Placement of socket block (Pilot vest)

[Paul Kellett]

I know there's a lot of "do's and don't" with steadicam, i also know there's a lot of "do what's best for you".

I'm still in the stages of experimenting with my Pilot, yesterday i put the socket block adjustment right down near my hips, it's now level with, not above, the waist part of my vest, as soon as i put the vest and rig back on it instantly felt right, like an old shoe, no more stress on the lower back and i now get this flying with the hips thing, i can almost now walk hands free and swap my body from one side of the rig to the other without the rig changing path. Also i don't have the problem of my elbow hitting the ride adjustment knob anymore.

The lens is obvioulsy now lower, the back of my camera (EX1) is now just in front of my shoulder, i've got less head room during shots whereas before i had too much headroom, which sometimes required a tilt down. I'm about 5'9 tall, (or is that short).

I've been looking at photo's of other operators on the net and in the Operators handbook and none of the photo's show the socket this low.

So is having the socket block this low one of those "dont's" or one of the "do what's best for you" things ?

 

Paul.

Edited February 6, 2010 by Paul Kellett

[Jess Haas SOC]

As far as lens height goes a lot of the time you are going to want the camera a little higher and tilted down instead of low and looking straight forward. Being closer to eye level just seems to look more natural for many shots and keeps you from seeing too much ceiling which is often very important as those pesky grips love to rig lights in the ceiling for steadicam shots(and we love them for it).

 

I don't know where you need the socket block to achieve this but it is something to keep in mind.

 

~Jess

[Paul Kellett]

Thanks Jess.

For me to bring the camera lens back up to my eye level would mean bringing the socket block up most of the way up the spar, or extend the post (it's already about half extended) and lower the gimbal to raise the camera.

I really like the way this set up feels though. Maybe my vest is set up wrong, i'm off to a workshop next month so maybe get some advice there.

 

Thanks, Paul.