This is a great site. I'm glad I found you guys. Getting stabilizer equipment in SA is not easy and a pretty pricey exercise. I have been toying with the idea of building my own for some time, and at least I have a little direction now. I shoot everything from weddings (which I really enjoy) to corporate and commercial. I own a Canon XL H1 and HV30 and a Merlin. My home build beginnings started fairly recently with a new steel weight plate for my HV30 and Merlin to give it a bit more stability especially outdoors as well as a plate to mount on my tripod to allow quick release from Merlin to the tripod. Now I need a full rig for my XL H1... so the adventure begins.