Search the Community

South American operators please contact me. Native Spanish speakers please, with some English. Estoy en Bogotá. Contact me off line: dhmonroe.in.socal@gmail.com - Dave

Well, let me tell you why I'm asking this. I'm a volunteer camera operator for my local church and now we're embarking on a bigger project where we'll need steadycam shots. From my limited knowledge so far, there are only 2 local makers, and they price themselves in a price range pretty close to the imported ones. For most indie or on-budget production teams, the imported rigs are not an option, as taxes are above 60% of the rig's original value. Most indie teams either use handheld stabilizers or rent a pro system (which on itself can become extremely expensive if you are trying to shoot an independent feature). Most of the crew I happen to know are shooting with either Canon DSLR's or Black Magic's Pocket, so there seems to be a good market for entry level vest-arm-sled systems. I'm partnering with a mechanical engineer from church and the camera crew to make our own prototype, which will be used to shoot our movie in September-October. I've been researching about it for the last 2 months, but I've known the principles behind a steadycam for quite a while, in spite of never having operated one. The mechanical engineer also happens to be a mechanical project teacher in a technical school, and he's able to propose a steadycam challenge for his next class' students, which will start in one week. The school usually covers materials costs of students' prototypes, so we could end up with several candidates for testing. We'll probably use for testing a T2i and a T3i. We should have the first test shots in about 2-3 months to show, but let me know what would you like in a rig Made in Brazil, which features, what price range would you be willing to invest, etc....

Hi all! I've moved to Stockholm this week from Brazil and I'm looking for other operators in town to talk to and get to know the locals. Let's meet up for a coffee or beer! Tack!