IBC 2008 review

[Charles King]

Never under estimate human greed.

I it is more of an understatement...

[andreas kielb]

I didn't try the l'aigle rig when I was there so I can't comment on it. At least the rubber bands are no patent violation.

What I tried for example is the actioncam and like the others I was very impressed by it. Particularly the arm is very nice and regarding innovations, the spring setup is a brilliant idea and works great. As mentioned before there are 8 springs per section in the zero g version and 6 springs per section in the red edition arm. The springs act parallel and obviously at a very sharp lifting angle what makes the arm very smooth. I'd say it comes very close to a pro arm. Due to the number of springs the arm is a little heavier but for my feeling not too heavy (5,2 kg).



I also liked the sled. If I compare the gimbal with a baer-bel which I know as it's very popular in Germany (and is 2 inch as well) it seems nicer machined. That's why I'd prefer it among the cheaper 2" systems (didn't try the new glidecam gold 2 inch sled though). The sled in my picture below is from the red edition system. The BM vest felt a little weird for me but mostly because the front isn't completely closed. On the other hand all paddings are connected with velcro and moveable so they probably can be adjusted at individual taste.

At the glidecam booth I tried the new X-22 arm. The spring setup is a pro-style with extension springs and very similar to many HBS arms including mine. I'd say it's Michael Carolans arm which is the closest in similarities. They even have the clever doublebolts against twisting of the spring. Unfortunately I don't have a good close up photo of this area but here is Mike's photo to make clear what I mean:

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At the particular arm they showcased they removed one spring per section. The remaining spring was stretched to the maximum and so this light sled (probably about 12 kg for sled and camera together) felt even lighter and the smoothness of the arm was at it's optimum.

[Charles King]

thanks for the review Andreas. BTW, the two bolts attached to the spring plug is also in their Smooth shooter model.
I'm still surprised how they got 8 springs per section in those bones. As I mentioned before, they must be really small springs.. It seems by all the raves you guys are giving it, it must be one hell of an arm. Gotta try it next year.. One question I have is how is the tension adjusted & does the arm have to be in a relax position in order to adjust the springs?

[andreas kielb]

Well, the spring setup of the actioncam arm is a clever and simple idea, it can hold a hell lot of weight (up to 35 kg according to their website) and it performs greatly.
The size of the springs is not much bigger than desklamp springs. The hole spring assembly is adjusted by one single screw. The assembly actually acts like one very strong spring. It probably can't be adjusted on the fly. You definitely should try it next year.

I also got a little video of Pascal with the gold and myself with the X-22. Hope you'll like it  .

[Charles King]

Cool little video...more light and it would have been perfect... Btw, what's the major difference between the the v25 and x-22?
35kg? wow! That's quite a load. Looking at the Actioncam arm it looks pretty hard to reach the spring adjuster...I least that how it looks from the pic.

[Pascal Jolink]

lol I hadn't noticed that there was a camera pointed at us   we ROCK

The X-22 springs were all set to zero with that sled so I proposed to take two of them out, and it really made the arm behave a lot less bouncy and booming became a breeze. Weird that with only two springs, both of them were set to max. Some kind of exponential increase of something or another

The difference between the V-25 and X-22 is very little at this moment in time. The numbers stand for the weight they can carry. The X-22 will be the new V-20; a basic rig. The V-25 will transform into the X-45. Higher weight capacity, wider post

[Charles King]

So the springs do not have cables connecting them like the v25?

[Pascal Jolink]

Nope, Baer-Bel (Pro) style; extension springs inside the bones

In time the V-25 and Gold arm will be replaced with these new style arms

[Charles King]

Ok Thanks...

[Erik Brul]

Hey guys,
One more explanation attempt on adjusting the springs on the Fly for the Actioncam Arm. It is possible under load, ok you relief the arm a bit ofcourse by lifting the post a little. Then you can adjust both black knobs by turning them left or right. I tried that several times and instantly you feel the difference by the lifting capacity of the arm.
It is a bit ackwards because you adjust them at the middle of the arm for upper and lower section. That's the difference with other arms were you can adjust on the fly but at the lower part of both arm sections.

Copied the picture from Andreas to try to show it..
So once again, under load.. (with a bit of load relief) you can adjust on the fly. Just copied what Daryl did when we hooked myself on the rig. The difference between me and Andreas, Andreas sled was superlong post, i had the luck of a extra battery below and therefor a shorter post. Because of that extra battery Daryl adjusted the arm a bit, and i thought.... let's try that myself.

Long story short, Charles.. just be there next year !!!

Best, Erik

[Erik Brul]

 oops

[Charles King]

Thanks Erik for that vital info but you are right. I have to be there to try it out.

[Charles King]

Job, Erik, Andreas or Pascal, How does one adjust the tension of the rubbers or rubber of the French Eagle arm? I was looking over the shots but did not see any adjustment mechanism.

[Erik Brul]

As far as i know the tension cannot be adjusted. If you fly a light load, you place 2 rubber bands.. heavy load, place 4 or maybe more.
They explained it, maybe Job remembers more about it

Erik

[Job Scholtze]

The rubber bands are not very thick, so keep adding till you have enough. Thats the whole idea about this concept.