Marcella Krings

I know what 'neutrally balanced' means and I know that choosing the right drop time for your shots is important and individually chosen. But for someone new to Steadicam who doesn't have much experience yet wouldn't it be easier to start with a certain drop time that is said to be working best on most of the shots instead of a neutrally balanced steadicam?

Hello everyone, I'm a Merlin owner myself and I've got a question concerning the "I can't get the Merlin (2) properly balanced"-problem so many people have. Somehow it seems to me like everyone wants to achieve neutral balance ("where it looks like the camera does not move at all when moving the Merlin around" like Cameron said) with the Merlin. But isn't it supposed to be a little bottom heavy? The drop time with a Merlin should be around 1 second while the one for a big rig is around 2-3 seconds. A shorter drop time means it's more bottom heavy and that results in a stronger pendulum effect. So when you move the gimbal around in space -- without steadying the sled with the other hand -- of course it would start swinging. So is it just me getting something wrong or are the discussions really about neutral balancing?

Thanks, Kevin, I will try!

Thank you so much, Jerry! I really appreciate your advice and I'll try my best!

Hello Steve, and thank you! :-) This is exactly the point why I'm here, to get answers no one else can give me. I haven't found anything about "When does it make sense getting into Steadicam business?". So I thought I'd try it here. My problem is that I don't know any Steadicam Operators near me. I'll have to take a closer look and ask around more. Starting here. Thanks for the advice!

Thank you all for your quick answers! If you mean the Steadicam Operator's Handbook, Osvaldo -- I got that one for christmas and find it really interesting! It has answered me many questions already and I'm not even halfway through. As for the Merlin, I thought about that option, too, and I think I'll go for it. I have to think it all through again, though. Eric, don't get me wrong, I don't think Steadicam's about "slinging the rig around". I understand that there is much more to it. Operating a Steadi is often compared to dancing, right? I am a dancer and I felt it when I had the rig on for the first time. Every dance has a story to it, so in a way we are storytellers, too. (I'm not saying it's the same just that it goes in the same direction.) Anyway, I get your point with the life experience. Lars, thanks for the welcome! I will try to contact some of them.

Hello everyone! My name's Marcella, I'm 17 years old and from Germany. I've been interested in Steadicams for about one or two years now (depending on how you define "being interested in something"). I consider going into film business as camerawoman or Steadicam operator later, but I'm not totally sure yet whether or not it really is the right thing for me. I love filming things with my group of friends (we make live shows and stream them on the internet or in our local TV), it's nothing "big" though. Whatever, I've got to finish school first anyway. I still got two years to go. When I first came into contact with Steadicams they caught my interest right away and during the last months I've been thinking about buying one. It doesn't have to be a big one. I’ve come to the conclusion a Pilot would be the right choice for me. I have only once tried the Glidecam of a friend before (the vest was too big for me though, it didn’t fit properly and hurt after a while). I still loved every minute of it. Anyway, do you think it might be too early for me to get a Steadicam with my 17 years? Should I save the money for when I’m older and more experienced in filming and get a big rig then? Or do you think it’s a good time getting one now and starting practice earlier?