Walter Klassen "suspender" rig for hand-held

[brooksrobinson]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the "suspender" hand-held attachment for Walter Klassen's back mounted vest? I've never used one, but it seems like an interesting idea for hand-held intensive shows. Has anyone tried one? Thanks in advance for any comments.

 

Brooks Robinson

bandmj@pacbell.net

[Erwin Landau]

Hi Brooks,

 

I think that Larry McConkey has the most time in and with the suspender rig, then Mike O'Shea and Charles Papert... Anthony Hardwick and Geoff Shots tried/used it on "Medical Investigation".

 

You should give Walter a call he was working on a update/replacement/improvment unit... as I was told should be a huge improvement over the current set up... and way more compact.

 

 

Erwin

[Charles Papert]

Brooks:

 

I used the system on a feature a couple of years ago. It may work beautifully for others, I ended up a bit discouraged. It's definitely worth trying out if you have to do a big handheld show with a lot of weight.

 

The main problem with the design of the Suspender (and the EasyRig) is that the camera is being hung from a pivot above its center of gravity, and the pivot is also so far above your own center of gravity that the slightest tip forward from your waist translates into a lateral and angular shift that results in the camera swinging forward like a pendulum. Standing still, it's not so bad (although there are weird moment-to-moment shifts that you can feel where you are acutely aware of your own balance changing in odd ways) but as soon as you take a step it's very hard to keep the camera from tilting up and down with that shift in the pivot point.

 

Also, there are height clearance issues (doorways!) and you need the help of an assistant to both load the camera and the Suspender arm onto your vest, which is a bit disconcerting.

 

However, the idea is a good one in terms of redistributing the weight of handheld off the shoulder. But as Erwin says, stay tuned to this channel...