Rob Glessner

Hello, We are close to buying our first Steadicam for your shop. Going to be a Zephyr and mostly flying a C300 with Canon CN E Prime Lenses but may use an Alexa Mini too. The consensus seems to be Gold Mount batteries over V-Mount. What type of Gold Mount battery is the best for battery life? Want to make sure we get efficient batteries but at the same time not batteries that weigh a ton either. Also curious about the various wireless follow focus and teradek systems. Seems to be quite a broad price range? I know some operators like to make sure their kit is equipped with a prompter and top light if necessary too. I'm a little concerned about the weight but ultimately I think we can get it under with Zephyr even with all this stuff. More concerned about getting quality accessories that are actually necessities. Pricing also seems to range for some of these systems too so curious about that too. I appreciate any feedback on accessories especially batteries and wireless follow focus systems. Thank you

Sounds like Gold Mount is the way to go. I'm curious which type of Gold Mount battery that everybody uses. Which is the best as far as battery life? If it's a bigger battery then might need to factor the weight as well. Also need to get a wireless follow focus system. I know Kevin also mentioned FIZ & Teradek to factor into the weight which we definitely will. What do you as operators think some of the best wireless follow focus systems are? Looks like there's a wide range of pricing for them as well. I appreciate all the feedback we are actually really close to making this purchase now after a few months of research and raising more funds. Thanks again

Appreciate all the feedback. Corey or Cameron, how do you power your Aero 30? We would look to get Canon batteries if we went with an Aero 30 package to make a lighter load. I'm wondering if the extra weight a Zephyr can hold becomes a moot point since it takes heavier batteries with either V-Mount or Gold Mount. The Canon battery option is very attractive since we are moving toward Canon family cameras. However, we'd like the option to fly our Mini too. Our heaviest potential package would be the 5lb Mini and a 3lb lens on the Steadicam just factoring the camera and lens. I need to figure out if that heaviest potential package would still work well on an Aero 30 or if it would be better suited on a Zephyr. And again I'm wondering if the batteries make a big difference in weight between the two rigs. Thanks again

Thanks for your reply Cizko Quevedo. Can you provide more information about your experience using the Zephyr? Like I said I'm trying to figure out what is best for my team since 4-5 people will potentially use the rig. I'd appreciate any feedback on the Zephyr or on the Aero 30 if you or anybody else has any experience and could share the pros and cons of each rig based on our needs. Thanks again!

Our shop is looking to get our first steadicam and based on our needs I think we are looking at the Aero 30 or Zephyr. We have three C300 Mark II Canons plus an Alexa Mini so relatively light camera packages. We have a series of Canon Prime lenses so we don't have a lens over three pounds. Looking to buy new and wondering if the Zephyr is worth the extra $5k? From reading other material on here it does appear the Zephyr is a better made product. However, it appears the Zephyr can only hold three more pounds than the Aero 30 holding up to 23 lbs as opposed to 20 lbs. We need a rig that 4-5 people on our staff will potentially use that can be a one-size fits all for beginners but at the same time be a quality product. The Aero 30 seems attractive because it can take a Canon Battery mount. Is the extra weight capability of the Zephyr a moot point considering the different types of batteries the two rigs could take? Based on our camera and lens package plus the number of people who could potentially use the rig, I'm wondering what Steadicam is best for us? I'd appreciate any information regarding the differences between the Aero 30 and the Zephyr. Thank you very much!