John, I'd be really interested to hear your impressions of how it works with your PD-150.

RalphM

John,
The brace looks like it would be awkward to operate the controls on the camera as it looks like it was designed to be held with TWO hands, not one. Let us know how you like it. It is certainly well priced.

John

I got turned on to the SpiderBrace by Wayne Orr, a cinematographer of some note. Here are some photos and comments from Wayne. He addresses most of the questions in the messages above:
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SpiderBrace1.jpg
Shows my PD150 mounted on the SB. The device is manufactured of PVC materials throughout. Only the two screws for the camera are metal. You can see that the unit is foam padded, which is nice for your grip. I will probably end up shaving a bit of the foam off the right hand grip to accommodate my Zoe zoom controller. The unit alone weighs mere ounces.

SpiderBrace2.jpg
In this head-view, you note that the camera is mounted directly above one of the two support handles. Good idea. One problem I have with the DV Rig Pro is the camera mounts between the two handles, which are wider apart. When you let go of either handle with the DV Rig, the weight of the camera causes it to tilt in the direction you just released. With the Spider Brace, if you let go with the left hand, the camera maintains its position. Of course, if you let go with the left hand... Note my posture with my elbows tight to my sides for stability. Since all the weight is over the right hand/arm, your left hand/arm is adding to the stable position. For walking shots you will want to elevate the elbows away from the body to smooth out your movements. As you can tell from the picture, it would be simple for me to use the lcd instead of the viewfinder. Use of the viewfinder with your eye against it does add to the stability, however.

SpiderBrace3.jpg
In the profile picture, you will again note that my arms are tight to my body to provide as stable a shooting platform as possible.
Even though I am hand-holding the camera, with this device and a wide angle lens, I can hold the camera virtually motionless for a considerable time. Also, note in this picture that this device would not be of much value if you wanted to use it with the lcd on the new Sony HDV cameras, since they are top-mounted.
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Note what Wayne says about the HDV cams in the last comment. It appears that it would work fine with the eyepiece viewfinder, but not with the top-mounted LCD.

John

John (craftech), that was going to be my question, too! Once you've mounted it, and you've got both hands full, how do you operate the camera?

[edit]
John (Cline), why did you pay $75 when the site says $59.95?

Leave on Auto?

. .but seriously - I'd stick a LANC somewhere .. I DO like the simplicity though!

Grazie

Wayne Orr knows his stuff but that thing looks uncomfortable----Let us know how it works in the real world---at that price it seems very reasonable.

Grazie, I thought of that, but where would you put it with all that thick foam?

Rip it off! - Easy! G

Jay, it's 59.95 plus $15 shipping.

Regarding mounting a remote zoom controller: Wayne Orr says he removed some of the foam from one of the handles and he mounted his Zoe controller. Marcos, the guy that designed and is marketing the SpiderBrace, says he's working on a new handle design that will accomodate a zoom controller.

John

... it's 59.95 plus $15 shipping.

Duhhh...

Think I'll wait for the new handle design, rather than butcher it. I'm not too good at "modifying" things!

See, I was correct!

Think Bates family?

Grazie