Nik Kuo

Looking to purchase a used Merlin arm & vest combo. I already own the Merlin, but am looking to extend my time using it during the day (my arm is WEAK...) I'm in Los Angeles, CA. Thank you!

Hey there, I haven't been on the site for awhile. Nice to see there are others in the same situation as myself. I read your blog, and I agree with what you're saying. The camera does seem a little too light to get completely steady. I've tried adding accessories onto the camera to make it heavier, but it doesn't seem to help all that much. I also tried using the cookbook spreadsheet. Let me see if I can get the specs for ya. Nik

I could be totally wrong, but that seems like an awful lot of weight for as light of a camera as the HV30. Wouldn't that make it bottom heavy?

Hey Ivan, The process has indeed been frustrating. The worst part about it is that half time time, I don't know if my camera is truly in balance, or if I just stink at handling the rig. If there was a way for me to know that I'm balancing the camera right, then I would be content in trying to master the flying portion. But trying to fly an unbalanced rig would be futile. So I don't know where I stand right now! It seems to be balanced, but it sways ever so slightly by itself. Thanks for the comment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK0WP0TEGSw I just posted a test run that I did an hour ago. I know that I stink, but I really hope that it gets better with practice. Also, I had some slight juddering in my video... I think it may have something to do with the image stabilization feature that I forgot to turn off on my camera. Comments and discussion are welcome! Am I the only HF100/Merlin owner here? Nik

Hey guys, well, after consulting the manual, DVD, and then finally the online merlin cookbook Magic Formula plugin calculation page, I've come pretty close to balancing it. It's not perfect, but I think that it's definitely a GREAT starting point. I had to weigh my HF100 with the BP-827, dm-100 shotgun mic, and canon wide angle lens... everything came out to 1.7 pounds. I then had to measure from the center of the attached lens, straight down to the bottom of the camera (estimated about 1.5 inches). I plugged those numbers into the calculation page, and it gave me a list of possibilities, for the different options of starting front weight. I chose to use the option with one front weight, because the manual said to use at least one front weight with light cameras. Then I just followed the numbers from there, measuring out the calculated arc distance, as well as mid and finish weight for the bottom, the inch for the stage and how much the fore/aft screw was measured in inches from the front of the stage. Even doing this, the balance was very off. But at least it got me started. Then, I carefully tweaked the fore/aft and side to side rollers, according to how my camera was tilting. So after about an hour and a half, I got a pretty steady rig. I can move my merlin laterally, from side to side, and the camera pretty much stays centered without a whole lot of pendulum action. However, the camera still tends to want to rotate to the left, by itself, if I start it centered and then let it go. Anyway, my advice is to get your hands dirty and measure it all out. The calculations page is invaluable and gives a wonderful starting point, on which you continue to tweak. I hope to post a sample video of how stable my picture is. By no means am I a skilled merlin handler! I'm still learning. But maybe it'll give a little hope to anyone who hasn't yet balanced their rig. Nik

Thanks for the tips, guys. I just purchased the Merlin, and am trying (so far unsuccessfully) to balance my HF100, with a BP-827, the think 4-hr battery. I'm going to have to balance from scratch, weighing it, measuring it, etc. I though I could try to balance it out by tweaking and by feel, but after a couple hours, I gave up! I'm gonna try again tomorrow, and this time, I'll try it properly. I'll let you all know how I do tomorrow. Nik