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The hand placed on the gimabal introduce shake
  • Hisham_Aly1974Hisham_Aly1974

    i am sorry this is my second post about the same problem , but sadly i can not fix it with all the advice i got so i need a help again

    the problem is my second hand the hand placed on the gimbal itself introduce a lot of shake and slightly very little amount of panning left and right ( so it shakes rotates and pan the steadicam ) , i must note the following :

    1- i understand that we dont hold it firmly and that we must be very very gentle and i tried for months to the most gentleness that i can with my fingers but i fail , tried different hand placement too with no luck , tried several drop times and different sled length no one is better it is always shakes badly , i read and watched everything i could about that 2 hands technique ( and it is not that much i found just 2 pages on the steadicam operator handbook )

    2- i improved in many other things like my walking style my movements etc , month by month i find that i improve a very little but i do so it is fair , but the 2 hands technique after practicing i still on zero level same as i started months ago with no improvement at all

    3- all of my good examples that people liked so far was done by balancing my stablizer very accurate and with slow drop time i fly it with one hand and the result is very very smooth compared to when i lay my other hand under the gimbal

    4- i have an idea after all this months of fail that may be some people do not have enough gentleness in there fingers to do so or may be there is something wrong in the muscles nerves , i dont know i am not a doctor but is this a talent like singing some have it and some whatever the do it will never happen

    5 - is there any resources or data online about this issue please write it may be i didnt read it and could have a tip or trick that may help me

    6- i am sorry my english is bad and that because it is not my based language

    one hand examples

  • 16 Replies sorted by
  • inqb8trinqb8tr

    Look, usually film tech has some purpose in narrative or any general idea why certain technique is chosen for a particular shot. If you have a subject or a topic that moves or does something that you follow, no one is going to notice slight shakes or any problems at all. If your movement is by any means motivated, you'd be surprised how many imperfections go unnoticed.

    And also try to balance your camera better, it kind of swerves to one side. But the point is, don't expect to get a perfect steady shot movement without anything for us to focus on or to drive our attention away, it is just pointless.

    PS. I don't see any problems with your shots

  • Hisham_Aly1974Hisham_Aly1974

    @inqb8tr thank You for u r reply and yes i agree with You that the motivated shot with clear point of interest makes imperfections pass unnoticed as u see on those examples that they r smooth cas i just hold the steadicam with one hand and move , but that cant be done for every shot sometimes u need the other hand ( the guiding hand to tilt or to prevent unwanted camera movement etc and whenever that damned hand touch the post it disturbs everything and make it a shaky shot

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    In the first one, it looks like your camera's weight is slightly to one side and (maybe) your gimbal is a little bit bottom-heavy, but I could be wrong. What kind of camera are you trying to fly? If the camera is too light, it's also more difficult to keep it steady. I've found it helpful in the past to use a metal quick-release plate to add some weight to the camera.

    In the second one, it looks absolutely fine to me. Since I was looking for it, I could see what seem to be your footsteps. You can improve that with practice.

  • Hisham_Aly1974Hisham_Aly1974

    @eatstoomuchjam thank u for u r reply i use canon 5d mark2 with a prime lens 14 or 20 or 24 so far i have added more than the quick release here is the pictures at the bottom shows my rig , and those 2 examples i used just one hand to carry the stablizer and moved that is not my problem , my problem starts when i try to put the other hand on the gimbal to pan or tilt or just to prevent the unwanted movements like spinning etc . it is then my hand make the rig too shaky and slightly panning both ways it is a mess even when i just touch very gently the post

    here is another example with 2 hands but at my best

    IMG_20160907_075041-1 copy.jpg
    900 x 540 - 354K
    IMG_20160907_081436 copy.jpg
    800 x 1139 - 645K
  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    Oh yeah - the 5D should be heavy enough to balance on a lot of smaller steadicams. I'm not sure what to tell you about the 2-hand video. It looks like there's no steadicam at all - my inclination is to say that your second hand is too firm, but if you say that it's a very light touch, then I've got nothing more beyond that.

  • Hisham_Aly1974Hisham_Aly1974

    @eatstoomuchjam

    yes u now can see my problem clearly , the examples that i fly using one hand is so smooooooth compared to when i use the second /guiding hand on the post it looks like it cancels the steadicam work , and sadly i do not know what else to do !

  • PsycoPsyco

    Its...physics: the more weight - the more stable. Its very hard (if not impossible) to get a really smooth and controlled movement with this small stabilizers. There is a reason why the big rigs have a support arm and are quite heavy.

    My steadycam setup weights about 20kg and I have no problems with camera shake....but it has other problems (its 20kg in front of you to carry arround -> after 10min its no fun any more, after an hour it starts to get really painfull;-)

  • AKEDAKED

    My advice: get a gimbal with motors and encoders and not a steadycam. That will solve your problems and save time as well. You aquired skill with the walking will be good for gimbal use as well.

  • Hisham_Aly1974Hisham_Aly1974

    @Psyco thank u for u reply and advice too , i tried to put extra weight but didnt help much but i agree with what u say, may be i didnt put enough weight ,and may be i can add weight more and try again .

    @AKED thank u but a motorized gimbal is not an option for me , cas where i live it costs a lot , and even it is more simple but still it must have its learning curve , which i do not want to start doing it again , beside the frustration of working on the steadicam for almost a year then fail to learn it , this feeling will not let me spend money and time to try any thing else .

  • Hisham_Aly1974Hisham_Aly1974

    to close this thread i just made every fix i can do tonight so i tried and added weights every where ( on the camera plate + of course all the weights on the weight plate , and i adjusted the gimbal for it ) then i started with several drop times with this heavy weight that almost break my arm and shoulder , and the shake is exactly the same and it is the same on all drop times from 2 seconds till 6.5 seconds ( yes the same shake on both no more no less and to be accurate it shakes more on the 2 seconds drop time !!!!! ) , so now since i tried everything , i think gentlemen we came to dead end as i see also that u do not suggest any tips more , so the only explination i have is that my hand and fingers must have a problem i never knew about in the nerves or some problem in the muscles that prevent me from holding it , so i think i must stop operating this steadicam and i admit that i can not do it forever , and i lost almost that year training for nothing but to know that now is better than spending more coming years without any improvement , i just wanted to be sure before i quit so i made this post to be sure that i have tried all suggestions b4 i totally Quit , thank You for all those who tried to reply and help me ..

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @Hisham_Aly1974

    Just find someone who operates steadicam and ask advice. Period.

    If you do not have anyone near go and watch youtube, and try.

  • Hisham_Aly1974Hisham_Aly1974

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev thank You i watched almost everything on Youtube ( really tons of videos and i have a complete courses downloaded ) , keep in mind that all this months i was training from 4-6 days weekly and sometimes everyday , and i tried to find a steadicam operator to help and hardly i found one that gave me minutes and told me nothing wrong with my steadicam and he just told me as everyone ( just a light touch ) and he said goodbye , same as u find it everywhere as it seems it is not even a big deal to any one , they show u where to lay u r fingers and touch it light and that is it ! so i think my fingers must have something wrong inside my muscles or the nerves end , this is the only reason i can think of ( and that can not improve ) after months i am getting only worse and as u see i asked and tried everything .

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Well, in this case put all this time to get money and buy and good single hand gimbal,

    I suggest this one - http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/15338/zhiyun-z1-crane

  • Hisham_Aly1974Hisham_Aly1974

    that product to reach me at my country it will be about 1500$ and that is like 18k in my local currency it needs a lot of saving may be in a year or so i can save for it if i am lucky but that is my only option right now

  • AKEDAKED

    What country do you live in?

  • Hisham_Aly1974Hisham_Aly1974

    Egypt

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