Orange County CA - Meetup - Came Steadycam Stabilizer

[david_winters]

looking good! I'd love to see some video of you in action with that Laing rig David, it looks like that might fit my needs just as well with a scarlet. I have to weigh my rig now...

Keep in mind 21lbs is entire load on arm. In the example shots spring tension is about 25%.

 

[Brad Crawford]

thanks david, good to know. That's about what I would be sitting at give or take a pound depending on monitor etc. So you're saying at 25% tension you have quite a bit of room to adjust?

 

[david_winters]

thanks david, good to know. That's about what I would be sitting at give or take a pound depending on monitor etc. So you're saying at 25% tension you have quite a bit of room to adjust?

25% is about 6" below eye level. 50% is at or slightly above. I'm 5-11." Hope this makes sense.

 

[Udistir Singh]

David do you think the 'CAME' can fly the RI with 18-50 RPZ + Obox + let say (1) 150W battery using the belt clip and AC7?

Cheers

 

[david_winters]

16lbs up top, battery at bottom will work. Keep in mind you need weight at the bottom to balance out what is up top, one battery + monitor at the bottom is the most efficient way to go.

 

[nickmilo]

Hey guys, posted this in the Group Buy- Select your model thread... but with so many different stabilizer threads, its hard to keep track on these things anyways, here is the video from the PROLINE / LAING test... word of warning: they are LONG. It's not a polished edit, it was all whipped together rather quickly from a crazy long day of running around and testing -- but I figure, the more footage the better...

I just tried to do my best of getting all the info on there-- the first two are overviews of each system, and the last video is the raw footage straight out of the cameras: No CC, so please excuse the glaring differences in footage, especially the exposure differences towards the end of the day -- I just tried to get it done and up...

And one last warning: I forgot to turn off the IS on my 5D, so yea, please excuse the annoying grinding sound while talking...

Laing Overview

Proline Overview

Stabilizer Footage

 

[Udistir Singh]

Awesome testing and reviewing lads. Appreciate the time and efforts put into it and now I'm certain which one i need vs want to buy.

Cheers

 

[Brad Crawford]

Just want to thank you guys for taking the time to do these tests and videos! Really awesome job and great to see the community together helping each other. I just wish there was less Drama around some of these products... hah.

 

[Chris Poynton]

Just wondering ... The ProLine arm at 9:05 in https://vimeo.com/61597438 had uneven lift settings, with one arm lifting up and the other sagging down quite drastically. Generally the aim is to have the smoothest possible boom motion which comes from the arm sections tracking in unison, i.e. both operating at the same angle throughout the boom range. As a result, the elbow (connecting hinge) will rise and fall smoothly.

Any thoughts on why the arm was set up this way or how that may have affected the image quality?

 

[david_winters]

Just wondering ... The ProLine arm at 9:05 in https://vimeo.com/61597438 had uneven lift settings, with one arm lifting up and the other sagging down quite drastically. Generally the aim is to have the smoothest possible boom motion which comes from the arm sections tracking in unison, i.e. both operating at the same angle throughout the boom range. As a result, the elbow (connecting hinge) will rise and fall smoothly.

Any thoughts on why the arm was set up this way or how that may have affected the image quality?

My understanding is the spring group closer to camera should ride a bit lower.

 

[nickmilo]

Any thoughts on why the arm was set up this way or how that may have affected the image quality?

Cant really speak about how the arm was set up, but I grabbed a few more shots and closeups of the arm in action in case you wanted to check it out some more, seems to be working good:

 

[Greg Cheng]

It seemed like on the previous video, it was his first time trying the ProLine out, so it may not have been tuned and adjusted properly. Thanks for the extended footage Nick, I think this video gives a better definition of the arm dialed in more efficiently.

 

[Chris Poynton]

There is a lot more to be learnt about this arm (and many others being offered to the group). I think there is an opportunity for ProLine (and Laing and any other bidding supplier for that matter) to lay some interesting data on the table for this group buy about the precise min/max loads of the arms ... and how iso-elastic (or not) they may be under the full spectrum of loads.

I don't recall in the videos of the ProLine above seeing any particular demo of the boom motion. Ideally you would want to see an operator effortlessly booming the arm with a few fingers. It isn't clear from the videos above whether the op was struggling to lift with great force to achieve an eye-level lens, or if the boom was light and easy. I think with the bargaining power of maybe up to $250k in sales for the Proline, the Red group should be looking for full disclosure of data so that each buyer has the full "heads up" on what to expect for a full range of rig weights.

Some questions that spring to mind as part of due diligence ... The ProLine T2000 arm web page states 1-45lb with option of titanium springs. Okay, if 45lb is recommended max, then is the 48lb in the video the "absolute max" or is there even more grunt available in the arm? Or is 45lb perhaps just a "safe max" which may be more out of concern for other components of the rig (e.g. gimbal)? The 1lb stated minumum seems odd, as the naked sled must weigh 6-10lbs (maybe?). No operating weight would be less than about 12lb? Is this "1lb" figure just marketing spin gone mad? It is unlikely that the arm would feel the same flying a fully loaded Alexa as it woul flying half a house brick. So just how different are the "lift performance curves" for flying a "fairly heavy DSLR" (maybe 15-18 lb?) v. a jumbo camera (around 50lb sled?). And what are the characteristics of the titanium springs under all those conditions? Lots of questions.

"Full disclosure of arm data" is unprecedented terrain for rig sellers, and here is a chance to lead the market into a new era. If the arm absolutely rocks, then there should be some great data emerging. Certainly is interesting times in the steadicam market place.