Rob de Jong

Hi, I have been looking a lot at electronic gimbals, but became less interested seeing all the troubles these can give. So now I am thinking of having a simple steadicam instead, maybe with a vest and spring arm. I have seen lots of Youtube test footage with many steadicams and I see very good results in general. The only thing that almost always comes back, however smooth the footage is, is the swinging weight at the botom of the steadicam, showed by an horizon that is often not level. Is there a way to fight this? Thanks, Rob

Hi, Having been in motion in the past, I returned now, after I have been photographing for years. My aim is to film behaviour of butterflies with the Pan GH5. I want professional looking footage, so I am trying to built up gear which enables me to do that. I need to be fast and mobile and realize that I will have to accept some sacrifices in image quality, but it should be as smooth as possible. During research on the web and talks with some friends in the filmworld, I came to several possibilities for a set-up. The most mobile option is a good steadicam, such type as Beholder DS1. But this will not entirely do what I want, especially for the vertical irregularities. Imagine me 'running' to a flower with 2 courting butterflies and wanting to create some motion/movement in the clip by, for instance, moving around the subject. I think that with a good steadicam I will be able to produce realtively smoot footage, but I want to even improve this. So, I was thinking of adding a spring to the system such as the Osmo Z-axis. Does anybody know a small steadicam which alllows me to take the stabilizing head of the handle and then add an existing or DIY z-axis stabilizing spring in between, without loosing control over the pan ant tilt features, nor over the stabilizing abilities of the steadicam itself???? Any other recommendations in getting what I aim for, are highly appreciated. Thanks, Rob