Steadicam Round 2; How To
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 10:53PM So a couple of weeks ago I posted about the steadicam I made from the design I found at steadicam.org
awesome tool, really easy, does what it is supposed to,
BUT I don't know about you guys but my arms are less than ripped and I found the heavy body of my 5d and the 90 degree angles of the design to be difficult and somewhat cumbersome to hold up at head level. I have been checking out some of the pro designs online and liked the 'suitcase' carry style to be much easier on your grip, more natural for your arm and better for low-to-the-ground perspective--perfect for skate and snowboard edits/anything on wheels...
anyways this one cost me all of about $20 for materials and all of about 20 minutes to assemble, not bad for a tool that you can find online for upwards of $1000 bones...
Materials
Two 1/2" by 10" long galvanized steel pipes, (make sure all the pipes have threaded ends)
One 1/2" by 8" long galvanized steel pipe
One 1/2" 90 degree steel elbow connector
Two 1/2" steel T-connectors
4 1/2" steel caps
One 1/4" fender washer (the bigger the better it takes the stress off your camera tripod threads)
Two 1/4" by 2" or 3" long threaded bolts
Four 1/4" nuts
Two 1/4" wingnuts
Four to Six 1/4" lock washers or toothed washers (I found toothed washers to work better, although harder to find)
One 2.5lb weight
You will also need a good drill with a 1/4" bit that can go through steel to drill the holes through two of the caps
And vice grips or an actual vice so you aren't tempted to hold the caps with your fingers..(I tried to hold them and almost got a cool new scar)
Anyways Im stoked to try it out! These are really simple and there are tons of possibilities in variation. Try different stuff that works for you and let me know.
peace
Rhys
Reader Comments (2)
Very creative!! I might jump into homedepot in search of pipes...
Thanks.
I wonder if this would work using PVC pipe. Could be lighter, maybe not as strong but if your camera is light I think it could work.