Laing Custom Steadicam Group Buy

[chommavong somphane]

Ok, I just received my Laing Custom Reduser steadicam. I guess I caught the factory during a holiday break so I didn't hear anything for 6 days after paying. An inquiry sent back profuse apologies from Vitaliy and Tracy Xie at the factory. I was notified a couple of days later of shipping and a tracking number so I followed the progress from Hong Kong to Anchorage AK, Memphis and arriving a day early via FedEx!

So I can compare from rigs I have experience with which are Glidecam Smoothshooter that I've owned for 5 years and Steadicam Flyer, which I've used occasionally. First off, the materials and manufacture are quite good. Nice finish on the aluminum machining and parts fit and move well. Aluminum is painted, not color anodized though. This might start showing its age quite soon. But I think well-used rigs look better than new anyway. Bolts and accessory screws are good quality stainless steel, for instance, the camera attach screws can be tightened with the folding 'D' ring, screwdriver/coin or allen wrench. Camera plate is geared for fore/aft balance and the knob is pulled sideways to disengage to remove the plate. After finding balance, a second knob clamps the plate in place. I do find the gear knob has a very course adjustment and needs a fine touch to not overshoot the balance. A leadscrew design rather than a rack/pinion would have a better feel. Side balance has a separate screw adjustment and this is a leadscrew design and other than backlash, works well. Bubble level vials for both axis are on the head, inexpensive plastic but are less than 1/2 a degree off from level. I didn't get the lemo box option so no info there. Tilt head is easy to use and uses quick clamps that can be adjusted easily. First rig with this feature so can't compare with anything. The post is 2" carbon fiber! Biggest damn post I've ever operated with. A handful (literally) and wonderful to have that level of precision. The gimbal grip is tool-less (yay) for adjustment. The grip has a very smooth finish that might not give enough grip if sweaty, so I might wrap in gaffers tape. The actual gimbal is smooth in all axis. I'll check for concentric bearing at a later date. 2 piece post with again toolless adjustment. The monitor arm is mounted on the upper post section and does not allow you to get the monitor low and out of the way. But plenty of adjustment for dynamic balance is available. Battery mount can be rotated up, horizontal or down. It came with an unwired plate mounted to the sled and a second plate with the Red connector wired on a long cable (to be fed up the post). Looks like both cannot be mounted at the same time with stock hardware, but a little rigging could change that. The vest is better than Glidecam or Flyer vest, but when ratchet adjustment units are readily available, I don't know why plastic belt clips are still used on the waist and torso sections of so many rigs. Definitely want to change that out soon. Easy adjustment of breastpiece length and socket height. And that stylish "camera support" (™) label front and center. I think I'm going to start a contract company that renames chinese products for the western market. They SO need it.

I have to spend more time with the arm to comment on it (it has potential issues in reliability), but the Hotweel label was not included on this version. I'll post more on that later after I fly it a while. If anyone is in the DC area with an EFP rig or larger, I'd love to get together and compare the arms to name-brand stuff.

Vitaliy and Tracy, if you're reading, good job. I'm pleased with my purchase and hope it serves me well.

More later,
Jason

If you don't mind, please add some photos.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Jason Stahl]

Some pics:
Vest construction is good with decent materials.

 

[Jason Stahl]

Post is mounted on ball bearings, though it steps down to a quite narrow diameter. Hope it stands up to the torque. The arm springs adjust with the load knob which has a hex socket built into it. Good thing as it needs it. All the spring tension rides on that screw, many other designs have the spring load held by a second shaft or bearings in milled slots. This is something to watch out for, bending that screw. It seems to boom smoothly but I have yet to get enough weight on it to ride properly.

 

[Jason Stahl]

I have to correct a statement from last night, the pan bearing housing and grip are anodized black but other parts look painted. However it could just be bead-blasted castings anodized that look painted. (a quick test with acetone did not remove anything, so it just may be anodized after all). Have yet to check pan bearing centering but yoke bearings have a slight amount of slop (up/down not side to side so it should not affect operation. Bearings to the gooseneck are smooth. The pin holding the sled on the dock is not locking, it could slide free. A 5mm locking pin will be ordered soon for peace of mind(about $20).

 

[chommavong somphane]

Thank you Jason for the photos.

somphane

 

[Malik Tigrine]

I have ordered friday via paypal, "Tracy Xian" have sent me a confirmation Monday, and it will be shipped as soon as possible. I want to thank Vitaliy for his very good support, he answers to all questions without problems.

 

[Daniel Crooks]

Jason, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the rig having had tested it out a little...

 

[Erich Roland]

I have one of these steadicams for sale if anybody is interested.

erich eroland@dc-camera.com

 

[Chris Elkerton]

Is anyone looking to sell one of these steadicams in Europe? If so PM me, I am very interested.

Thanks,

Chris.

 

[Sebastian_A]

Does anyone know how to mount a camera in "low angle" mode ? Do I just simply reverse the post so the camera is upside down ? And then I flip the image in post editing, or even better I think the Red One has that capability built in ? And how do I balance for this mode ?
Eric - any tips ?

And some close-up pictures. Very nice build quality

completely extended is very long. I think with some extra support you can use this thing as a mono-pod

and a few more pics posted as links

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/6835/qjpi.jpg

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/6489/8em0.jpg

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/2558/oudi.jpg

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/4623/g69i.jpg

 

[Quaid Cde Baca]

So I have been playing with it for some time and have only had the issue with the arm. It is a basic arm that can support larger weight but has anyone else found that where the arm connects to the vest (those 2 joints) do not move once everything is up and flying. It feels like there is too much friction for them to move. It thereby reducing the arm's length of movement. It just seems like every joint in it should have bearings to move smoothly under the loaded weight.
Thats my only complaint. I love the sled, vest is ok.

 

[Eric Teotico]

Hi, Those joints aren't meant to swing freely. It allows you to shift the entire arm closer or away from your body. The bearings connecting the arms is sufficient to keep the camera and sled in place as you walk. You can achieve greater stability by increasing the height of your post or by extending your LED monitor or battery brackets or by adding weights. A heavy sled is more stable than a very light sled. A fully extended sled is more independent from your movements. I use this set up when I am using a 50mm lens on my camera.

Are you able to balance the entire rig on your body? Your balance when you are standing still without any weights on should be exactly the same as when you have the entire rig on.

Here's a tip in shifting from high to low angle. Balance your sled at the standard position. Mark the angle of you LED monitor and its distance from the post. Change the angle of the LED monitor towards the opposite direction (for low angle viewing). Adjust it's distance from the post until you achieve perfect balance. Mark the new positions accurately. Test your low angle set up by shifting your gimbal to favor a 2 sec drop with the camera now at the bottom. You should achieve dynamic balance right away. You can now shift from low to high angle on the fly.

Note: Your camera or your monitor must have the ability to flip the image upside down.

 

[Greg Cheng]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a good quality vest if the stock one isn't as efficient or comfortable? Would ultimately love to have a WK vest, I tested it out once from the creator and he's a real nice guy, but I'm not at that price point yet.

 

[Malik Tigrine]

Hi everyone,

Wich monitor do you use with this stead? I'm trying to find a cheap monitor, like the Manhattan LCD 8.9 : http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/813519-REG/Manhattan_LCD_HD089B2_S_8_9_HD_Pro_Monitor.html

or Lilliput 5D-II 7" :

http://www.hdvideoshop.com/en/monitors/146-lilliput-5d-ii-o-p.html

 

[Sebastian_A]

Both of those have a Native Resolution - 1024 x 600. You should buy the highest resolution you can find - for focusing.

This one has a higher resolution 1280×800 - and it's cheaper - only 289.73 $ . But it's made of metal so is heavier - 1500 grams. You could probably find a better price in USA.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3B7JPVQGD2HV2


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251315578690?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
426 $
I bought the second one because it's lighter - only 350 gr. Except the weight, it's the same as the first one.

 

[Eric Teotico]

Check this out. It's a Lilliput 7" 663/O/P. I bought mine from this supplier in ebay just a month ago. It's in an aluminum casing so it's heavier but sturdier. It's 1280x800 dpi. It's got a 178 degree viewing angle. The screen can be flipped for low mode shots and it's got a few other features. They have one with an SDI input/output and peaking but it's more expensive. I bid it for $270 with free shipping. They agreed. I'm happy with it. You will have to tune the color bars to match your camera screen's color bars as closely as possible.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160952010420?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

[Quaid Cde Baca]

Monitor

Monitor

In correction to your monitors above. They all do not accept SDI. It's simply a BNC connection but SDI / HDSI is a signal that the monitors do no accept. They only accept a composite video (much like a standard RGB) signal via a BNC connection.
Some may accept SDI/ HDSDI but it would be in place of HDMI. (A unit featuring both HDMI and HDSI are $$$$
for steadicam the most important features are viewing angle and brightness 800+ usually.
Theres a Marshall or transvideo raindbow. But all solid HD monitors for steadicam start around $2k.

Has anyone had any issues with the sled or arm so far.
I have had the issue of not having enough weight on the bottom of the sled. With a loaded 30lb+ RED it was too too heavy. I think I need 3 Anton batteries but that would push the sled to about 30lb for the sled alone and a total of 50lb that the arm would be supporting which is over the stated limit (35lb??) and over the gimbal limit of 46lb.

 

[Sebastian_A]

I think this one should have hdmi and sdi - Lilliput 663/S 7" 3G SDI Monitor hdmi IPS panel - because it cost 639 $ - so about 350 $ more expensive. All the lilliput monitors marked having SDI cost much more. If they don't have SDI that price wouldn't be justified - so probably they have SDI and hdmi.

AC7- SDI smallHD cost only 899 $. And this is a reputable company so this one really has sdi (SDI In/Out (3G/HD/SD).
I wanted to buy smallHD at first but I asked them and the monitor didn't had something I wanted so I bought a cheap one (lilliput) but with the same resolution and same IPS panel (the quality is very good if you make some adjustments).

red one weight is 10lbs. What's on the camera pushing the weight so much ? You should strip the camera so it is lighter. Or move stuff like batteries, audio recorder and so on on the bottom.

 

[Quaid Cde Baca]

great customer service from these guys.

 

[Chris Poynton]

So far ... no specification sheet, no detailed reviews by professional ops, no details of arm performance, no company website, not even an unboxing video. Mmmmmm.