The Steadicam Flyer review

[Charles King]

Thanks Cos. In progress. They are pretty much up close pics of some of the important parts.

Charles King

       

[Charles King]

like I mentioed I've been having some serious problem with my laptop hard drive which has to be changed but before that my techcian is trying to save what can be saved. so the pics I had put together with my write up is probably lost. So I'll just put together a zip file of the pics that i have and upload them to HBS for you guys to download and look at. I think the measurements I'll add later but the right up was too long and as put me off writing another one.



The video is taking some time due to transfer problems with the dvd file that we had saved them on. will let you know when it's done.

Charles King

       

[Gustav]

Excellent job Charles. I know a friend who bought his flyer after reading your review.



BTW, the pics of the different parts of the flyer are great. I llike the close up of the spring connection. Pretty cool idea. You must have had the flyer for a while as I can see you took the vest apart and took phototage of all the pieces. Nice  

Lars Gustav

Edited by: Gustav at: 3/10/05 6:16

[cosmin rotaru]

Yes Charles, thanks for the detailed pics! They're great!

Is the arm aluminum? I know I asked before but not sure on the answer... Especialy the vertical shells... Because they seem to be made out of U chanel but bent at ends...

Cosmin Rotaru

[Charles King]

Glad you like the pics guys.

Cos, I do not think it's aluminum. A friend of mine and I came to conclusion that these parts are made of the same material that is used to make gym equipment. I don't know the name. They are light like aluminum but not quite. We also determine that in oder for the pieces to be bent in that manner without cracking or breaking the entire shell would have to be a moulded piece of the original. So I think it's cast metal formed to look that way.

Again, I could be totally off.

Charles King

       

[cosmin rotaru]

"to be bent in that manner without cracking or breaking "

yea, that's why I thought it is not alu...

Thanks!

Cosmin Rotaru

[Charles King]

...on the other side it aluminum could also be used but only in the moulded form or cast.

Charles King

       

[zengei3]

Hi Charles!



I'm Andras, new to this forum. One rig done, planning the next.



I wonder if you happened to take measurements of the flyer arm. I looked around the forum, and despite it's a vast repository of information, I couldn't find anything specific about arm dimensions, aside from the XLS calclulator spreadsheets.



Following the 'If it ain't broke, dont fix it' principle I was thinking about using the dimensions of an authentic Steadicam arm on my next one.



So if you have the measurements, can we talk about them?  Or can you -- or anyone for that matter -- direct me to a place where I can find exact measurements of the flyer.



Great pictures by the way



Thanks,

Andras.

[Charles King]

I just managed to borrow a friends computer, so this is just a quick response. I do have measurements for the flyer , at least the vital parts of the arm. I'll post them when I get my computer back from the technician.

Charles King

       

[zengei3]

Thanks, man



Andras.

[Gustav]

The measurements would be great Charles.  

Lars Gustav

[Charles King]

Got lots of e-mails thanking me about this review. So this is for all those whose purchase were influenced by this review. Thanks to you all for the support. Looking forward to more.

[Lucas Adamson]

I'm off to have a go on a flyer tomorrow, which is cool because I've never "flown" before. I'm pretty excited, especially as I will be testing the rig everybody seems to be copying these days for smaller cameras....Yippeeeee!!!

Lucas

[Charles King]

I'm off to have a go on a flyer tomorrow, which is cool because I've never "flown" before. I'm pretty excited, especially as I will be testing the rig everybody seems to be copying these days for smaller cameras....Yippeeeee!!!

Lucas

Great. Let us know what you think of it. I'm sure you'll have pretty much the same experience as all of us...

[Lucas Adamson]

So, I flew the Flyer LE, and it was great fun.

Highlights were the arm, of course, and well, almost everything really.

On the downside, the balancing arm is terrible - way too short to do a spin - for "safety reasons" I was told. Wow - such a nice tripod and they put a ridiculously short arm on it. Also, the vest is front-mount only and it made my back hurt after only 5 minutes, and I have a strong back. But then again, maybe that's just Steadicam for you. I had a heavy camera on there - an old Sony broadcast 3 chip from the 80s.

So, I felt a bit bad because I had to pretend there was a serious prospect of me buying the rig, and really, there isn't. I'll make one that's as good for a fifth of the cost.