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damian
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« on: July 24, 2008, 11:29:38 AM » |
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Well, having looked at some glidecams, and being a racecar fabricator first and foremost, I had every intention of simply building one of these. Then I came across this knockoff and figured I'd give it a shot.
The ebay seller is DV-shop23. The items are listed as shipping from India. I battle knockoffs in my business, so Glidecam has to deal with theirs...it's just how it goes.
So, I received the items in TWO packages, and they were not in the best of shape. Upon opening though, everything was well wrapped, and there was no damage. I unpacked all the items and everything so far didn't look bad. I began assembly from there.
After a short time, I had the core unit assembled. Unlike the glidecam which has butterfly nuts to secure the lower end counter-weights, this has a very contained ,and honestly, cleaner looking setup. The Flycam uses heavy washers that set tightly inside of plastic containment units which makes everything look very clean.
I threw in a couple washers, moved the weights to the outermost point on the base, then went to the head mount. The headmount setup is a little more crude looking than the Glidecam, but essentially still serves the purpose. There's a plate that mounts to the camera, which then mounts to the Flycam assembly. It moves fore and aft, and side to side just like the Glidecam.
So from there, I got my Sony VX2000 mounted on this unit. I begin the process of lifting, balancing, lifting, moving, lifting, balancing, and after about 5 minutes, I've got it close. The gimbal is very smooth, and overall I'm pretty happy at this point. I then try the armbrace, and it's a DEFINITE relief on the wrist.
The week following I use the Flycam several times to get a feel for how it really performs, and that leads me to the final breakdown of how I rate this unit.
The good:
The gimbal works well. It appears strong, is very smooth, and has very free movement.
The weight system is clean and well packaged, and looks better than glidecams.
The armbrace is effective, and definitely improves stamina.
The overall unit balanced fairly easy, and after a week I can balance it within a minute from "scratch".
For the cost savings over the name brand unit, I'd have to say it's not a bad buy.
Bottom line, when you get the balance, the thing works well. Just moving my lense cover will tip the thing crazy. You MUST balance with the screen out, the same battery, the same lense, the same filter...everything. It's sensitive, but that's what makes it work so well.
With a heavier prosumer camera I did get bottom fall times of 3 seconds...so it balances well.
The bad:
The baseplate that mounts the weights is plastic, and screws into the main pole. This allows some inadvertent turning of the baseplate, which then will cause loss of balance. It won't happen during a session of use, but if you balance before an event, then get there, you may find it has moved.
The armbrace is an absolute MESS of velcro and isn't designed according to the instructions. I got it to work fine, and once all velcro'd it didn't look bad. It is VERY hot to wear though, and thus far I've rathered not wear it. I did a LONG car show without it.
With a prosumer size/weight camera, versus like a best buy cam, this unit is pretty heavy honestly. It's like holding a small child out in front of you. It's hard on the back, and its hard on the wrist, and it'll wear your forearms out. My response to it is, get the shot you want, get the movement you want, then grab the camera by the top and rest. This was another reason I ditched the armbrace...it was just easier to get my shot, then set it down, or grab the camera by the top. Doing that and having to lock into the armbrace...it'd just be a pain.
They only give you one type of washer, and they are each heavy. So, while I balanced my camera, it may be possible that were I to add a light, or a different mic, that small weight adjustments would be necessary, and this isn't possible unless you come up with your own solution.
Lastly, the main pole of the flycam is like the older Glidecam, it telescopes. The locking mechanism where the telescoping occurs isn't the best. I can turn the top pole, once again skewing balance. As I said earlier though, I had NO problems in a 6 hour long car show, but if you go from one location to the next expect to balance.
So, how to address the bad:
Loctite on the baseplate screw into the bottom of the main pole will eliminate any movement.
On the telescoping mechanism, a small strip of rubber, or even a light adhesive would truly lock the assembly to the top pole, and still allow the telescoping action to occur.
With the lack of flexible weighting, they are just simply washers, and I'll buy some lighter ones for flexibility. I'll then drill the centers to match the plastic units. That will in turn, give me more minute weight adjustment. Glidecam uses a stack of small washers, while this unit gives you about 8 heavy ones, so this'll give the Glidecam like flexibility.
Final thought:
Final thought is, that most of its flaws can be repaired. I could pick this thing apart, but overall the main issues that truly affect performance I've detailed here. Keep in mind though, it's in my nature to modify things...I've done it to cars, toys, airplanes, go karts, golf carts, etc. most of my life. I DID indeed use this in an unmodified state though. It's just common for me to analyze everything in order to figure out how to make it better....don't mind me. In addition, if I could go back I wouldn't buy the armbrace, meaning you could buy the unit for 210.00 shipped, versus 399+shipping for the glidecam.
So, would I advise someone to buy it that needs the stability it offers, sure. At the same time though I'd be sure they understood that with a prosumer weight camera, the assembly isn't light and I promise you won't be able to shoot 30 minutes of video straight with it...not happening! Use it to get those shots you want in spurts of a couple minutes at a time and you'll be fine.
And that's the game!
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