Michael Reedy

Hey Dark, I also have a Magiqcam II and was experiencing exactly what you are describing here. I found the easiest way to minimize (but not completely eliminate of course) this effect was to make up some mild steel (very cheap and pretty heavy) plates that sit under the quick release camera mount. Then just wrap them in black electrical tape for looks. Longer screws needed to be sourced to hold it together again, but the result was 100% better! Also on the modification side of things we ran the cable through the post and added a junction box that sits on top of the battery. The junction box/battery and monitor is removable so I can take it as a self powered field monitor where ever I need it. Also adding a (very cheap at $250 in total) wireless transmitter that runs off the junction box. the plates wrapped in electrical tape Monitor with battery and (waits for laughs...) home made junction box :D Monitor velco'd to battery Hope anything here helps. Any other questions, swing away.. m.

alrighty, Well Leigh, a little about me hey, not too much to say... I've always been a bit of a movie freak, I work in a video store and we just muck around making small corporate vid's and the odd short film. As for any steadicam training, no, as the demo will dictate :D (Just on that note, I have no way to host it sorry though can email if you are bored just post your email address) Unfortunately, I don't have all the files on my computer (editing was done on another machine) so there are just a few shots I could find, all including my trademark 'headroom... what headroom?' shots with a bit of 'out of frame' thrown in :P I wasn't too fussed with the no training thing and filming straight up as we are just having fun at the moment. The main reason for no training is the rig turned up a few days before the shoot (ordered Dec. 9th delivered about March 8/9th), then I had to buy a monitor (as mentioned in original post) the night before the shoot. Hope that helps, m.

haha a very true point steadidane, I completely understand where you are coming from! I guess I got caught up in the 'I look indestructable in this rig, so i must be?' state of mind. Thankfully the rig and camera are both my own... though i'm sure it still wouldn't be fun going through the insurance route, "no I swear, it just fell apart in my hands!" haha Sorry about no footage as yet, I've just received an offer to shoot a doco in Austria, airfare and expenses covered which is pretty sweet so i'm in the middle of organising that at the moment. safe flying to all, (I should heed my advice :P ) m.

Hey all, Well, it's a day after my first filming with my rig (magiqcam IIa). After it arrived in the mail, I squeezed in an hour or two's practice and bought a monitor the night before filming, so I was a little cautious of what to expect. We entered the 15/15 film competion (make a film up to 15 minutes in 15 hours) so with time constraints, every shot, minus one i think, was through the rig... Still a little sore :D It was such an awesome experience, and besides the pain, I rarely wanted to take off the rig. Regardless of the 3 hours sleep the night before <_< zzzz... Shot construction was interesting at best :blink: My humble praise goes out to all the working operators, making it look so easy! You guys (and girls) are an inspiration!! There was one shot in particular that had me walking all over the office furniture... After two takes we had to move on, only after reviewing the footage at the end of the night did I realise a large bump when jumping down from a desk to a chair to the floor... too late! Thankfully there was a second cameraman there shooting behind the scenes that was interested in shooting a few scenes, so that helped while I jumped into the editing seat to rest up.. Will post some footage as soon as I can, thanks for reading my awfully long post :) Kind regards and safe operating, m.

Okay back again, after a 70+ hour week <_< I'm getting much closer to a solution for batteries. Any opinions on these would be great... Batteries: cheaper cells and quality no doubt, just means I can buy more of them :D http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...me=STRK:MEWA:IT Mount: I know it's for the back of a camera but is this close to what is being used on rigs? http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...mMakeTrack=true Monitor:I can't really afford the top line models here so budget will have to do. My question with the monitor is 400 nits bright enough? http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...me=STRK:MEWA:IT I know I can't get everything for the cheapest price and expect it to work like pro gear, but would this be a suitable setup to get started with? Thank you again for the any feedback... michael.

Greetings all, As a bargain priced stabilizer there is the magiqcam to consider http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...ssPageName=WDVW As a relatively inexpensive product, I think just about anyone can afford one (mine is in the mail :D ) not 100% sure on performance yet, but will update after it arrives. Now if $1650 isn't a bargain price in this industry, then I think we're expecting a little too much! Just my thoughts... now back to the arguing :P michael.

haha glad to hear you made it in one piece! How are the legs feeling? Back to normal I hope :) So how did your footage end up, was it worth all the pain? 3 1/2 hours, I bow to you :P Merry Christmas all, michael.

First of all congratulations on the new purchase Job, it looks great!! An early christmas pressent I think most of us would love under the tree you lucky son of a gun :P Just wondering what, if any, other rigs you weighed the Gold against before buying?? keep us posted with some footage when you get a chance... Happy flying,

Okay, after a little research towards NP-1 batteries i've come up with another question or two (hey this IS the newbie section :D ) Question 1, do i absolutely have to get a 12V battery or is a 13.2V or 14.4V also suitable, is there a recommened brand/model number? And the second question is in regards to the mount, most of the ones i've come across so far seem to be for the back of the broadcast cameras. Is there a particular recommended mount to offset the XL1 and similar sized cam's, would a single or dual be more advantageous? Thanks again much appreciated,

wow! thanks for the quick reply Mithch. As for the mount it's as follows Universal Battery Mount Plate Used to mount an external monitor battery pack so your guess is as good as mine there. I never even though of things such as the old cordless drill, thanks for the heads up :) I'll be looking into the NP-1 side of things first (then no doubt off to the Bunnings/Menards or equivalant hardware store with my piggy bank) Stay cool,

Hey guys (and girls of course) I've just shelled over a measly (in the steadicam field anyway) AUD$2500 on a Magiqcam IIA to get used to this awesome career, hobby, excercise activity or however you hold it dear to you. Sorry the point of my post is, now I am faced with choosing a battery option.... Instead of speanding $2500 again on a bunch of name brands, are there any bettery companies out there that offer an 'acceptable' performance for the entry level price bracket??? Not sure if it helps at all, but I will be powering an XL1 on this mini rig. Thank for the help guys a pleasure as always,

I've got a fever, and the prescription is more cow bell. HAHA love that avatar David! I finally caught about 10 minutes of Las Vegas, quite a catchy show. Keep up the good work!!