I’ve posted a bit on the Glidecam family of products before, specifically the HD-1000 and the HD-2000, and lately I’ve been tempted to rent one of these to see how it handles a Canon 5D Mark II with a small wide-angle prime lens attached. I’d love to know if it’s easy enough to control while being on a skateboard or on a bike (yes, while riding) and whether this would prove to be a good HD alternative to the GoPro.
Any input from you guys out there?
I got to try one out at Photokina and am even thinking of buying one myself. Skateboard, I’d say probably, not sure about on a bike. Unless you’re riding on the back while some else is steering. The rig is great, the only thing I noticed is that it drifts horizontally (kind of auto-pan) when you start to move, or stop from moving. You control it by using your free hand and feathering the center column to keep it pointed the direction you want. Same is true when you want to change direction or intentionally pan. It was a little confusing how to do this at first until the Glidecam rep showed me how. IMO, worth renting or buying to try either way. Hope this helps.
I have used it a few times myself with my Canon T2i. I added weight to the top by mounting my Zoom H4N with the hot shoe mount, and then removed some of the weights from the bottom to balance it. (note, the t2i is noticeably lighter than the 5D MkII). Its a bit tricky to learn at first, but I used it for about 3 days to get comfy with it before I was satisfied with all the shots I was getting. All of this ( http://vimeo.com/16846796 ) was shot on the Glidecam 2000 after playing with it for about 3 or so days. And thats also, while pulling focus manually!
The above commenter made a good point in that when you start going in any motion, the wind does make it pan, and therefore you need a free hand to steer it in the right direction. You could, in theory, use it effectively on a skateboard, but i’d imagine the concentration it takes to effectively ride, while also pulling any focus and/or framing, is a bit much for one person to do at the same time. A bike would be workable, so long as you were going in a straight line and downhill, and could ride with no hands.
What I was surprised about was how well it performs even when you’re running. Several of the shots I got (both in the above video, and some of the other footage I’ve shot with it) I was running almost full speed, and you’d never know… its pretty smooth. I say try it out.
i got the flycam nano, it’s like glidecam replica…but WAYYY cheaper. reviewed on cheesycam a lot (also check out the related posts, there’s tons on the flycam): http://cheesycam.com/flycam-nano-dslr-video-camera-stabilizer/
i use it with the 60D with a battery pack, but i barely use any of the weights, so it could definitely hold a 5D
I have a hd-2000 and I use it with my 7d and 17-55 2.8
Like some other people have mentioned, you do need two hands to use it, but you get pretty good results with it as long as you have both hands.
If you only have the one, then it will start to drift.
It’s a part of its design, as it is designed to like larger steadicams, which are operated by both hands.
If you only have one free hand, then I’d think the steadicam merlin may be a better choice, as you only operate it with one hand, leaving the other free. But at the same time, you cant do all the same shots because you dont have the gimbal, so you can’t pan/tilt/cant. But for just following people, it’d be fine.
Also I wouldn’t get anything smaller then the 2000, unless youre using primes, if you use a zoom wideangle, they add weight, and may be out of the 1000s range.
I use the HD-4000 with the 7D and 5D and it works wonders.