David M. Aronson

I though I was the only person who operated in five fingers...

I've actually got a few pieces of advice. 1. It's not something that you can do every once in a while, You need to practice... A LOT! 2. If you use a smaller rig with a smaller camera, It's easier on your body, but harder to keep the camera stable; If you use a bigger rig with a bigger camera, it's harder on your body, but easier to keep the camera stable 3. If the director ever says something along the lines of, " We don't need to put the camera on a tripod for this next shot, you can just hold the camera still on your Steadicam!" Hit him/her over the head with the largest object posible Politely sugest that they put the camera on a tripod, the shot will turn out a lot better. (and then give them a "You must be crazy if you think I'm doing that" look) 4. Avoid bumping into things, people, and large aquatic mammals (small aquatic mammals such as dolphins and platypus are okay) 5. You will spend almost as much as the rig on accessories. It's somehow become agreed upon that Steadicam ops need to supply things like Bartechs (sometimes you need 2-3 for things like iris and zoom), power cables for every camera ever made, wireless video transmitters, batteries, vehicle mounts, more batteries, etc. 6. Have fun doing it. If you don't end the day exhausted, but with a smile on your face, you did something wrong.

Where can I get this set? That's all I can say!

I like AB batteries for 3 main reasons. 1. The mount is very secure. If I were to attach a battery to the ceiling using nothing but the AB Gold Mount, I bet I could hang from it. this leads me to reason 2 2. The batteries are built like tanks. My batteries take quite a beating on set (not from me; usually from careless PAs who drop the batteries and think nothing of it) I've never gotten rid of a battery because it broke. 3. They last for years. Compared to most other batteries on the market, AB batteries have the longest lifespan of any battery I've ever used.

Does the vest have ratchet straps?

Looking closely at this, it wouldn't surprise me if it was mostly an RC helicopter with a gyro rig of some kind. The next big thing in Steadicam though? My vote goes for self balancing sleds.

Make sure you get all the lint and dirt off of all of your clothing and your rig. It will light up like a Christmas tree under a black light.