WEBSITES TO BUY CAMERA STABILIZING SYSTEMS

[Phil Kindred]

Why don't we all--myself included--take a deep breath, exhale slowly, and calm down.  Friction is bad in a rig and no better in a forum.  Let's all calm down.

[Trevor Crump]

Well said Phil.

[David West]

Leigh,

please dont take this as a flame....

but you might want to rethink your ocncept of "market research".

for one, asking anyone HERE how much they would pay is not a reflection of the world market, but rather a
reflection of what a HOME BUILDER would be willing to pay...  Your end results from here could severely undercut your profits.

secondly,  i dont think that you can do any VALID market research until you are ready to disclose and describe your product.

ie-  i have this car that i am building and im waiting for the patents to clear...  How much would you be willing to pay me for this car?

well---   if sort of depends upon whether the car is more of a ferarri or a yugo doesnt it???

hopefully you can see my point...

if your design is unique and works better than anything out there you might also want to consider getting a professional operator with 15 or so years of experience to demo your rig...  that way the rig would show its greatest potential....

again, no hostility is meant here, only suggestions that you will hopefully view as sincere.
good luck with your design, and i look forward to its release.....

david

[Wade Francom]

I apologize, Leigh.

My apologies to everyone. Sometimes, to my friends, I like to "poke and prod" just to see what kind of a reaction I can get. Nothing I say is outside the boundaries of friendship.

I just wanted to motivate Leigh into being more open with us. Sometimes a little healthy debate is good, under the umbrella of friendship. There are 2 types of debate, in my mind... healthy provocative debate, and unproductive argumentative debate. I tend to think that getting Leigh to feel more free to converse with the HBS group is a good thing. Just trying to get him to think that way. Maybe I'm taking the wrong approach.

Anyhow, my sincere apologies, and I humbly step down from my pedestal.

[eniola akintoye]

Leigh, Joe, Makk and every one on this site.

Leigh replied me 11 days after my first post and no one replied until Jan 23. Hmmmmmmmm. I actually thought no one cared about meeeee

Anyways, for those asking where I reside, well, I am in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A and I am still in need of a  Pro. Stabilizing system.

I thought as much that the Steady shooter was a bit expensive " http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=6758&page=2&highlight=leigh " but actually guys, I am in need of something like this http://www.optexint.com/sales/stabilisation/course/5big.jpg

Some of you guys are right, these guys are selling this equipments for thousands of dollars and that doesn't mean that the equipments are good. Well, I aiin't gat thousands of $$$$ like some of you rich guys over here .... but I promise to add your information to the credit on this movie I am trying to make.

As for what I have right now .. $1,200. I know it is really small for those kinda stabilizers but trust me you are helping to build an insane film maker.

[Leigh Wanstead]

Hi eniola,

Nice to get your reply. I was thinking that you never come back to this thread.

Everything touches camera is dear. Robust camera tripod sells far more expensive than enginering tripod. I bought one second hand engineer tripod cost me NZ$50, but for a manfrotto second hand camera tripod cost me around $400.  Sad thing is I only used both tripods around four times since I own two of them 15months ago.

FYI, 1 NZ$=US$0.67

Regards
Leigh

[MikkoWilson]

Eniola.
 I have a bit of bad news for you.

This rig you linked to:


...is a Steadicam Ultra Cine. It has a list price of $66,000 (USD). 

 - Mikko

[Joe Sanders]

Look like she has a pretty strong grip on that post.  Hard to make it steady that way.

[Brad Jefferson]

The strange thing I noticed is that the proportion of her to the unit itself seems unbalanced.  She looks like she's about ready to topple over.  It seems like she might be struggling just to carry the rig.

I'm sure I might just be like her, but probably in a different position --- I would already be toppled over.

[michael stevenson]

[Brad Jefferson]

Joe,

Ya think? Dude she's a small lady carrying about 60 pounds of rig, going uphill. Give me a break! 

P.S. She looks like she's doing a fantastic job to me.

[EDIT:  I thought Michael was talking to me.  I guess that I'm not "Joe".  Sorry.]
I did not want to convey that she was not doing a great job.  I don't know.  I'm sure she would not have undertaken the task if she thought she was not going to be able to handle it.  $66K plus the camera plus your safety is a lot of responsibility.  Also, you probably don't put a beginner (like me) on a rig that sophisticated.  She is probably well experienced with it.

If I were to undertake a job like this, I'd be sweating bullets in the first 5 minutes, my leg muscles would be wobbling while walking up the hill, my out-of-breath noises would concern the 2 other people in the video, so that they would turn and say to me:  "Hey, do you think you should turn the camera on?" 

p.s.  I don't even see her sweating!

[Trevor Crump]

Edited
I wouldn't say that she was doing a fantastic job, after all, that grip on the post is a dead give away.
No argument on the weight the lady is holding, or that she is walking up hill, but I suspect this shot was taken at a course, cos the woman does not have a 'greater understanding' of the rig.

[michael stevenson]

[Trevor Crump]

Edited 

[MikkoWilson]

It's a photo from an Optex 3-day Steadicam workshop. She's a student.
She most likly has no more than a couple of hours experiece in a rig, total.

- Mikko.