Steadicam Flyer LE

[Sean Laskey]

I think at the point you need to feed a transmitter for the director, you probably add too much weight. Either the Director waits to review after the take, or the company pays for a big rig.

Best of luck.

Sean

 

[ericyoung]

On my original Flyer (15lbs limit) I was able to replace the second battery on the bottom (it's not active anyway on the second battery plate) with a small SD video distribution amplifier (made by Kramer, but there are others) and a Teletest SD video transmitter. It did involve breaking out the power and video feeds from the cable loom to the LCD (if you know what you're doing so you don't short something out!), and bodging it all on with gaffer tape (going to get some of that bobbly industrial "velcro" to make it a bit neater!

But yes, if you're not electrically/electronically minded don't mess around with your rig. Hire a rig that has all this designed in!

 

[Rob Ruffo]

You could use circular screw in filters to lighten the load.

You could also use a soft matte-box, or a clip-on. They're not super awesome but better that than a broken gymbal, or "no" to a shot.

 

[Rob Ruffo]

1) The better visibility of the Steadicam LCD makes using that with a Decimator my personal preference over the RED LCD.

2) Be aware that the older "Flyer" and current "Flyer 24SE" were designed for 15lbs. The "Flyer LE" is designed for 19lbs.
The sled is different but that shouldn't matter, it's the arm you want to watch out for.
If the joint segments between the two arm sections and the lower arm and socket block connector have three holes, it's the old 15lb arm. If they have two holes, it's the 19lb LE arm. (Or a 10lb Pilot arm - watch out for that!)

Yes - why it's iffy to buy used - better to go through an authorized dealer listed on Tiffen's site, someone you know from this forum, etc.

The flyer LE works fine with the Red - and here is a question that often shust them up: woudl you rather lose all the extra crap you want to screw on there that you don't actually need, or would you rather lose a big portion of my potential operating time, because I need many more breaks with a much heavier rig?