no? Then to move to another location, you could even rest the whole thing on your shoulder as you walked. I shoot a lot of sports (with a Canon XL1S) and definitely want to get something before football season starts up again but wondering what (if any) drawbacks a monopod has.
TIA,
Randy

John! Woah! Now THAT is something else .. very neat concept in terms of the engineering. I always wondered HOW they got so steady in such a small confined space for the "Das Boot" - huh, and now I know! No Steady_cam - too cramped. Thanks for that John C . . . very interesting and simple design concept.

Grazie

And while we are onto alternaive (slightly ore than $60) devices.... I'll throw out the one that I use...

Varizoom VZ-LSP

I've used it for the past year and would not be without it. I tried the "shoulder-only" support and simply found my arms just got too tired after covering an event for any length of time. This device provides a lot of support - and you can even go "hands-free" if you need to temporarily work on something else (like change the tape).

I was covering some events at the Newport Beach Film Festival the other week and several of the other crews there who were running around with XL1's "chased" me around to find out details of the camera support I was using.

At NAB I was also very interested to see a two-handed/damped support system - seriously considering getting it.

Anyone remember the RCA TK76?

Unfortunately, yes :-)
And a BVU-150 that you carried by yourself.
That's where something like the EasyRig woul'd've been a real bonus.

Mike

Can someone tell me why a monopod wouldn't be ideal for these smaller cams? Unless you had to do a lot of panning, it seems like your hands could be on the controls all of the time. If you had to do a quick pan, you could just pick the cam and monopod up and then set it back down after the pan...no? Then to move to another location, you could even rest the whole thing on your shoulder as you walked. I shoot a lot of sports (with a Canon XL1S) and definitely want to get something before football season starts up again but wondering what (if any) drawbacks a monopod has.
TIA,
=========
None, really.
They are small enough for portability and relatively inexpensive compared to some of these overpriced orthopedic traction devices being linked to.
The only other thing you will need to consider is a second mounting plate to match the one for your tripod so that you can easily remove the camera from the monopod and stick it right on the tripod. I use a Bogen (Manfrotto) tripod and monopod with interchangeable mounting plates. Quick release and it's off in a jiffy, but I do lift the monopod off the ground to pan or follow, etc. and if I am in a crowd I don't have to worry about taking someone's eye out or having someone bump into my Easy Self-lubricating Vari-Ortho Unsteady Fishfinder Erector set.

John

Yep, the VariZoom's VZ-LSP does look like the ultimate real mccoy. Only ups my budget by 400%, though! However, it looks impressive enough to think about how I could possibly afford it in the near future.

Recently filmed a friend's wedding with one of those cheap sticks that juts out of your stomach but no shoulder rest. Stayed relatively stable but it got tougher and tougher as time went by.

I also have the VZ-LSP. It works really well with my XL1, but I might be willing to part with it if you are interested. Hell, I'd be willing to part with my XL1. Anyway, It's in great shape, I just don't shoot much anymore. Then again, it might work well with a new HDV cam. But seriously, the Varizoom rig is nice, and as Liam mentioned, the stomach brace takes the weight off your arms. It also allows you to slide the camera forwards or backwards to balance it. You can actually stand there and not use hands... thought I tend to chicken out and grab it anyway.

Jeff

I have one of those as well Paul. The Sima SVP-3 Video Prop. I did a 5 hour Bar Mitzvah party with one. I ended up taking the hook (clip) and attaching it to my shirt collar. Not bad, but after a few hours it got a bit tiresome. Nice and small though.

John

What about this for the XL-1?

John

I've been using a rig for several years that consists of a shoulder brace and monopod combination. It works very well for me: provides a solid platform for the camera in situations where being able to move rapidly from location to location is important.

View it here

Jack

What's your take on arm-fatigue that farss mentioned as a possibility?

The contraption I have may be a little different from what was shown in the original post. Mine results in LESS arm fatigue.

The only problems with DeShaker are that (1) it takes a loooong time to stabilize a lot of footage, and (2) it softens the image slightly.

You can dramatically reduce the time it takes Deshaker to perform if you choose "every 4th pixel" during pass 1. For many situations this produces results that are almost as good as the "ultimate" quality recipe I tried to create in my "tutorial." The image softness has been discussed in other threads, and I don't have a solution to that.

Can someone tell me why a monopod wouldn't be ideal for these smaller cams?

My glib answer: because they don't work. The only thing a monopod does is get rid of small hand tremors. However, I find it very difficult to control the horizontal motion that results from the camera's tendency to want to pivot atop the monopod "pole." Even the vertical is not as steady as I would have expected because as the unipod moves back and forth slightly, it makes the picture go up and down. Maybe if I spent more time with it, I'd be able to get good results.

OHhhhha A TK-76, I stil have a functioning TK-86, the viewfinder gave out years ago. Tubes are shot!

The camea minus battery must weight 20lbs. Take it from an old run & gun, Put on a wide angle adapter, use enough light to close down your iris "or add a touch of gain" and your depth of field will go on for ever! Don't forget the BVW110 3/4 recorder you had to carry too!

That was how we shot news on the run, art was not the objective,

Paul,
Here's the one I bought: http://www.studio1productions.com/dvbrace.htm . Simple design. Not as comfortable as I'd hoped but very adjustable. I haven't used it much yet but I can see how the arm can get tired. Most of the weight is on the front unless you really pull it up close and use the eyepiece. Then you can hold your arms in close and let the brace take more of the weight and use your body to help stabilize.
Randy

Randy, I've spent a lot of time on Studio 1's site and they have some nice products. I've been referred to so many places today, my head is spinning.

This one looks like a good buy. It appears from the animated gif that it's easy to hold up to the eye and also down a bit so that the LCD screen can be used. Cheaper than the studio 1. So I'll be doing a little more research and pondering over what I really want in the next few days. Still like the appearance of flexibility and cost that DV Moves shoulder brace offers, although it might possibly be fatiguing for long periods of time (filming a wedding probably wouldn't work well with this).