Ryan Forte

Hey Everyone, I’m looking into getting a real Steadicam kit for Narrative Work. I currently work mostly as an AC. I also do a decent Camera/Movi/Ronin Operator & Tech for commercials. I have a Zephyr and at the moment that I have been practicing and shooting whatever I get the opportunity to do with that. I plan to buy a Sled, Arm & Vest I can fly real narrative camera packages in the near future. Looking for recommendations from more experienced operators to tell me what they would choose to buy. Sled - Arm & Vest 1. If budget was of no concern? 2. What older used kit they would look for if one was available? Thanks in advance for any help or time you have spent reading/posting here.

Hey Scott, This was incredibly helpful. I believe you were right. I am probably expecting too much from these gimbals. I will say that the Zephyr gimbal is nicer than the Aero and my limited experience with the flyer. It turns out I already had the tool in my Ifix it tool kit. I definately made the mistake of adjusting them seperately without doing it equally as I jumped in without understanding entirely the process, but I believe its spaced propperly now. My only concern is there is a very tiny amount of play now. I think I will attempt to tighten it a touch equally. Between the information on the "Master Series Gimbal Balancing" and some mass distribution issues pointed out by Joel. A little more adjustment and I think I'll be back out there practicing soon. Deeply appreciate the sharing of info here!

Yeah that is exactly what I thought. The posts are stock what comes with the kits. Nothing is moving on the rig it’s ridged as hell! I’ve been an AC for years I never make a sloppy build especially for steadicam. Tiffen was telling me a special tool to center the gimbal myself. Do you think that one would be capable? Or you think they need to be sent in for repair? Thanks for the reply.

In efforts to try and post more on the forum rather than Facebook. I am new to steadicam but I do believe to have a basic understanding of balance and have worked with 3axis gimbals for years. I have two sleds currently in my possession that are exhibiting similar but slightly different issues for what I believe to be a misalignment in the gimbal or yoke. Let’s forget dynamic balance for the moment. If I am setting up for a static balance with a 2.5 second drop time and I should be able to set the Fore-Aft and Side to Side to sit level with the lens facing forward and the gimbal 90* to the right and I rotate the rig by 90* and let the rig come to a rest the horizon shouldn’t fall left or right when static balanced correct? My only concern with my setup is on the Zephyr I have a gold to V mount adapter That is offsetting the batter left a bit. my goldmount batteries get here Monday. Attached are links to my links to videos I made to show Tyson at Tiffen about the Aero 30. The first one I believe my dynamic balance was pretty off and in the second video I corrected it as much as I could. Would love to get everyone’s thoughts on this because I feel like I’m doing everything right but the equipment seems off. My lacking of experience makes me question myself to and my camera build. I had even more of an issue getting dynamic balance on the zephyr with the same camera package as in the video so I switched to a weight cage to eliminate any variables with the camera build. Thanks!

I bought mine from Justin Browne jbsteadicam@gmail.com Great guy and the SOS receiver works well!

I noticed the Dtap appears to be limited to 5A on the Aero 30. Could you run an alexa mini with a single channel wireless focus & teradek on from the Dtap to avoid running a battery on the camera? It seems like that would blow the fuse. Especially on the new Mini LF.

A friend owns the A30 arm and Vest when he purchased a Steadimate system for the movi a while back. I was all setup to do the Tiffen gold workshop right as the pandemic came through so now all I've got is the handbook a vest and arm. Would be great to get some practice in! I'm looking to get a sled that will work with his stuff if anyone has something compatible laying around they want to get rid of send me an email. fortenox@gmail.com

https://www.newsshooter.com/2019/05/31/sony-venice-version-5-0-firmware-90fps-at-6k-2-391-and-72fps-at-6k-179/ V5 Firmware now offers 180* Flip

Hey Sinisa, I have used both RT Motion and I currently own a full 3x Motor FIZ Chrosziel Magnum kit. By far the capabilities of the Magnum blows the RT Motion out of the water. Their are other factors that do effect how you feel about the product and what your intended use is for it. If your clients/crew aren't wanting a Preston or Arri system then the only argument to make is functionality and features. The nice thing about the magum is the motors are standard 7 pin lemo motors which means you can use just about any popular focus motor on the market from Heden (my personal favorite), Preston, Redrock, Bentz and Chrosziel even makes their own much which is fantastic. RT Motion is a good working system that has never failed in use, but it is a closed system only RT Motion motors will work on RT Motions reciever. They are both capable of 3 motors, but the Magnum hand unit has real hard stops built into it which depending on what you are doing can be an incredible tool. The knob also has the ability to adjust friction in the turn and the RT Motion 3.1 is locked at one levlel of fluidity which is a little more on the slow/harder to turn side. The one feature that is hands down the best thing that no one else has is the spectrum analizer combined with the ability to do MHZ (with the attenna attached) and GHZ (via internal antenna. I was working in a courthouse doing B Roll with a steadicam operator for a documentary and the entire GHZ frequency had crazy interference from wifi and other wireless signals I'm guessing. I couldn't get farther than a few feet from the camera without the signal getting whacked out. Because of the MHZ function I was able to slap on the antennas and move on to get the shot. Aside from that if for some reason nothing is working wirelessly you can just connect a BNC/SDI cable from the reciever to the hand unit and it will work under any conditions. I know RT Motion is popular, but I sat down at a rental house near me that has and compared the magnum with Preston HU3 & MDR3 and Arri WCU4 w/CForce Mini/Plus & CLM motors with MDR 1 to 1 with the most difficult to focus lens I could find (35mm T2.1 CP.2 Zeiss) and did a 1 to 1 test. I found that with Heden Motors the Magum system performed equally to all three systems. The only thing missing with the magnum is Lens Mapping (Which Chrosziel Says they are Working On) and exclusively with the WCU4 you can get wirless control of Arri Cameras especially with their Alexa Mini. The RT Motion like I said holds up well in performance it's just a closed system with service based in England (I could be wrong but last I heard service was in England.) Even though Chrosziel is a german company they use Radiant Images in LA to handle repairs so their is always someone in the US to help you if it goes down. The final feature I love is the User Buttons you can program to do whatever you like and their is 4x I love saving time without digging through menus. Their are tons of other nice features, but these were highlights for me. Most of the times the first thing to wear out while in use is the focus motor. It's good to have backup and the fact that the Magnum takes any 7 Pin motor you will always be able to find something quickly to get you back up and running. The most important thing to remember is it's all about getting the shot. Whatever you choose make sure you can depend on it day in and day out. If you get to know Timm Stemann you will always have someone you can call if you panic or need help. A generic 1-800 number the Redrock or any of the other guys can really suck. Hope this helps! I have plenty of shots of the magnum in action on my instagram: @fortenox feel free to take a look.

I originally was thinking Preston Preston Preston, but after looking into the Arri system more there AMC-1 and CForce Mini Motors being ultra compact for gimbal work and still FIZ if I need to with RED and ultimate Arri Control without an MDR I'm having trouble wanting to go the Preston route. I'm going to a nearby rental house to test out both units next week. If anyone else had other feedback I'd be happy to hear from someone who's more experienced than I am Ive got a very open mind. Would potentially want to be setup to pull focus for features that come into town as well...

I used a PD Move single channel system for a few months as a bonus to shoots that didn't have enough budget for AC and WFF in the first place so this was just an extra we Had fun testing. I would never bring it on a paid Job, but for someone learning how to pull focus and wants to educate themselves on the responsibilities of a first AC not a bad Idea. The Motors are huge for something that's not strong enough to turn a 35 CP.2 without a serious half second or more delay but ran at twice the speed on the rest of the CP.2 set can't figure out. It's a fun little toy but not a serious tool and they put the channel switch where a camera r/s button should go and you will find yourself constantly hitting the button by accident and changing the channel on the handset so mid turn it just cuts out... Lots of problems, but like I said better than having nothing and good for learning not for paid work!

Trying to figure out if I should be buying an Arri or Preston Focus System? I mostly shoot on Red Epics, but occasionally work on shoots with Alexa XT/Mini. 50% of my work is Macro Food & Jewelery on Jibs, Dollies etc and the other 50% is Movi for Aerial and Handheld. I really am leaning to go with the Preston HU3 and the new MDR4 because it seems to be there first lightweight receiver option and all i worked on a Sony set in Pittsburgh and the whole crew 3 cameras was all Preston and were definitely enthusiastic about them! I did play with WCU4 on an Alexa Mini shoot for Fox sports during the World Series and was by far the nicest handset I've ever held. Really could use some input from other experienced professionals!