Herman Wong

Thank you! Much appreciated!

I did a bit of searching in this forum but there really hasn't been much useful information about exactly how to open up the Pilot/Flyer gimbal. There have been maybe 2 posts dating back many years ago, but not a whole lot of details. Could someone tell me how to remove the cover piece that shrouds the bearings (is there even a cover piece) ? Also please ignore the wiring which I had not fully removed yet. Basically I got the gimbal separate from the post, but I am unable to figure out how to open it. There are no more screws or holes to insert spanner tool and remove cover (as I've been watching similar vids on Youtube). The outer ring that connects to the yoke I can't really do anything with. That leaves the black ring in the middle, but I'm not sure where to go from there.

I just recently purchased this monitor mount mod + yoke assembly for my Pilot and have been pretty happy with it! Prior to this monitor mount, I used the standard Pilot mount with my 7" monitor. Due to the design of my monitor (relatively thin), there was very little surface area contact at the base of the monitor and mount. As such, it was easy for the monitor to slightly rock backwards and forwards on the mount no matter how tight I turned the 1/4" screw. While flying, if not careful, vibrations could be picked up by the monitor and exaggerated leading to slight jitters. The new single monitor mount solved this problem for me and gave me a larger surface area for the monitor to rest on. Plus, having it on rails finally lets me easily adjust monitor position easily for easier to rebalance. I have the yoke assembly should I ever decide to upgrade the monitor in the future. Everything came neatly packaged and bubble wrapped. The pieces were machined very well - very professionally done! Putting it all together only took a couple minutes. Very happy with the results and it looks great! Thanks Lau.

Yup maybe he's still waiting on getting enough ppl to sign up for the mount modification?

I think I'd be interested in this. Question about the yoke - will it only be designed for Marshall/Steadicam monitor? Will there be ways to support other 7" monitor vendors? (which would mean the dimensions of the display would be different) -- perhaps through some way of adjustments on the yoke itself.

I did find another source for vibrations and that is on the monitor. Since I've replaced the stock monitor I cannot use the provided monitor bracket which has an anti-rotation screw. I've added a layer of velcro to prevent my monitor from twisting but it seems it's giving some room for the monitor to flex forward/back. Going to have to look into this further as well.

Very informative thank you! And yes apparently that was the same person (Devin) I was referring to who was filming handheld.

Oh hey David :) Yes last time we met I did make adjustments to shorten the rig. Additional weights at the bottom (as you mentioned) to increase inertia and some at the top stage as well. Perhaps added about 2 pounds overall. Actually I wouldn't be surprised if it was trying to fly away from me - hence the extra gripping I need. While not running it's perfect and behaves in a controlled manner so I'm assuming the threads are correct? And possibly it's my posture during running that needs work. Thanks

I have a Pilot and I'm looking for tips on running. Basically the main issue I see is that as soon as I start moving at a relatively quick pace, I start seeing vertical jiggles in the video. I've narrowed down the issue to the vibrations transferring from either my left hand on the gimble/post, or to my right hand on the handle (most likely the latter). Running at high(er) speeds makes it more difficult to keep the camera/post in control which makes me have the tendency to try to keep it in control, resulting in more contact/gripping of the handle. I also look at my feet control and rather than taking large strides like one would normally do while running, I take smaller controlled steps. The main problem is that it becomes difficult to reach the high speed I want and it gets really tiring. So just looking for tips on what works for you. Now I am in no way comparing stabilizers/technique here... but I recently watched a parkour video based on the Assassin's Creed video game. It was shot on Glidecam 4000 with a RED and no vest, so you can imagine the sheer weight the camera op had to hold during each shot. Now what intrigued me was how he was able to film high speed running scenes with nary any jiggles like what I'm seeing -- and I'm not even running as fast as him.

Thanks for the update! It is looking quite nice. Can you clarify the instructions on where you slip the grip on? You mentioned 2 screws which split the posts ... which ones are you referring to? (maybe just draw a red arrow or something)

Seeing how similar the Pilot and Zephyr are, will this wrap also fit the Pilot?

Thanks Elliot, that explains why I am having problems with this. I'm probably only around 5lbs but I have extended the post to help with stability.

Do you have a photo of your setup?

Ah hmm looks like I have not been doing it properly. I should be using my thumb to counter the pedicular motion when the camera is in lateral position, and not my pinkie. I'll have to work on this some more. Thanks

Hi guys, Thanks. Yes I do understand that there are different grip positions required for accel and decel. I think my problem is that by extending the pinkie and making it rigid to prevent the bottom from moving towards me, it tends to be in a position that either pushes the pole out too much or not enough to keep it vertical. It's not bad if I walk slowly but as soon as I run/walk fast, the slanting become more prominent.

I'm flying with a Pilot and a DSLR. I just wanted to gather some thoughts about trying to reduce pendulum swinging motion when the rig is perpendicular to me (e.g. panned 90degrees so I can circle around a subject). With the LCD and battery now both perpendicular to my body, when I accelerate, the mass of these push the rig towards me. I am using the 5-finger technique and my pinkie to attempt to push against the centerpost to counter that, but I feel that there is more pendulum motion than if the rig was in Missionary position. Plus, even with the pinkie, it's difficult trying to keep the post 100% vertical. I notice the pendulum motion more when the rig is perpendicular because my subject will appear slanted, whereas in Missionary position, pendulum motion would translate into slight tilting in video (which I guess is less noticeable). At the moment the rig is set up with 2.5sec drop time. Does it make sense to turn this into 3 secs? My physics is a little rusty but I'm thinking that by moving the gimbal closer to the cg, the perpendicular force applied to the gimbal during acceleration would have less effect on the bottom part of the rig which (I hope) results in less pendulum motion. So I'm not sure if my physics thinking is right or not. Does it make any sense? I understand it's a matter of preference but what are the benefits for people to consider a 2.5s over a 3s drop time?

Thanks for the link Frederic! A belt upgrade would definitely be helpful!

Yup I plan to take a workshop but unfortunately it would have to be next year. In the meantime I'm practicing the basics via EFP/Steadicam Op Handbook/Flyer manual which should help immensely for the workshop. A loose vest certainly doesn't help during practice. Could be that my hips are not very wide (I've got a relatively slender body frame) so I think I'm really going to have to pull that bottom hip strap really darn tight then.

I need some help with my Pilot vest. There are no buckles... all purely velcro straps. With the arm in place there is more weight on the right side of the vest which over a short period of time when I move, it causes the vest to slightly rotate to the right. The center spar is no longer centered and is shifted to the right. Any suggestions on what to adjust here? Is the bottom hip strap supposed to be super super tight? Currently there is a little bit of room (not easy tightening the bottom when the whole thing is velco. if only it was a belt/strap). But if I were to push/pull the bottom to either the left or right, I would still be able to rotate it around my body. Or maybe I need to tighten the chest straps?

Thanks for the step-by-step photos. I just finished adding in HDMI cable + 7" LCD and also fished in a battery cable the same way to power my GH2 externally. +1 with the RC4 QR system. The only thing I don't like about it is how annoying the lever is to release the camera.