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what is the best rig to start on?


RYAN HILL

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what is the best rig to start on? anyone have recommendations ?

 

I do have a steadicam pro vid available to me should i start on that?

 

i need to fly pro HD cams like panasonic 900 or sony 800.

Tuff question. The provid cant handle HD signals, so you need to dowconvert the signal. The arm and sled cant handle to much weigt, but if you strip the camera down you might be able to get it in balance. The provid will limit you fast, so if your looking to invest in a rig i would reccomend something else. There is enough to find on the second hand market. The provid isnt a rig you can rebuild or upgrade. For learning, oh yes, go start flying with it. I started with an sk2 many moons ago. Buy a book, get a workshop and practise till you drop ;-)

 

Best

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what is the best rig to start on? anyone have recommendations ?

 

I do have a steadicam pro vid available to me should i start on that?

 

i need to fly pro HD cams like panasonic 900 or sony 800.

Tuff question. The provid cant handle HD signals, so you need to dowconvert the signal. The arm and sled cant handle to much weigt, but if you strip the camera down you might be able to get it in balance. The provid will limit you fast, so if your looking to invest in a rig i would reccomend something else. There is enough to find on the second hand market. The provid isnt a rig you can rebuild or upgrade. For learning, oh yes, go start flying with it. I started with an sk2 many moons ago. Buy a book, get a workshop and practise till you drop ;-)

 

Best

 

You are so kind Job,,,,

It should be better to leave your girl friend for a travel than to start with a Pro-vid (I had one).

Zephyr is, for me, one the best choices to begin and start flying steadicam systems... Any way , if you can get an "old" EFP well used and good priced, go go go...

It is only my opinion...

best...

..and agree... If you found a second hand Pro-vid, may be the CRT monitor was in it last second of life...

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  • 3 weeks later...
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what is the best rig to start on? anyone have recommendations ?

 

I do have a steadicam pro vid available to me should i start on that?

 

i need to fly pro HD cams like panasonic 900 or sony 800.

Tuff question. The provid cant handle HD signals, so you need to dowconvert the signal. The arm and sled cant handle to much weigt, but if you strip the camera down you might be able to get it in balance. The provid will limit you fast, so if your looking to invest in a rig i would reccomend something else. There is enough to find on the second hand market. The provid isnt a rig you can rebuild or upgrade. For learning, oh yes, go start flying with it. I started with an sk2 many moons ago. Buy a book, get a workshop and practise till you drop ;-)

 

Best

 

You are so kind Job,,,,

It should be better to leave your girl friend for a travel than to start with a Pro-vid (I had one).

Zephyr is, for me, one the best choices to begin and start flying steadicam systems... Any way , if you can get an "old" EFP well used and good priced, go go go...

It is only my opinion...

best...

..and agree... If you found a second hand Pro-vid, may be the CRT monitor was in it last second of life...

 

 

I have a seen a couple provids out there with nice HD monitor conversions, it can fly the sony 800 easily. Even the 24v addon battery conversions look good, extend the life of the rig, do the job just fine.

 

If you have the provid for cheap and it does the job what is the problem with that?

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Ryan,

 

Depends on your budget and what market segment (live TV, corporate video, event video?) you plan to work in or aspire to work in

 

If you can get a smokin' good deal on the SK for a "learning rig", go for it...but you will be limited by the lack of modern socket block and single section arm pretty quickly. It will fly the cameras you mentioned, I believe...but not much more. SD video is a non-issue. As noted, it can be upgraded if you really want to, but for framing you should be fine with SD.

 

Given the cameras you want to fly, a well-maintained EFP is a great budget rig. An Archer 1 is also a good choice, as is a used PRO rig. You will outgrow these much more slowly than an SK. The PRO rig is easy to upgrade due to its modular design, but my guess is that it will be more expensive on the front end, even used.

 

A new Zephyr is also a good choice...similar camera capacity as the SK, but with a modern socket block, a proper two-section arm, and an HD option. Vest is very similar in design to the SK vest. You will outgrow the camera capacity much faster than EFP if you start flying heavier cameras or lots of accessories. But it's very attractively priced and will likely hold a good resale value. I fly a Panny HPX500 with Canon broadcast lens, analog Bartech receiver and Heden motor, and have plenty of camera payload capacity to spare.

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  • 3 months later...

I have been working on and SK2 and have gotten some great footage with it. Yes having the single arm is a pain sometimes but there pretty damn cheap to get into if money is a factor. That being said a year later I am now looking to upgrade.

 

Good luck!

 

Josh

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