Tagged with nano - Personal View Talks

Steadicam balancing and operation tips

jimtreats — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:08:29 +0000

Hi folks.

Last night I got my first steadicam in the mail.

The budget flycam nano, I didn't expect too much, and I think I'm relatively happy for a cheap first steadicam. It did arrive with a few niggles, the bottom weight holding platform was a little bent, meaning the pole coming out of it wasn't perpendicular to the platform. I wasn't sure whether this would cause a problem, but i've bent it into shape of sort now. After this I experienced the problem where with the cam sort of balanced it would hang vertically with the camera pointing away from me, spin the camera any other way and it would always fall to the right a little. In the end i took apart the gymbal bracket and reattached it with even torque on both screws and i seemed to have improved this symptom mostly.

As a whole, the flycam nano does seem ok.. balancing is a bit of a chore but I think i can get close fairly quickly. I'm finding the handle a bit frustrating, the grip rubber can shift in certain orientations which always makes me a bit nervous. I also find i have to hold the handle very low down so my hand doesn't contact with the v bracket that holds the gymbal and stops it from flying properly. I brought the arm brace with it too, which helps with the handle holding a little, but in general i do wish the handle was an inch or two longer.

Now i'm left with a reasonably balanced flycam nano, with my GH2 and 20mm f1.7 lens. I've managed to balance this with only 2 weights on either end of the platform. Which leads me to the first question. To get this to balance i've had to extend the weight platform to about halfway down the pole extension. So I wonder, is there a rule for how much weight to put below, or does more weight with less extension have the same properties as less weight with more extension?

I've been working with a 2-3 seconds drop time from horizontal, i've seen various recommendations on this, i've noticed the slower this drop time the less pendulum-esque the steadicam behaves when you're flying it.

I've seen mention of static and dynamic balanced. I'm not clear on how to verify whether or not I have achieved dynamic balance, i'll assume static is sufficient for the steadicam to remain vertical when placed there, in all camera y-axis rotations.

Whenever I see video of folks showing a balanced steadicam they always shift it forwards, back, left and right with it remaining pretty vertical and stable. I can do this, however when i do do this I find that the camera tends to spin on its y-axis a little. Related to this if i'm walking with the steadicam and i change direction the same rotation can occurs and has to be combatted with the other hand damping the vertical post or even turning it back the desired direction. Is this the behaviour of a balanced steadicam, or a symptom of one that's not quite balanced, or perhaps has an over lubricated gymbal? I'm wondering if the compact nature of the GH2 and 20mm lens is meaning that it doesn't have a very large or dense z-axis which is meaning that its moment of inertia in that axis is so small that its easy to rotate as i've just described.. So i'm wondering if i balance it with a heavier and longer 14-140mm lens I may find it is less likely to turn.

I guess that's about it. Any help or advice would be really appreciated! I accept that it's going to take a lot more practice, but i just want to get a feel of whether i'm in the right area.

Cheers

Flycam Nano replacement parts

Bara — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 18:53:21 +0000

Hi my friends,

I got a flycam nano from a friend of mine, unfortunately one part is broken. It's the part where you can arrange the distance from the camera to the weights. You can see the part in the picture below. Is there any possibility to get replacement parts for a fly cam nano? Unfortunately I do not know the exact brand or company where my friend bought it, and neither he has any clue. The problem with my current one is that the hole is too big and the screw does not have any grib, so you can not tighten the screw. I've already thought about drilling the hole bigger and to use a bigger screw, but then the wings of the screw would be in the way.

I would really appreciate any suggestions!

Could Nano Proofing Tech be used to Water Proof Camera Gear?

Felix — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 09:17:53 +0000

This tech report from the BBC is interesting and apologies if its already been posted but if phones and tablets can be coated then does the mean that Cameras (or others) like a GH2/GH3 be baked to become water resistant? You probably would'nt go diving with it but the thought of have a weather proof camera, memory cards, Microphones protecting sensitive diaphragms & possibly lenses is an interesting use for this Water proofing Nano technology - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9786346.stm

I remember a while back a number of reports from users dropping their kit Philip Bloom in Australia and accidentally dropped memory cards and 5D's in beaches - Could this new tech save the day?

I shoot in the UK and with the weather as it is I'd be interested in proofing my kit for those rainy days.

What are the potential health risks of this new tech always concerned that it could be absorbed by the user - thoughts?

Wondlan Mini Stabilizer .vs. Flycam Nano

Sph1nxster — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:18:13 +0000

Having now worked with both these handheld stabilizers i thought i would take the opportunity to give a fairly brief summary of the two and how they compare. Both these stabilizers have been used with both the GH2 + GH3 with a variety of lenses plus light when required.

FLYCAM NANO - £85

Initial setup for the Nano took around 3-4 hours, and was not a plesant experience. This would have been exaggerated by my lack of experience at the time with stabilisers but i had researched the concept and watched numerous videos on how to tune one and yet i was amazed at how difficult it was. Having spent nearly 6 months with the Nano, i found myself never truly able to get a perfectly tuned setup. It would work sometimes and then it would be placed on a table ready for the next shot and when picked up again it was out of balance. This would take some 2-3 minutes to sort out and sometimes I missed vital shots and had to abandon and go for the monopod. I must admit that laterally i ended up resorting to a rather crude method of balancing it, due to frustration, and this consisted of banging it until it was back in balance. I realise that this method ultimately knackered the whole unit but i was initially very patient with it.

PROS - Lightweight & Cheap
CONS - Difficult to adjust, not well built, weights at the bottom over complicate things (combined with little movement in the main shaft available)

WONDLAN MINI STABILIZER - £205

Of course, this lead to me purchasing a new stabiliser which after reading a lot of good things about Wondlan led me to purchase their Mini Stabiliser for just over £200. Being cheaper than the carbon model and smaller i thought this would be ideal for the GH3 + 12-35 lens. I am not joking when I say this, but from open box to flying... less than 5 minutes. I was amazed at how easily the unit could be adjusted and yet how stiff everything felt on it. I can literally run as fast as I can with this thing, place it down, pick it up and nothing changes. I have combined it with a Calumnet quick mount adaptor (manfrotto copy) and this works a treat at allowing me to jump from monopod to stabilizer and at the very most I have to do about 10-15 seconds of tweaks to get it perfect. The knobs at the side allow micro millimeter precision and with the scale at the side does not lead to subjective changes. What a fantastic bit of kit and it has re-ignited my enthusiasm for stabiliser shots once again!

PROS - Super easy to adjust, well made, looks fantastic (more professional IMO), massive amount of adjustment in both gimbal, shaft height and plate
CONS - Twice the price, bag is not padded (i'm scraping the barrel here)

I hope this helps with someone looking to take the leap into the world of stabilizers and not sure where to start.