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My steadicam Dilemma

Those who read forums such as DVinfo will be aware that I am ready to plonk down some readies for a camera stabiliser. I have always been fascinated with them. Back when I used to shoot on an XM1 I used a handheld Glidecam and used it everywhere I could. But when I moved up to using larger cameras my Steadicam® dream was brought to an abrupt halt. If I was to be a Steadicam® op it would require heavy investment in a rig, and then dedication to only being a Steadicam® op and nothing much else.

I would have been prepared to do this, but I am involved in production from script to screen. With a big rig the financial investment would have been huge. Now a number of years on and I am ready to buy a rig. Not anything like an Ultra or an MK-V AR, but something along the lines of a Steadicam® Flyer LE.

Nothing lifts a production quite like subtle, invisible use of a Steadicam®. By that I mean to say that beyond the big sweeping shots that you may see in wedding videos such as those by the really rather talented Canadian Company Stillmotion, instead I find the best use of Steadicam® to be subtle.

Take a look at the West Wing and how operator Charles Papert masterfully uses the rig at low speeds and with intricacy. Slow, subtle Steadicam® is much harder to do than big sweeping Steadicam®, and one of the signs of a good operator is how they handle the rig at low speeds and during lock offs.

Because using a Steadicam® is such a high skill many people purchase devices such as the Flyer and they end up gathering dust because of the effort involved. I on the other hand have no intention of doing this. I know what is involved and have used rigs before. I want a camera stabiliser, I'm ready.

My main camera at the moment is the EX3. My 510 is doing a great job as a cupboard filler. I had thought about upgrading my camera again to something like the 350. But then I came to my senses and realised a few things.

1. A camera upgrade doesn't necessarily translate into higher production value (and therefore better value for the client).

2. Most of the times that I don't shoot with the EX3 I am shooting with equipment provided by the client.

3. There are a lot of Steadicam® ops out there, but there aren't a lot of truly great ones. Great skill is highly valuable and Steadicam operation is something that not everybody can do.

4. If I got a lightweight rig I would be limited in the cameras that I could fly. But I want to hone my skills first. If my skills get good enough for requests for higher end Steadicam® work and I have to turn them down due to lack of equipment then I will reevaluate. Or I could hire in a larger rig.

Ideally I perhaps would have liked an Archer. An Archer (now the Archer 2) can fly a good range of gear, and would be a better bet than the Flyer LE for cameras such as the Red. The trouble is that it is £10k more than the Flyer for just the base version.

I decided that a rig such as the Flyer LE would be best for me as a private owner/operator for the types of cameras that I usually use. Another option for an upgrade path could be purchasing MK-V modular parts as and when I can afford them (they ain't cheap!) In fact it should be possible to gradually build a sled and modify the mount point on the Flyer arm. The Flyer LE can in fact handle much more than its official rated capacity of 19lbs. The real limitation is how much the gimbal on the sled can take.

Build a new sled and this problem goes away. The build can be continued with a new arm eventually. In fact i know that such a mod can be done because Charles Papert has done this very thing with his "Nimblecam"!

This gives a very gradual upgrade path and would be finalised as a full on MK-V rig. Many will probably disagree with this way of doing things, but I don't usually do things in a normal fashion.

So anyway, I'm rambling now. Those who read DVinfo will know that I was trying to decide between a Glidecam X-22 and the Steadicam® Flyer LE.

I went to CVP Mitcorp to test out the X-22. I was sceptical at first since I had used previous Glidecam body mounted rigs and had not been impressed with them. In fact I had hated them along with pretty much any low cost body mounted rig that wasn't made by Tiffen.

The X-22 as it turned out was different. It felt like a real Steadicam®. it looked great and the build quality is fantastic. The sled pole is thick and strong, and has a nice gimbal grip. Unlike other non Tiffen makes I managed to get the X-22 both statically balanced and dynamically balanced very quickly indeed. The vest fitted well, and it had all the tools free socket block adjustments you'd find on the benchmark make.

in short the X-22 is an absolutely fantastic rig. It costs less than the Flyer and it can handle 4lbs more. So why am I not buying one?

The reason is that it doesn't suit me as much as the Flyer. The X-22 doesn't come with a case or a stand, but importantly for me the Tiffen UK offices are easy for me to get to and I know their support and advice for owners is fantastic. Lastly the X-22 isn't a Steadicam®. That is a very shallow thing for me to say, but some clients are like that and having "Steadicam®" written on it sometimes counts for something!

But don't misunderstand me, in another time, another place I would have gone for the X-22 in a heartbeat. For anyone out there considering a lightweight, low cost rig, the X-22 delivers in spades. It really is a very nice rig indeed and it has singlehandedly changed my mind about non Tiffen body mounted rigs.

So, the Flyer LE it is for me.

Update: I did in fact go for the Glidecam X-22 in the end. Have I given up on getting a Steadicam? Nope. Not an inch of it. But for now the X-22 will allow me to get lots of practice on a nice rig without having to spend a ton of cash. To be an effective Steadicam operator for hire you need more than just a rig. You may need a secondary backup rig in case something fails. You need wireless follow focus, again with backup spares. You need every type of cable under the sun to cope with the myriad of different camera, sound, systems out there, you may need wireless monitoring too. The investment in such a system is nothing short of huge, and I don't believe that it can be done in halves. You could get a used rig, say an older Steadicam model such as the EFP. But in order to be able to hire yourself out you need not only the skill, but also all those cables and spares I mentioned.

I'm soaking up info and operational tidbits like a sponge. It is like starting martial arts all over again for me. I want to learn the skill, and use it in my corporate productions to raise production value. I am taking the training very seriously though. I want to be good at operating. Very good. I know of some who have splashed out on big rigs after one training workshop. These are the guys that have all the gear and no idea. I'd like to learn the skill without fear of being "That Steadicam operator who messed up our shoot"!

Steadicam® is a registered trademark of Tiffen.

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