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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
07/14/09
However the Steadicam that this should be compared to is the Merlin which only costs $800 and will carry the same lightweight range of cameras as this design (there are third-party manufacturers from India and China making versions of this for even less-check eBay).
A $25K Steadicam will manage a basic RED configuration but not a 35mm sync sound camera--once you get to the full-size rigs, the base setup is $65K and with all the necessary accessories to work on features or network TV, more like twice that (and yup, I own and operate one).
07/15/09
07/15/09
This is great for camcorders, but anything that's a little heavy will require a vest too, which adds to the cost.
07/15/09
07/14/09
07/14/09
http://steadycam.org/
07/15/09
07/15/09
07/14/09
07/14/09
07/14/09
07/14/09
Don't you feel inspired to have children and follow them around the house?
I know I do.
Inspired, I tell ya!
07/15/09
07/14/09
Someone do a DIY Explosion and we can bring down the cost of Transformers 3 by half.
07/14/09
07/14/09
However, camera equipment is generally top-notch and for good reason.
A: Investors fund the films, they want return on investment, this means guaranteed results, which professional-grade equipment can come closest to doing.
B: If your ghetto steadicam fails in the middle of shooting your indie film that you're making for $5,000 total, no biggie. If it fails in the middle of a shot that costs $50,000 and can't be redone, that's a biggie, and it's a risk most DPs won't take.
07/14/09
07/15/09
given that most major movies have budgets around 50-100 million dollars, saving a couple hundred thousand by putting the entire quality of the film at risk isn't the brightest idea in the world.
07/15/09
But I can see what @DeeJayQueue is talking about. Those heavy cameras will probably crush something like this. I just don't see the justication for a $25,000 stedicam. I got an internship coming up so I guess I'll get to see how things works more on the scene.