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Steadicam Flyer questions

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Luke Holwerda

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Hello.

I'm looking into buying a used Steadicam Flyer. The older, non-LE, non-Red version. I understand it comes with an SD monitor and Anton Bauer Hytron 50 batteries. I pretty much know how bad the SD monitor will suck with the Red, but my main questions relate to the batteries.

1. Will I need an adapter to power the Red with the AB Hytron 50's?

2. And, what sort of camera time will I get out the 50's?

3. I'm trying to work out the best way to fly the Red... with every accessory adding pounds here and there... should I just leave the Red brick attached and not use the AB's??

The price of the rig itself will pretty much clean out the bank... so cost IS an issue. I'm wondering if someone had any creative ideas on making the Flyer "Red-ready".

Examples and pictures are always welcome.
 
Hey there,

SD monitor isn't the end of the world on steadicam, you are just using it for framing. I usually leave the 5" red monitor on the camera for menus and exposure. I think hytron 50's are going to run the rig and the Red for maybe 20 mins when they are new. You are also taxing the flyer pretty hard to fly a red.

If I was on a budget and wanted to fly a red, I would seriously look at a used EFP or a used Action cam. You are going to be much happier over all with a more robust rig.

Call Derick at Whitehouse AV and see what he has for sale.

Nick
 
Agreed on the monitor... it's about the only Red item that doesnt weight 5lbs!

How bad of an idea is the Flyer? Assuming I can get the camera down to the 19lb requirement... what will the drawbacks be?

I'd love an actioncam... but coming up with $5k for a Flyer already means borrowing money. I figured I could maybe come up with a few hundred - a thousand more for a stronger batter or 2.
 
You could make a flyer work. It has been done. It would drive me nuts. You are going to need a power cable to run the red off of the sled (around $200). It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to go out and work as a steadicam operator, the flyer is woefully inadequate. If you just want to use it on jobs that you are shooting, and bump up the production value on little stuff, you can certainly do that. Steadicam is a major investment. You can wake up and own $3k dollars worth of cables.

Mainly you are limiting yourself by the weight limit, and the the rig is not happy operating at the very edge of it's range. Again, if you are the only one you have to please, than that's fine. If you expect to show up on a job for someone else, you have to be able to do all kinds of ridiculous things.

Nick
 
Hi Luke,

I have to agree with Nick on every point he makes. The Flyer is a rig where the RED is on the weight limit of the arm, after a certain point , the arm will have to be "held" by the operator to achieve the shot and that's not very fun to fly.
Don't forget if you have an SD monitor, that means you need a converter (redbyte), then you add a follow focus (motors, driver unit) and maybe a video sender, and a clip on matte box, and filters....
I would strongly advise to rent the rig once to see if it can handle your ideal setup.
Every setup is different so your sled has to be adaptive.
But then again, if you only have the money for a FLyer, just go get it and fly it with no clip on , no follow focus and the battery gaffer taped to your forehead if that means you can practice your operating. You have to start somewhere, I started with a homemade sled made of ABS plumbing pipe and now have 200k of equipment with me on sets. It took me 8 years to go from ABS tubing to a PRO GPI sled but I did it and never abandoned my dream.
So just get the money , spend it on what you can afford and practice until you can sell it back and buy something bigger if you like it.
A Flyer has a good resale value so if you just feel it's not for you, just put it back on Ebay and you will probably get most of your money back.

My 2 cents.

Fly safe,

Frederic
 
Nick, I agree that I'd be limiting myself off the bat... but it is like you said... for the moment, this is only to appease myself, and get some practice. Plus, I could fly my 5D with a ton of accessories quite nicely to make a little cash on the side for when I want to upgrade.

Frederic, thanks for the support. I feel the same way you do. Sometimes you have to just do whatever it takes to make it work. I've actually made my own stabilizers in the past too! I need to start somewhere right?

I understand I will need the power adapter cable Nick mentioned, but will I also need the Redbyte converter just to use the onboard SD monitor? Or is it cheaper to convert the rig to utilize and HD monitor?
 
I've managed to fly a Red One on a non-LE original Flyer, but that has a weight limit of 15lbs not 19lbs.

I ended up having to do a load of mods to make it useable. I'll post some details later.
 
You know, funny you say that. I looked at a Flyer recently also... it was 15lb not 19lb also. Did they get 'stronger' as the years went on? Or is Tiffen being 'modest' with their specs?
 
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Luke Holwerda said:
Nick, I agree that I'd be limiting myself off the bat... but it is like you said... for the moment, this is only to appease myself, and get some practice. Plus, I could fly my 5D with a ton of accessories quite nicely to make a little cash on the side for when I want to upgrade.

Frederic, thanks for the support. I feel the same way you do. Sometimes you have to just do whatever it takes to make it work. I've actually made my own stabilizers in the past too! I need to start somewhere right?

I understand I will need the power adapter cable Nick mentioned, but will I also need the Redbyte converter just to use the onboard SD monitor? Or is it cheaper to convert the rig to utilize and HD monitor?
Click to expand...

If you have an hd monitor, just get a BNC cable long enough to go from camera to monitor thru the "front" of the sled (away from your body). A "thin" BNC cable does the trick without adding substantial weight. The red won't feed any SD signal without a converter, so if you want to use your SD monitor, you will need the converter.
The redbyte converter is very small and light but still , you'll need to power it from the sled.
The Hytron 50 will barely power the RED for 20 minutes, so you'll need more than one or two. Dionics are much more expensive but are so much more efficient and a bit lighter (dionic 90 HC are a bit bulkier but about the weight of a Hytron 50). I went from the Hytron to Dionics 2 years ago and would not go back (the 4 Dionics I have now equal the running time of 9 Hytrons)

Best of luck with your rig, post pictures when you fly the RED.

Frederic
 
Luke Holwerda said:
You know, funny you say that. I looked at a Flyer recently also... it was 15lb not 19lb also. Did they get 'stronger' as the years went on? Or is Tiffen being 'modest' with their specs?
Click to expand...

There was an update from the original model - I thought it was the LE when that happened, but can't remember offhand. I have the original.
 
Thank Frederic! Sounds like I've got some accessories to buy.

Eric, like I said, I dont know much about the progression of the line... but the first Flyer I looked at had "Endura 10s" batteries. The second had the Anton Bauers. That's what made me think the second was a later model.
 
The battery system has nothing to do with the model. All the Tiffen Steadicam battery systems were options at purchase. Mine came with UK Pag battery system. Anton Bauers are more prevalent in US.
 
Luke Holwerda said:
You know, funny you say that. I looked at a Flyer recently also... it was 15lb not 19lb also. Did they get 'stronger' as the years went on? Or is Tiffen being 'modest' with their specs?
Click to expand...

They Flyer was 15lbs, and the Flyer LE, which was a more significant re-design than the "LE" alone would suggest, was 19lbs.

The Flyer is really cutting it close for a RED ONE, and I never had much success. The greater weight limit of the LE, along with the extendable center post, makes a world of difference. If you can stretch as far as the Zephyr, it's capable of flying a lightweight RED ONE setup with the center post at its shortest setting, which makes it quite a bit nicer to operate from an inertia point of view.
 
Moddign a Flyer

Moddign a Flyer

("Modding")
The Flyer is a great little rig. I modded mine seriously: put on a new monitor, put in new cables, added mounts to add antlers top and bottom, fixed the squeaky vest, added ratchet buckles. Added power distribution to feed the camera as well, when needed. (Paglok batteries). For very little money you'll get a rig that flies very nicely. And cheaply. I love using the Archer when I can, but the Flyer takes care of most stuff and you can carry it all day!
 
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soren k jensen said:
("Modding")
The Flyer is a great little rig. I modded mine seriously: put on a new monitor, put in new cables, added mounts to add antlers top and bottom, fixed the squeaky vest, added ratchet buckles. Added power distribution to feed the camera as well, when needed. (Paglok batteries). For very little money you'll get a rig that flies very nicely. And cheaply. I love using the Archer when I can, but the Flyer takes care of most stuff and you can carry it all day!
Click to expand...

Interesting - was yours the original Flyer? How did you fix the squeaky vest? What ratchet buckles did you use?
 
The Steadicam Zephyr seem good if you want to step up a bit from the basic Flyer models.
 
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Soren... I'd love to see some pics and hear any specific suggestions. Feel free to post here, or message me privately. Whatever you feel comfortable with.

Nils... thanks... I hadn't been there.

Stephen and Frank... I agree. But the cash just isnt there.

I think the main 'solution' for me, is to use the Red battery belt clip system, then take everything else off the body. Just fly the Red, the lens, buy some shorter rails and use a FF... and the monitor.

Here is another question... CF cards. What are people using? I can't imagine it's only the Red brand. Currently we're using the Red drives. Thats another thing I'll have to mount to my body to make this thing light enough. Can you guys point me in the right CF direction?
 
Steadicam LE kit for sale:
http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=55723

You have to use Red branded CF cards to enable full speed 4K recording - The only way Red can guarantee people don't bad mouth Red by using unverified media which can't sustain a fast write speed over the entire capacity.

You'll have to use a wireless FF if you hope to pull focus on the Steadicam without affecting the shot framing. Or shoot with wide angle lenses with a small aperture to maximise depth of field.
 
Eric... is it me, or is that price too good to be true??

Thanks for the CF answer too.

Focus will be an issue. I'm thinking I'll look into renting a wireless unit. For some of the stuff I need the steadicam for in the immediate future, its actually just 'walking' shots... out doors... nice wide apertures... no real focus pulls. I do have a 2ft whip we could probably use if we're careful.
 
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