Project: I don't want to pay £700 for one...

SteveOBHave

SteveOBHave

SteveOBHave

Soldato
Joined
31 Mar 2006
Posts
6,606
Location
Sydney Australia
Project: DIY Steadicam for under £100

Anyone care to guess what it's going to be?

So we have:

2 Universal Joints
1 Giottos Quick Release slide plate
8 Abec7 Bearings
50 50mm Washers

On order:
1 Pistol Grip
1x 1000mm x 30mm x 5mm aluminium flatbar

To order:
Tapping tool for 1/4 UNC 20TPI
Bolts
Nuts
Maybe some other bits and bobs as they become necessary...

IMAG0075.jpg
 
Last edited:
Right on both counts. I'm basically going to attempt to duplicate the many variations of the Steadicam theme that exist online.

Edit: Yes Scary - a robot :p

Similar to the following:
http://www.diycamera.com/stabiliser/index.html
16.jpg


Or

img4.jpg


These are all variations of the design used by the Tiffen Merlin Steadicam which weighs in at £700 which is just ridiculous for what you get.

steadicam_merlin.jpg
 
We've got the Steadicam 4000 Pro, would recommend it :). Tried to think about building one ourselves, but in the end decided to just do it properly and pay £400.
 
Progress!!!

Costs:

2 Universal Joints £6.19
1 Giottos Quick Release slide plate £22.40
8 Abec7 Bearings £8.99
50 50mm Washers £7.84
1 Pistol Grip £9.99
1x 1000mm x 30mm x 5mm aluminium flatbar £13.11

Total so far: £68.52

progress.jpg
 
cool stuff, been meaning to make one of my own for ages.

keep us updated on progress.

check out youtube for loads of vids on DIY ones.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I still don't understand how it counteracts the unsteady motion of a arm holding a heavy object...
Click to expand...

I believe the fundamental principals behind the steadicam are the following:

1. effecting the cameras 'Moment of Inertia' or in layman terms reducing it's ease of rotation about the cameras axis of rotation.

and

2. spreading the mass of the unit across a larger area and subsequently isolating it (through a low friction joint) causing a damping effect between the operators small movements and the camera.

The smoothness of motion is gained through the operators ability to self dampen their 'bounce' and the rig takes care of the rotational damping by shifting the axis of rotation away from the camera and then reducing the pendulum effect of the hanging arm by 'almost' balancing the axis around the grip. Almost because you still want the camera to hang vertical but you also don't want it to pendulum out when going around corners or changing direction.
 
Years agao I made a very simple steadicam type device using copper piping and a weight lifting weight, it was a simple 't' shape construction with the weight held below the camera and a bar out at a right angle . You held the end of the bar and the joint area.

Once you had got used to the way of holding it, it was incredibly effective, and it only cost me about £20 in materials!!!
 
valve90210 said:
Years agao I made a very simple steadicam type device using copper piping and a weight lifting weight, it was a simple 't' shape construction with the weight held below the camera and a bar out at a right angle . You held the end of the bar and the joint area.

Once you had got used to the way of holding it, it was incredibly effective, and it only cost me about £20 in materials!!!
Click to expand...

Similar in theory to this one? My main concern is that it doesn't end up looking too 'rangi' i.e. has some aesthetic appeal.

flycam5000.jpg
 
Even more basic that that, it was literally just three lengths (about 12 inches each iirc), a T union. A modified end cap on one length, with a padded dished washed and a thread to attach and hold the video camera in place.

Similar on one of the other lengths to hold the weight and then the third length coming out of the t section and 90 degrees for you to hold on to.

Sort of like this.

Camera
l
l
l
]-----
l
l
l
weight

It didn't look particularly pretty but worked really well. Yours looks much much nicer!

I found the website: http://14dollarstabilizer.org/

Valve
 
Last edited:
Well a little further down the road now - switched handles to an old barbell handle because the skateboard bearing wasn't playing nice with the other handle I purchased.

Having a mare of a time figuring the balance out and also locking the bearing in so it doesn't shift in the handle.
steadicam.jpg
 
Cheers - I get the feeling that I might need to try to reduce the virtical size somewhat - I think it's too tall and as a result too prone to a pendulum movement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom