Rig on E-Bay

[Phil Kindred]

I just saw an auction for a PROAIM-7000 reverse arm, vest, and sled on E-Bay.  I assume they mean reversable.  The price is $2099.  Made in India and doesn't look too bad, but the first thing I would throw away is the sled.  The disheartening thing is the arm is basically a Flyer rip-off--using the Flyer style spring adjustment.  It's one thing to copy for your own use, quite another to do so for profit.

[Charles King]

So why is it called the Reverse arm I wonder...

[Phil Kindred]

The description is pretty hard to understand.  They refer to the rig as "a boom to the steadicam world"  Nuff said.

[Jolink Pascal]

I've flown this look-a-like, and it's nothing compaired to the Flyer. The vest is probably the best thing, but sucks nevertheless. The arm doens't even use bearings. Instead it uses bushings, and the effect is, well you guessed it, friction all over, stiff as a board. They stuck some springs in there that are just wrong; you could pull up an elephant with these springs... the arm itself would fail beyond repair if you'd crank up the adjustment to max. Not to mention some bolts fell out before I had even put weight on it. It does have a, what looks like, the same socket block as the flyer. You might be able to put it to good use if you would redesign the arm.

The sled. Somehow they've managed to use different sized Allen bolts all over the sled. I couldn't find a key that would filt the ones on the weight brackets. Locking down the gimbal requires you to tighten two bolts; the silver knob and a small Allen bolt. When trying to adjust the position of the gimbal you have about an inch in either direction. It didn't go down further because of the tight fit of the sleeve nor up because of the stickers on the post.

The vest. The socket block spar has the possibility to move up and down, but only at fixed positions. But you can't actually move because it would hit the chest plate above and the waist strap buckles below.

In all it feels cheap and doesn't really work as it's supposed to. The dealer that bought it just to see if it was any good, shook his head and said: well then I'll just put it behind the window as an ornament.

[Charles King]

I've flown this look-a-like, and it's nothing compaired to the Flyer. The vest is probably the best thing, but sucks nevertheless. The arm doens't even use bearings. Instead it uses bushings, and the effect is, well you guessed it, friction all over, stiff as a board. They stuck some springs in there that are just wrong; you could pull up an elephant with these springs... the arm itself would fail beyond repair if you'd crank up the adjustment to max. Not to mention some bolts fell out before I had even put weight on it. It does have a, what looks like, the same socket block as the flyer. You might be able to put it to good use if you would redesign the arm.

The sled. Somehow they've managed to use different sized Allen bolts all over the sled. I couldn't find a key that would filt the ones on the weight brackets. Locking down the gimbal requires you to tighten two bolts; the silver knob and a small Allen bolt. When trying to adjust the position of the gimbal you have about an inch in either direction. It didn't go down further because of the tight fit of the sleeve nor up because of the stickers on the post.

The vest. The socket block spar has the possibility to move up and down, but only at fixed positions. But you can't actually move because it would hit the chest plate above and the waist strap buckles below.

In all it feels cheap and doesn't really work as it's supposed to. The dealer that bought it just to see if it was any good, shook his head and said: well then I'll just put it behind the window as an ornament.

Ha Ha...I figured it was something like what you described Pascal. Btw how are you? Also please see your post in the commercial rig modification. Got some questions to answer..

[Patrick Moore]

Actually this arm does have bearing in it, the problem is the way it has been put together and the aluminum bones are off some, causing friction. I broke down a few monthes ago and bought this system, hoping I could mod it up a little and have something a little more professional looking then my rig. I will put my review of the complete system and mods made in the commercial section.

[Charles King]

Patrick, put your review of just the rig as is in the review forum before you make the modes. Then when u make the mods post it in the commercial forum instead

[Nick Walters]

I'm very much looking forward to this review, as after a little looking around this seemed to be the least expensive option for my odd needs(or wants). I have an arriflex 16bl and a Canon Optura Xi I'm wanting to fly and according to their specs this rig can fly the BL at it's absolute maximum load abilities(20 lbs.).....my budget isn't exactly huge and 2-2.5k is allready basically out of my price range, but I could eat Ramen noodles for awhile and get it lol.

By the way...hello everyone...my first post!

Here's an example of some of my previous work without any rig....I'm really wanting to improove my handheld stuffs with a nice beefy rig(mmmm beefy ribs).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU7bRbl97YY

[Michael Suchar]

I'll just chime in here as well. Nick, I'm in the same boat as you with an extremely limited budget. It seemed to me to be the best inexpensive rig on the market. I ordered last week and I'm waiting for it to arrive. I'll do a reveiw once I have a chance to give it a go. Being new to stabalizers I didn't (couldn't) dump a load (money that is) into a real rig. Even if the rig doesn't perform as well as the real ones I think I'll at least get the concept and see if it's something I should pursue.

[Charles King]

Sounds great Michael. Just put your review in the Review forum, when're you done.