Steadicam or gimbal?

G

gnarRat

Member
Which one should I get and why? I'm looking to bring my Panasonic g7 up to the mountain and need to get smooth video. Any recommendations or advice is much appreciated ty ns
 
Gimbals are expensive but work really well and are easy to use. Steadicams are cheaper but personally I find them difficult to use and hard to get gimbal level smoothness and consistency
 
depends, do you wanna carry around extra batteries for your gimbal or do you wanna get a nice work out in your forearms from holding a steadicam around?

thats the real question you want to think about.
 
Coming from a guy who owns and uses both I would say buy a glidecam.

The gimbal is awesome, it gets really smooth shots, and allows you to rig out the camera a little easier than a glidecam does (ie external monitor and external sound equipment) but what you dont realize is how heavy the thing is. Depending on what I have attached to the gimbal it weighs 20-30 lbs in total. And you really cant put it down anywhere unless your carrying the stand around. I would consider myself reasonably fit and even still after an hour or two with a gimbal I am extremely tired. I now use a vest, which solves the weight problem, but try getting on a chairlift with it...

Also with a gimbal it is almost impossible to operate without an external monitor of some kind.

Gimbals have a learning curve almost as steep as that of a glidecam. you still have to balance it. you still need to learn how to set it up, and you need to learn about what settings are optimal to ensure that you can keep the skier in the frame. It is far from grab and go

at -30C gimbals dont work. its slow to respond, your lucky if your screen actually has enough battery to stay on, and you need to carry a ton of extra batteries. glidecam's work in all temperatures.

when you compare the smoothness of the footage there is almost no contest between the gimbal and the glidecam. the gimbal blows it out of the water, but it costs 4x as much, and takes longer to setup. plus it is not near as easy to get up lifts.

if you already owned the glidecam, the gimbal is awesome. But if you dont, get the glidecam, learn the tool, and then see if you can live with its (very minimal) limitations before you invest in a gimbal.
 
13775892:DorianF said:
Coming from a guy who owns and uses both I would say buy a glidecam.

The gimbal is awesome, it gets really smooth shots, and allows you to rig out the camera a little easier than a glidecam does (ie external monitor and external sound equipment) but what you dont realize is how heavy the thing is. Depending on what I have attached to the gimbal it weighs 20-30 lbs in total. And you really cant put it down anywhere unless your carrying the stand around. I would consider myself reasonably fit and even still after an hour or two with a gimbal I am extremely tired. I now use a vest, which solves the weight problem, but try getting on a chairlift with it...

Also with a gimbal it is almost impossible to operate without an external monitor of some kind.

Gimbals have a learning curve almost as steep as that of a glidecam. you still have to balance it. you still need to learn how to set it up, and you need to learn about what settings are optimal to ensure that you can keep the skier in the frame. It is far from grab and go

at -30C gimbals dont work. its slow to respond, your lucky if your screen actually has enough battery to stay on, and you need to carry a ton of extra batteries. glidecam's work in all temperatures.

when you compare the smoothness of the footage there is almost no contest between the gimbal and the glidecam. the gimbal blows it out of the water, but it costs 4x as much, and takes longer to setup. plus it is not near as easy to get up lifts.

if you already owned the glidecam, the gimbal is awesome. But if you dont, get the glidecam, learn the tool, and then see if you can live with its (very minimal) limitations before you invest in a gimbal.
Click to expand...

TBH gimbals almost look too stable at times, a glidecam introduces a very, very small amount of error which I think is better. Being 'perfect' isnt always the answer, this is a very true thing in skiing and in any filmmaking.
 
13775909:eheath said:
TBH gimbals almost look too stable at times, a glidecam introduces a very, very small amount of error which I think is better. Being 'perfect' isnt always the answer, this is a very true thing in skiing and in any filmmaking.
Click to expand...

this it true, they look more organic
 
13775926:Ascent_Cinema said:
this it true, they look more organic
Click to expand...

It's funny, I was watching the newest top gear and they put this sort of idea into a perfect statement about cars, you can't bond with something that doesn't have flaws, because as humans we are inherently flawed in some way. If something is "perfect" we can't relate to it, but if something has human qualities I.E. not perfect, we are much more likely to adhere to it.
 
13775927:eheath said:
It's funny, I was watching the newest top gear and they put this sort of idea into a perfect statement about cars, you can't bond with something that doesn't have flaws, because as humans we are inherently flawed in some way. If something is "perfect" we can't relate to it, but if something has human qualities I.E. not perfect, we are much more likely to adhere to it.
Click to expand...

I was considering buying a gimbal this spring but then I realized that all of the edits and ski films that I love weren't filmed on a gimbal but were on a glidecam or even straight handheld (Like my favorite of all time, this one: https://vimeo.com/107924366 ). If I need a gimbal at any time for a client video then I can just rent one
 
13775892:DorianF said:
Coming from a guy who owns and uses both I would say buy a glidecam.

The gimbal is awesome, it gets really smooth shots, and allows you to rig out the camera a little easier than a glidecam does (ie external monitor and external sound equipment) but what you dont realize is how heavy the thing is. Depending on what I have attached to the gimbal it weighs 20-30 lbs in total. And you really cant put it down anywhere unless your carrying the stand around. I would consider myself reasonably fit and even still after an hour or two with a gimbal I am extremely tired. I now use a vest, which solves the weight problem, but try getting on a chairlift with it...

Also with a gimbal it is almost impossible to operate without an external monitor of some kind.

Gimbals have a learning curve almost as steep as that of a glidecam. you still have to balance it. you still need to learn how to set it up, and you need to learn about what settings are optimal to ensure that you can keep the skier in the frame. It is far from grab and go

at -30C gimbals dont work. its slow to respond, your lucky if your screen actually has enough battery to stay on, and you need to carry a ton of extra batteries. glidecam's work in all temperatures.

when you compare the smoothness of the footage there is almost no contest between the gimbal and the glidecam. the gimbal blows it out of the water, but it costs 4x as much, and takes longer to setup. plus it is not near as easy to get up lifts.

if you already owned the glidecam, the gimbal is awesome. But if you dont, get the glidecam, learn the tool, and then see if you can live with its (very minimal) limitations before you invest in a gimbal.
Click to expand...

13775909:eheath said:
TBH gimbals almost look too stable at times, a glidecam introduces a very, very small amount of error which I think is better. Being 'perfect' isnt always the answer, this is a very true thing in skiing and in any filmmaking.
Click to expand...

13775926:Ascent_Cinema said:
this it true, they look more organic
Click to expand...

Ah the joys of the human touch, one of the reasons we haven't been replaced with robots yet in many walks of life. I will 100% agree that a glidecam is the way to go. Paired with a mirror less mmmm light weight and steady. Not to mention you can do dutch tilts and other pans that a gimbal cant.
 
While I love filming with my gimbal, I've really had a hard time working on getting it right for movement of the skier. Skiers tend to flow a lot more and it's pretty difficult to get a "robot" to do that. Hence why I'm thinking of picking up a glidecam. With that said, each piece of gear has its place. Just have to find what works best for you! I would start with a glidecam though!
 
I bought a steady cam recently and at first it took a little to get used to but i love it it works great
 
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