I currently have a Zhiyun Crane V2 that I use with my GH2 and it supports a payload of 0.8 to 3.9 lbs. The lightest setup I use on it (GH2+20mm f/1.7 version 1) is around 1.2 lbs while the heavier ones go up to right around 3.9 lbs.

The problem is that I’m recovering from some health problems and an upcoming surgery next week that make walking in the way meant to reduce vertical jitter easier said than done. Thus, I’m looking at a Glidecam in the hopes of getting more of a swaying up and down than the abrupt jerks I have with my motorized gimbal.

The Glidcam HD-1000 has been advertised as handling a payload from 1.5 lbs to 3 lbs. The Glidecam HD-2000 has been advertised as handling 2-6 lbs. The HD-4000 advertises 4-10 lbs. None of these seems (at least on paper) to be able to cover the full range I use.

To make things even more complicated, I am considering combining the Crane V2 and Glidecam in the DIY Trinity knockoff approach that Momentum Productions popularized - which would mean needing a minimum payload of 3.6 lbs supported for the Glidecam.

My question is, has anyone had experience with different Glidecam on a GH2? Can any of them handle a setup as light as the GH2+pancake even though on paper it would be too light? Is using too light a weight or too heavy a weight more of a problem?

Anyone tried with gh4 and ronin-m?

We do not have such a budget. Are there any good alternatives around 1.000 - 3.000 Euro? We are shooting on Panasonic GH3s.

Thanks in advance. Alex

I never used one of these electronic gyroscopes that stabilize video cameras, as they are too expensive, but is it so that they often feature 3-axis stabilization?

I watched IMPRESSIVE footage from the E-M1 regarding stabilization, but it is too expensive when considering landscape dynamic range and ISO performance. So hence the question: what to expect regarding stabilization for video use in the E-M10?

The way we were using the "Beginner's Rig" was different than typical shoulder rig. The camera operator often pressed the shoulder padding into her stomach or chest area, and that combined with 2 hands on the handles, gave us 3 points of contact for stability. I needed to replicate that. What you'll see in the picture below is the final Weightless Rig, which I covered with black gaffers tape. It consists of 3 parts: a cheap quick release plate ($7 on amazon.com), a sponge typically used for painting ($3 at Home Depot), and 2 round/cylindrical wooden sticks ($2 at Home Depot). I tied the sticks to the bottom of the quick release plate with duck tape. I then used scissors to cut holes in the sponge and inserted the sticks. Then taped everything with gaffers tape. The whole thing weighs maybe a 1/2 pound max, and really worked to give us stable shots without adding any weight that a rig typically does with it's metal parts.

I'm sure we're not the first to do something like this, but I hadn't seen anything like it, and thought it might help someone who needs something really super lightweight for stabilizing shots. Hope this is helpful.

I know there is a topic on certain Laing stabilizers, but has anyone used this model? The price is just what I need for an upcoming job, any opinions would be much appreciated.

I thought the videos were good in the past. However, the lack of image stabilization, accurate Continuous Auto Focus, and a good wide aperture zoom lens were always mentioned as limitations with my videos.

Finally with the GH3 I think we are over that hurdle. The video below was shot entirely hand held(No tripod or monopod at all) by 1 person in continuous Auto Focus mode with the 35-100mm F2.8 lens. I also only used one battery and still had some juice left after more than 4 hours of filming.

I would say that the focus was spot on for pretty much every clip. Even the focus pull at the beginning from the guy’s Ipad to his son climbing worked perfectly. That was a one take shot. If I didn’t get it right I couldn’t ask the guy and the climber to go back and do it again.

I simply slid my finger from the Ipad to the climber on the camera’s LCD screen. I think it gave the video a very nice effect.

I had other lenses with me like the 25mm F1.4 and the 14mm F2.5. However, I never felt like I needed them. At F2.8 I was almost never above ISO 3200 even with the darker lighting they used for this round.

I think the IS was terrific in the 35-100mm lens as well. Yes I would rather have had the OMD’s 5 axis stabilization. However, I think this is the next best thing. Try holding a camera up for 4 hours straight with a 200mm 35mm equivalent focal length and see how shaky it is without good IS. I also like to take images while I record video and instantly upload them to the web so that spectators can follow along with the action with real-time pictures. With the GH3 I put it in the real time wireless upload mode and shot at 1080p @ 60 FPS in the stills mode. That way I could take stills during video and instantly upload them.

The only issue I had with that is that every time you press the shutter button to take a still it will initiate a focus adjustment. That actually made the focus go off more times than not. After noticing this I just decided to save images directly from the videos in playback mode(Press pause during video playback and then save an image). The camera will upload those images in real time as well.

I have tested the quality of images recorded during video recording and images saved during playback and they are indistinguishable in my opinion.

I also mount my GoPro 3 Black on top of the GH3 and shoot simultaneous wide angle 720p @ 120 FPS video. However, I scrapped all of the GoPro footage because it simply was not up to the caliber of the GH3 video. It is great for super slow motion but the 120 FPS mode indoors produces so much noise that it would not mesh well with the excellent video from the GH3.

I also was impressed with how well the youtube encoding turned out. I normally post to Vimeo as well because it is better for compression. However, in this case I thought the 1080p youtube encode looked great.

I didn’t alter the video at all. I did not do any color grading or post processing on it. I shot in scenery mode with -2 Contrast, +2 sharpness, Zero Color, and -5 Noise Reduction and simply pieced the videos together with a cheap($50) program called AVS Video Editor.

It was really nice to be able to produce the video with the footage as it was shot in camera and still get what I thought was a decent result.

There were plenty of other professional film crews there with much more sophisticated equipment. The little 11 year old girl in the last clip is probably the 2nd best female climber in the country(At 12 years old) and she has a film crew that follows her around everywhere she goes. I wonder how much better their footage looks?

So what do you think? Is the GH3 finally the camera that would make you put down the traditional video camera if you shoot both stills and video?

Edit: Price Drop $399

Hi - I'm selling my Panasonic 14-140mm Lens. It really is in perfect condition. I bought it new about 6 months ago and have used it maybe 5 times because I've been using only LOMO lenses since I got my GH2. It's basically been sitting in it's pouch inside the Panasonic box for 6 months. It comes with everything it came with when purchased new - Panasonic box, papers, front and rear lens cap, lens shade.

Great zoom range from very wide (14mm) to zoomed in very far (140mm). Lens has Optical Image Stabilization.

Price is $399 and includes free shipping if in US.

Has anyone tried them ? It would be for a GH2.