First hands-on
An Affordable steadicam system, that will help you smooth out your shots and more. This summarizes in a way the video. I don’t always film with a gimbal, and I use a steadicam with a vest only on occasion. Only when the shot calls for it, or when I know I will have to carry a few Kgs around for long periods. I was tired of having sore arms and back pains after a long day filming. So this was potentially the solution for me.
I trust Proaim for a few things now. My dolly system and my apple boxes are from them, and as of today, I’ve been more than satisfied with their products. So when I had to consider owning a system like this, they were my first choice.
I needed a compact, light, and sturdy system, something I could take apart and carry rather easily on location.
And of course, it had to be affordable as this would be my Stabilizer because let’s not kid ourselves there is a reason why camera operators exist. If there is a decent budget, I wouldn’t operate myself.
But still, I was curious to see how this tool would help me for my projects, I am currently in a phase where I want to know as much as possible about the art of Filmmaking.
Of course, there is a learning curve. And it took me a while to get used to the system. Setting it up, finding the right components that fit my style, and learning how to use it… I am not there yet.
That’s why I had to practice and use it as much as possible to get those clean shots.
This considerably reduces the bounce movement of the camera. It sometimes feels that I am on dolly tracks or a tripod. This opens new possibilities and will enrich your vocabulary.
The arm is probably the most impressive part of the system. No plastic there, it feels strong. You have Two sets of springs depending on the weight of your setup. The vest is well made too, If I had to complain, I wish the buckles were not plastic, but so far they have done their job. It feels comfortable and will push me to favor heavier setups… not that I want to. Still, I own a few lenses and accessories that unfortunately add considerable weight to my camera, so if I need to move my camera and create those gliding smooth shots this will greatly help me do that.
But let’s face it, I also use this whenever possible and when needed, when I know I will be shooting for a long time. My arms thank me for that, my back to… And I am a guy with serious back problems.
The Steadicam itself is very streamlined, nothing fancy, the bare minimum to make it functional is there. It’s super light because of carbon tubes and all you need is this simple tool provided in the bag to adjust the length of every part.
I have an additional set of weights just in case, and as I said earlier, everything comes in a bag for easy transport. All of this package is available as of today under 1k.
You will probably see this bad boy more in action in a future BTS video… but more about that when the time is right. I have to train a bit more.