CatGriller for Steadicam Flyer

[Josh Blackman]

Hey Everyone,

 

Tried to extensively search the forum and apologize if I overlooked a solution to this problem.

 

I am trying to find an adapter to aid in quickly switching from flying the rig to placing it back on the sticks without having to attach/re-attach the dovetail everytime. I have contacted Markus from Baer-Bel whose "Catgriller" unfortunately will not work with the Flyer dovetail. Anyone know of any other products/solutions?

 

Much thanks for your help and suggestions.

 

Cheers,

 

Josh

[Joseph Stunzi]

Have you considered a standard quickrelease plate? Sachtler, Manfrotto, and all the major tripod manufacturers make them. Seems a lot easier to sandwich a QR plate between the dovetail and camera than to spend extra having something fabricated.

[Josh Blackman]

Have you considered a standard quickrelease plate? Sachtler, Manfrotto, and all the major tripod manufacturers make them. Seems a lot easier to sandwich a QR plate between the dovetail and camera than to spend extra having something fabricated.

 

 

Hi Joe,

 

Not sure if we're on the same page..What the Catgriller does is bypass the need to attach/reattach the dovetail in between shots. What I am looking for is an adapter of sorts that can be mounted to the fluid head via the standard Manfrotto QR plate, that essentially simulates the stage of the Steadicam. Thus allowing me to slide the dovetail attached to the rig right out of the stage of the Flyer and on top of the sticks, real quick.

[Mark Schlicher]

There is no Catgriller or similar accessory for Flyer/Zephyr/Archer dovetail. I've tried, I'd be delighted to be mistaken but I recently searched pretty hard.

 

Instead, the suggestion is to buy two Manfrotto plates. Attach the Manfrotto dovetail to your camera, one Manfrotto base to your Flyer dovetail, one Manfrotto base to your tripod dovetail. Then swap the camera (and Manfrotto dovetail) between Manfrotto bases.

 

Different road, same destination, for probably under $100.

[Joseph Stunzi]

Mark's suggestion is exactly what I was thinking would be a workable solution for you as well.

Now the question is, are you trying to use the Flyer dovetail for balancing on the tripod?

[rodney pike]

Hi Josh,from New Zealand,

yes I have just gone through this and two Manfrotto QR 577 kits works beautifully. One baseplate on the stage and one baseplate on the tripod. The camera baseplate obviously on the camera and you get a spare camera baseplate for a second camera- all now interchangeable. Cheap and very effective solution for me! I am using a Pilot with a Sony HXR MC2000.

Edited September 15, 2011 by rodney pike

[Tom MaCoy]

There is no Catgriller or similar accessory for Flyer/Zephyr/Archer dovetail. I've tried, I'd be delighted to be mistaken but I recently searched pretty hard.

 

Instead, the suggestion is to buy two Manfrotto plates. Attach the Manfrotto dovetail to your camera, one Manfrotto base to your Flyer dovetail, one Manfrotto base to your tripod dovetail. Then swap the camera (and Manfrotto dovetail) between Manfrotto bases.

 

Different road, same destination, for probably under $100.

 

 

Just browsing though some posts and came across this thread, and since you mentioned you'd be delighted to be mistaken I figured I'd throw my solution out there as well: scroll down to the section of the page under Plate at this website http://www.trmacoy.com/steadi/flyer.html to see the whole thing in action. Not exactly conventional, but I've found there's not much you can't do with some raw aluminum, a decent drill press, and a few thread taps. It's incredibly secure and has saved me on a couple shoots where we've been shorter on time than usual. The hardest part was just cutting the angle properly to mate snugly against the dovetail plate.

[Mark Schlicher]

Nice work!