Adding weight to a light cam setup rig

[Charles King]

Another addition to the HBS 101 forum. Most of us know how hard it is to get a light cam to settle quietly when flying. We all know that the more weight the better the stability or the better your inertia of your sled will be. But most of us do not usual own a heavy camera to experience a full applied inertia like those Steadicam operators flying heavier cameras. So what can we do to fake the extra weight, for example the Sony EX3 or the even smaller Canon GL-1? Simple solutions is to add weight plates or use a weight cage. Now, you should remember, add the weight as high as possible or in other words, above the camera. A steel cage or plates are best in this situation.

For examples see this thread: http://hbsboard.com/index.php/topic,3879.msg33785.html#msg33785

As one Steadicam operator said:

...the mass center of equivalent camera ( big camera or small with additional weights ) mast be about 4- 5 inches upper above top stage level . The best variant is to use weight cage . You may use some variant of rising plate under your weight plate with small camera. by Andrey Yazydzh

[Jon Fairhurst]

No only do we want the weight high, but at the extremes. Weight at the center of the plate isn't as valuable as weight at the corners or edges. That helps not just the roll and tilt damping, but the pan damping as well.

I'm definitely planning a weight cage on my rig. It will have a six inch height. Not only will it help with my steadirig, but it will help my 516 tripod as well. It expects 19 lbs at five inches above the tripod, and does not have an interchangeable spring. Frankly, it hasn't been a big deal, as we tend to shoot short clips and edit. It would be another story if I shot day long conferences!

[Charles King]

Will looking forward to that cage Jon.

[Jon Fairhurst]

Will looking forward to that cage Jon.

Me too!

I won't make it for the full 19 lbs though. For short clips, I really don't care if the tripod is balanced. I'm really building it to help with steady performance.

[Charles King]

...I'm really building it to help with steady performance.

Well, that should be the only reason to build a cage. Definitely not for the Tripod

[Billy Taylor]

so what is the purpose of the cage? outside of camera protection and weight uppance...what else is it for?

[Charles King]

so what is the purpose of the cage? outside of camera protection and weight uppance...what else is it for?

As far as I can see, nothing outside of those reasonings. THe number one reason, as stated, is to up the weight with smaller cameras, especially if your rig has a minimum weight carry capacity of 8kg. But as stated, it helps with enertia which is why the bigger cameras, like film cameras are better to fly amoung operators. They like the stability that comes along with it.

[Billy Taylor]

...since i  have a couple of handheld stabilisers (Steadicam JR and glidecam 2000), I probably do not need a cage for flying a GL1 or GL2 and especially not a Z1U since it is at the upper weight limit...exceeds it on JR...

[Charles King]

I would really hope not But eh, weirder stuff has been done before..

[Billy Taylor]

hahaha weird stuff indeed! I value the "weird" albeit interesting and informative bits the fellow stabiliser enthusiasts put out on this forum. I was blessed to be sent to this place!!  I found a use for my JR lately shooting BTS ftg for the local university's mass comm program...using a very small HDV unit...