FlixelPix Documentary Photography. Seven by Five Photography Magazine -Seven by Five | Photography Magazine. F8Daily - photography news, reviews, tutorial + cameras and lens finder. Image, workflow, technology, business. DIY steadicam camera stabilizer. Stabiliser #1, August 2008 Update,January 2011 Early experiments This is a DIY (low tech) camera stabilizer in form similar to the MERLIN. I used mostly scrap or surplus materials. The functioning depends on balance and inertia. A piece of 1/8 inch aluminium forms the camera platform. A crucial element of the design is the gimbal, and I developed my own low friction design using a universal joint combined with a small ball bearing. details For these experiments, I have been using a Panasonic NV-GS60 camera weighing a total of 600mg (1.3lbs) with the large battery attached.
The dimensions of the stabilizer against a 5cm grid Below the camera platform, separated by spacers, is a slotted aluminium plate to which the gimbal housing attaches, allowing the gimbal to be positioned for front to rear balance adjustment. Static Balance A number of holes in the top plate accept the standard 1/4" camera mounting screw The gimbal housing can be slid along a channel, to set front to back balance. DIY Steadicam Gizmo (Merlin Design) One of the most passionate DIY’ers tackling the Steadicam Merlin design and Gimbal handle with full rotation that I know about is WSCLATER. If you check out his website over at you’ll find years of logs refining a single Steadicam project. Yeah I think I would have given up by then. There’s seems to be a very similar version showing up on eBay called the ‘Steadicam Gizmo’. Personally there’s some things I would clean up to finish up the little detail work, but looks really close to what WSCLATER has been working on.
Four items sold just today for this Steadicam Gizmo, and parts can be purchased seperately. If you’re not the DIY type, you might to check out the handle which uses the same design as wsclater, which might be a good improvement for that IndieHardware stabilizer as an upgrade. Check out the Steadicam Gizmo DIY stabilizer found on eBay auctions Tags: diy stabilizer, dslr video, gizmo, Steadicam. Tutorials, tips, training videos, and more for photographers using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom | TheLightroomLab.com.