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Scarlet w Glidecam HD-4000 (no arm, no vest)

D

david_winters

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Has anyone had success flying a very basic Scarlet with the HD-4000 or equivalent? Hand holding, no arm no vest?

I'm looking for simple, small and cheap, for doc travel jobs. All I need is basic forward moving walking shoots which look better than HH, shots limited to 10-15 seconds of screen time.

Canon mount, Tokina 11-16 w fixed focus, on the bottom of sled a dionic 90 and touch display. Nothing else. Is it possible, any examples? Is there a better solution at a similar price point?

It's been 10 years since I've operated steadicam, and I have no desire to (seriously) get into the craft.

Cheers
 
The Glidecam HD-4000 can handle 4-10lbs of weight. It does not know what camera you are using. that being said, if you are operating on the heavier side, you may not be able to last very long. You do mention that you only need 10-15 seconds so it could be doable if the items are within the weight limits.
 
It's too heavy of a setup to do without a vest. Even at the most basic setup (scarlet+brick+lens+monitor) it would be pretty heavy, unless you're big into weight lifting. 2cents.
 
I use the HD-4000 Glidecam with an adapted Steadicam vest and arm. With the vest and arm its great. Without...might want to make less than a 10 second shot. Its heavy. Way to heavy to do anything substantial. I can hold it for much longer but the longer you go...the less accurate your shot is...and the less you care because it kills the arm.
 
I can vouch for it being to heavy, I rented one and unfortunately the rental company had already rented out the vest that day, I had to make due with some type of strap around my neck for support, and even with that it was still difficult. You will have to strip the camera down to it's bare bones, meaning just a side handle with a single Redvolt and a DSLR lens. That puts it right at the max. Do not add anything else. You will have an extremely hard time without the vest.
 
Thanks James :)

It is possible but like others already said, the more you fly with that weight without a vest, the quicker your shots look bad. And it only takes three flys until your rist is dead. I've been flying without an arm/vest for years but the Scarlet finally put an end to those days...

Matt
Glidecam reel: https://vimeo.com/18467488
 
Thanks all, the best I can do on the scarlet weight is 10lbs, based on the touch and dionic 90 mounted on the bottom of the sled, and not included in the 10lbs tally. So, no go.

For this job coming up were going to use a 7D with a Merlin for the few "B-roll" shots which call for flying.
 
I've briefly tried it. Scarlet, LCD touch, DSMC sidehandle with Redvolt, Canon 18-55 at 18mm. It can be balanced, it is better than handheld, but is it good enough to use?
My total glidecam experience ever is <5 mins, so I'd expect an experienced operator to do much better. As there doesn't seem to be much if any Glidecam/Scarlet footage online, I'm uploading a brief test footage, will be accessible later today (480p and compressed).
 
No, but I was considering buying a long red LCD cable. Cutting the cable, running the cut end though the post, strip wire ends, solder, heat shrink each connection, and back in business.
 
Plus running a Lemo power cable though post into a battery plate on the bottom. But definitely lemo not D-tap.
 
Final thoughts on this thread, as I was the OP. Yesterday I spent 5 hours intermittently operating a hand held Merlin w 7D, 11-16mm. There is no way I could do the same with 10 to 12.5lbs of Scarlet and batt.

Thanks again for all the advice above, spot on.
 
I had been experimenting for a couple of weeks with how to balance the scarlet on my Glidecam 4000 Pro. I purchased an X-10 arm and vest and here are my results from day one:

http://vimeo.com/44869661
PW: reduser

A full wright up about how I did it (includes cutting my AC power adapter cable and having a battery at the bottom) will be at my blog soon www.mattscottvisuals.com
 
Matt, do you mean you're using the X-10 arm and vest with the 4000pro, or that you got an entirely new X-10 kit (with sled) after trying to use the 4000 Pro freehand?
 
I use my original 4000 pro sled and couple it to an X-10 arm and vest :) it flys without the vest too, just insanely heavy and impossible for this shot which ended up being 3mins long on the final.
 
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