Is this steady cam defective?

[shutterhappens]

I bought a $50 steady cam and after I balanced the camera, it has a tendency to turn towards the handle. If I rotate the handle to another location, it wants to turn towards that new location. If I hold everything still and let go, it may not turn right away, but as soon as there is movement, then it gravitates toward that spot.

I just want to confirm this is a sign of bad bearing before I return it.

What is the least expensive steady cam that can be counted on to not have this kind of problem on arrival? In other words, to go through quality control before before sold?

 

[OzRay]

It's a balancing issue. Glidecams are notoriously difficult to balance correctly and it will also depend on the weight of the camera and weight capability of the glidecam.

Expensive glidecams have better balancing mechanism vs the cheap ones and give you better adjustments. Sometimes the difference between being balanced and not can be millimetres.

There are plenty of YouTube videos showing how to balance a glidecam, so you should seek these out.

 

[Sean Nelson]

I agree that consumer balance-based stabilization rigs are a huge pain to get balanced correctly, and then once everything is perfectly set up they're still a big pain to use because almost anything, including a slight breeze, will set them off. I used to have a Steadicam Merlin and I'd have to reshoot several takes in order to get one that I considered usable. I'm using a motorized rig now, and so happy to be rid of the Merlin.

As for your issue, it may be that you've managed to achieve static balance but not dynamic balance. Try spinning the camera around the vertical axis (i.e., to do a 360 degree horizontal pan). If it leans to one side or the other then it's not dynamically balanced even though it might seem perfect when stationary. When the dynamic balance is off you'll get symptoms similar to what you're describing.

See: this Wikipedia article.

 

[Andrew S10]

I bought a $50 steady cam

"$50 steady cam" is rather nebulous, could you post a link to the item you bought?

It could be an error in balancing, or it could have an uncalibrated gimbal, which may or may not support calibration by the user.

All cheap steadycams will have sub-par quality control, but I would recommend sticking with Steadicam, Glidecam, Laing, Came, and Kovacam (Steadicam and Glidecam aren't considered cheap options, but they do have some "affordable" models, especially second hand, so I included them in the list).

 

[PhilPreston3072]

I bought a $50 steady cam and after I balanced the camera, it has a tendency to turn towards the handle. If I rotate the handle to another location, it wants to turn towards that new location. If I hold everything still and let go, it may not turn right away, but as soon as there is movement, then it gravitates toward that spot.

I just want to confirm this is a sign of bad bearing before I return it.

What is the least expensive steady cam that can be counted on to not have this kind of problem on arrival? In other words, to go through quality control before before sold?

Yeah, it's most likely defective. I have one of those cheap steadycams and the camera will tilt as soon as the grip has moved to a different position. You can try flipping around the top stage to maybe get more balance in all directions, but I haven't had success, only less tilting.

I think these cheap ones don't have perfect centre of gravity at the gimbal, so they will balance at one position but not at any others.

 

[OzRay]

If your stabiliser is one of these El Cheapos , there's nothing wrong with it. These are really not designed for other than very light cameras. I bought one just to see how they worked and whether it was worth then going to a better quality one.

It works fine with a small camera like my Olympus TG5 with some added weight, but is hopeless with my Olympus E-M1 MkII. Balancing is a nightmare at the best of times because of the very poor quality adjustment controls available. It's like trying to slice Sushi with an broad axe.

If you're set on a glidecam style stabiliser, have a look at Glide Gear, they make some reasonably priced units that will hold larger cameras and have good adjustment control, and can be bought second hand quite readily.

 

[shutterhappens]

Attached a video that better illustrate the problem I'm having. In this video, the starting position is more or less balanced. Then it gets imbalanced as I rotate the camera through 360 degree turn. At the end it returns to a more or less balanced state. Note that at some angle it has a tendency to turn itself.





I looked at several how to balance glidecam videos on youtube and I believe I've done everything there is to do.

 

[Sean Nelson]

Attached a video that better illustrate the problem I'm having. In this video,

It looks to me like all of the axes are moving freely, I strongly doubt there's anything wrong with the bearings. I believe that the rig isn't dynamically balanced as I mentioned above.

Check out the appearance of the rig at 0:13 in the video. You'll notice that the bottom counterweight isn't centered with respect to the vertical arm - it's centre of mass is a bit to the left. You can compensate by moving the camera at the top end a bit to the right to get it statically balanced, but any attempt to rotate the camera will cause the bottom to swing out. You need to get the masses at both ends centered in order to achieve dynamic balance.

 

[StoneJack]

I bought a $50 steady cam and after I balanced the camera, it has a tendency to turn towards the handle. If I rotate the handle to another location, it wants to turn towards that new location. If I hold everything still and let go, it may not turn right away, but as soon as there is movement, then it gravitates toward that spot.

I just want to confirm this is a sign of bad bearing before I return it.

What is the least expensive steady cam that can be counted on to not have this kind of problem on arrival? In other words, to go through quality control before before sold?

I suppose thats what you get for 50 bucks..

 

[DMKAlex]

With the price of a 7lb capacity motorized gimbal came down to around $270, I don't know why people are still trying to fool around with devices like glidecam or steadicam knock offs.

I understand a group of professionals still swear by the real McCoy which seems to be easier (?) to balance and has a certain characteristics that motorized gimbal lacks. But for an average Joe like me, I will not touch them with a 10 ft pole.

 

[StoneJack]

With the price of a 7lb capacity motorized gimbal came down to around $270, I don't know why people are still trying to fool around with devices like glidecam or steadicam knock offs.

I understand a group of professionals still swear by the real McCoy which seems to be easier (?) to balance and has a certain characteristics that motorized gimbal lacks. But for an average Joe like me, I will not touch them with a 10 ft pole.

Do you mean Feiyu AK2000?

 

[DMKAlex]

With the price of a 7lb capacity motorized gimbal came down to around $270, I don't know why people are still trying to fool around with devices like glidecam or steadicam knock offs.

I understand a group of professionals still swear by the real McCoy which seems to be easier (?) to balance and has a certain characteristics that motorized gimbal lacks. But for an average Joe like me, I will not touch them with a 10 ft pole.

Do you mean Feiyu AK2000?

Could be. It's one of the 7+ lb Feiyu. B&H has it on daily special of $269 every so often.

 

[OzRay]

Do you mean Feiyu AK2000?

That's one that I have and it's quite capable, especially as it comes with a focus control and motor.