The Cine Saddle exepreince ~ who's used them / still using them?

[PatrickWebb]

I'm curious, after finding some old articles from ENG cam-ops, with the use of Cine Saddles on productions and on live shows. I saw some pretty nice 80/90's style videos on their website and this product struck me of interest. I was almost sucked into the advertising and purchased one, however, I wanted to see if anyone here has had experience with it before.

Does anyone here use or have used one and what is/was the experience of this beanbag?

Cheers.

 

[Mark Phelan]

It's the real deal. I had one, don't anymore, but it was of good use. I used it to hold my camera in hand during a helicopter flight and it made the difference taking out the small vibrations, while using my arms like shock absorbers. They're very lightweight, but overpriced in my opinion. There was a competitor version out there, not sure if it still is around either. It's not as small as they make it out to be. It's a bean bag, so if you can find one that is appropriate in size, you would have the same functionality. Just a bag of plastic beads.

Having said all that, it DOES work, just overpriced, like everything else in this industry.

 

[Ericsson San Pablo Chu]

Pretty useful for me. I use it a lot for handheld actually, either for low mode to rest the camera on or when shooting on the shoulder to prop my elbow on. If I'm shooting something quick with another person's camera and dont' have time to rig it up, I know I can always use the cinesaddle. I use the Filma branded one. Also useful for really low mode if you don't have or have time to set a hi hat. Dampens vibrations when shooting in a car etc. too.

 

[Michael Lindsay]

we still have ours and use it!

 

[Nick Morrison]

We have one, it's pretty useful for a lot of stuff.

 

[Aaron Lochert]

I pretty much always grab one when I rent a camera cart. It finds a way to get used on just about every set so far.

 

[John Brawley]

Use them all the time.

They last forever.

This photo is from a few years ago but you get the idea.

https://flic.kr/p/pXNnwn

JB

 

[Satsuki Murashige]

One thing to note is that the styrofoam beads inside the Cinesaddle tend to make a lot of noise, your sound person may complain. I emptied mine and filled it with bits of memory foam and Pelican case foam instead - a very messy job, incidentally. It’s much quieter now and works just as well as before. I use it with cameras as large as a Moviecam SL and as small as a Sony F5, no problems. At a minimum, it’s an easy lightweight way to keep your camera off the ground or strapped to the car seat when you need to put it down or travel built.

They need to sell replacement buckles though. Stepped on mine some years ago and now need to wrap a strip of 1” gaffer tape to keep the strap in place. If anyone knows what size buckle they use, I would be grateful for the tip!

 

[Christopher A. Bell]

I hate you guys... Mine is supposed to be here on Monday.

Of all the stuff I’ve bought over the years and spent countless thousands of dollars on, this was one of the few things that I just could never pull the trigger on, because I thought it was way overpriced for what it was. But for some reason, now, after almost two-and-a-half decades doing this, this thread made me decide to buy one.

 

[PatrickWebb]

Well, that's it then! Seems to be a no-brainer. An order will be placed. Thanks for all of your inputs, people! Appreciated!

 

[John Brawley]

One thing to note is that the styrofoam beads inside the Cinesaddle tend to make a lot of noise, your sound person may complain. I emptied mine and filled it with bits of memory foam and Pelican case foam instead - a very messy job, incidentally. It’s much quieter now and works just as well as before. I use it with cameras as large as a Moviecam SL and as small as a Sony F5, no problems.

Yeah, I cut up a couple of old yoga mats and did the same.