Steadycam for Consumer Camcorders????

[RockstarRider]

do you guys know of any steadycam-like stabilizers that are cheap and are meant for consumer camcorders??? stabilizers that are less than 100 bucks….small,portable….

[CraftersOfLight]

If you are handy with light tools, search through YouTube for Steadicam and its variations. There are a lot of simple how-to versions that are easy to put together on the cheap.

One thing to understand is that most of the size you are looking for take a fair amount of practice to accomplish a good steady “flyover”. It’s not something you buy/build and use immediately on a critical shoot.

[EarlC]

The right monopod will serve very well as a steadycam-like tool. You’d have to shop around and find one that has good weight distribution, and come up with some counter weight for the bottom while using it thus. I do this all the time with a heaver-than-usual ProPod that isn’t distributed anymore, but it was a few hundred dollars so out of your range anyhow.

[CraftersOfLight]

Earl brings up a point

One method you can use is your regular tripod.

Set the camera, lock the head, keep the legs short, extend the neck as far as it will go, and grab it just above the balance point. this will putthe weight below your hand as you use your wrist as the pivot but allow you to “pan” around with little effort. Focus on keeping the camera floating and not bobbing as you walk. again it will take some practice.

[Author]

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