Personal View site logo
wich steady cam for Gh3 with anamorphic
  • michalmichal

    Hellow fellows, i wanted to ask you what steadycam should i use with my GH3, i will shoot with and without anamorphic, the rig will weight around 2.5Kg with anamorphic, and 1.5 without. i was into the laing P03 because of the reviews and price, the price point is ok for me as it looks like the best around without going for 600$. And just to mention it will be my first steadycam. What do you think friends ? Thanks

  • 10 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    First, current good Laing stabilizer is P-04, it is present on our deals from time to time.

    Second, I also suggest to check http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/147219#Comment_147219 . B&H has good deal going on Merlin 2 now.

  • michalmichal

    Thanks vitaly, i would be more on the laing in terms of price and wanted to buy it here at PV (because of the VAT, once I read you had some solutions to avoid it in a certain way, because in france it fckn high), I know the question might sound stupid but not so much as stuff tends to be worse as a company surfs on the success of a model and then sell a prettier/worse materials model with a higher number... it's better than the P03 ? And does the merlin is worth the extra $ and why ? Thank you very much for that quick answer

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    it's better than the P03

    P-04 is better, yep :-)

    Merlin 2 is also good, it just have different approach.

    Good to understand that most probably you'll need arm and vest for any of them if you want to use it for any prolonged period of time.

  • _OZ_OZ

    Good to understand that most probably you'll need arm and vest for any of them if you want to use it for any prolonged period of time<

    and by prolonged, he means more than a breath! ; )

    But seriously, these Laing stabilizers are very well built, but not Merlin weight. Your arm (and especially wrist) will get tired after 1 minute. Arm and vest are a great investment if you really want to get into this. Otherwise, for fast and easy use, I'd recommend a lighter solution.

    I have the P03xc by the way. Very solid, good design, tiring to use without vest.

    I am thinking of getting one of these for it for now: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/171160994965?lpid=82

    Not quite a vest, but it will slightly extend allowable usage time.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @_OZ

    Laing made vest and arm specially for lighter stabs (full set with P-04 is called M-30).

    Also sale on B&H for Merlin 2 also extends to full set that include arm and vest.

    http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1000409-REG/steadicam_merlin_2_camera_stabilizing.html

  • tylerknighttylerknight

    I would totally advise getting the Merlin 1 or 2 for sure! I got my merlin 1 used about a week ago and hated it for 3 days straight until I was able to find that perfect balance and now it is an absolute dream to use! the video is amazingly smooth and stable.

  • michalmichal

    @tylerknight haha, ok so it was your topic about that merlin and gh3 unbalancable, cool you made it work finally, but now it seems like everyone is onto the merlin, hmmm 400$ + tax ... Is a little bit too much... but hell yeah it's a great deal, as the cheapest i've seen on ebay was 420€ + 115€ shipping lol...

    @vitaly do you think youll get some laing deals before christmas ? :)

    @all If i understand well the merlin is lighter and better than the laing, but not twice better ? i'm starting to looks like a greedy one :) gnaa don't know...

  • jfilmmakerjfilmmaker

    Hey guys, how does Merlin 2 compare with a Glidecam 2K? They seem about equal in price. Thx

  • tylerknighttylerknight

    You can get an original Merlin for under 300 used! I checked ebay before I picked mine up off a friend and they are going consistently for between 2-300!

  • sdessdes

    Hi michal. What kind of anamorphic are we talking about here?

Add a Comment