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Camera Support Review: Manfrotto 585 Modosteady 3-in-1 Camera Stabilization System

"The size of camcorders has been shrinking since their inception," writes Videomaker Publisher/Editor, Matthew York, in this month's editor's column, and along with that smaller size come big support issues.

Aside from missing many features the bigger camcorders offer, due to the lack of real estate, these tiny cameras have the big problem of getting a steady shot. Manfrotto, known for rock-steady tripods for cameras of all sizes and weights, saw the need to support these smaller video cameras and jumped into the stabilization market with the 3-in-1 Modosteady stabilization device. The Modosteady lends a helping hand, so to speak, by giving the user three support options: tabletop tripod, shoulder support and camera stabilization. Depending on which way you wish to use it, the arm on the device twists and turns and swivels and locks and can be more fun, or more frustrating, than plopping your camera onto an ordinary tripod.

Before we delve into the mechanics of this interesting-looking tool, let's break out the 3-in-1's functions. The red rubber grip handle opens like a butterfly into three small legs, allowing the user to set up the camera on a table fairly quickly. The ball socket just above the red handle swivels to help you get an accurate horizontal level. Once we figured out how to open the butterfly, we had no trouble setting up the mini-tripod. The fixed height is 5.1 inches, but this gets the camera off the ground, and the ball socket allows you to tilt it up or down, which is one of the downsides to putting the camera flat on any surface. Your shot is usually looking slightly downward without a small prop under the lens. This is also nice for setting the camera above you on a fence or car top, because you can tilt the lens down without worry that the camera will slip as it can when you're attempting the wallet-under-the-butt trick.

Handheld shots are difficult to hold for long, and holding a camcorder steady for a shot of 30 seconds or longer can give you the shakes, even if your camera weighs just a few pounds. By racking the handle joints of the Modo-steady out, holding the rubber handle in your right hand and balancing the soft rubber "foot" on your right shoulder, you have your flip-out viewfinder centered directly in front of you. We felt this gave us a certain level of support, but the inside of one's forearm can grow tired quickly. We did find it comforting when we used the shoulder support setup while propping an elbow on a table. We also found that any focus, zoom or other adjustment we needed to compose the shot caused us to tip the camera to the side a bit.