DIY Video Camera Stabilizer - FLIP or Kodak HD?

[ObjectiveVision]

Seems like a quick fix but I recommend shelling out the $38 it takes to pick up a Cam Caddie that will last you years helping you perfect all sort of difficult shots.

[75blain]

if you keep doing that you will go blind lolllllllll XD

[TSSEmyTV]

WHAT THE FUCK ALL YOU DID WAS PLAY WITH IT!!!! YES I GET IT, THE SHORTER ROD CAN MOVE ABOUT THE BIGGER ROD, OMG!!!!!

[tonyf80]

how about a tutorial on how to make this... pretty cool...

[96lagos]

let see en action !!!

[patrixiomadrid]

very cool

[absynth808]

Amazing. These absurd mechanics and total misunderstanding of what stabilisation does (or has to do), gives you all the benefits of this little piece of hardware nonsence:

1.) no control over the camera, it just wiggles and jiggles, and banks like a pendulum.

2.) no shake stabilisation at all. (how can it? there is no vertical damping - just a direct shake conversion from handle to camera)

3.) unhandlable, clumsy (and besides - also poor looking) cludge.

4.) a hundred brainless followers.

[tewkewl]

@absynth808 you are severely mistaken I have made something similar to this. And it works. how much vertical dampening do you think most low end steadicams or glide cams have? none. they all work based on a pendulum mechanism acheived through a ball joint or a gimbal. if the bottom weight is heavy enough, there will be no swinging. that's what the weight does. it keeps the camera perpendicular to the ground even though you are wiggling.

[mabryusmc]

What is that Ball/knuckle joint called? Where can you get one?

[tewkewl]

@mabryusmc it is called a tie rod end bearing and they sell it at hardware stores for cheap. all in all, it should cost you more than 20 bucks to build what he built. probably cheaper. i built a steadcam out of a ball joint mini tripod, some heavy bolts some screws and a cheap 2 dollar metal bookshelf bracket for about 10 bucks. but this design looks pretty awesome.

[readysteadyvideo]

If you want something that will fit in your pocket, try the readysteady. It's not expensive, it's portable and it really works.

[tewkewl]

@readysteadyvideo stop it with your guerrilla marketing, okay? no one is going to buy your ready steady. you can make something similar for 3 bucks by using thick string, a large washer and a screw, a small washer, and a wingnut.

[Downfacingdog]

Too much friction. Too fast a drop time.

[tewkewl]

@Downfacingdog thats why you WD40 the joint like i did.

[ChillToTheBones]

Look no further. Build easily at $12

Type as a hyperlink below on single line in browser WITHOUT SPACES.

H T T P

: / /

T I N Y U R L

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C O M / Z i 8 D i Y Y

[tewkewl]

@ChillToTheBones That's fuckin brilliant! i'm going to try this tomorrow!

[thaiguysabu]

do you not video to show how well this works?

[TheBill2468]

Thumbs up for simplicity!

I was wondering if this could be made smaller? What is that gimple handle you are using? For a vericle shaft could a telescopic rod like a aerial be used? A small pill bottle at the bottom for a adujavle weight? When closed it would fit in a camera bag. I have a Kodak Zi6.

Hope to hear from you soon.

BiLL

[tewkewl]

@TheBill2468 you can make it smaller! since it relies on a ball joint, as long as you make the bottom pretty heavy (i'd say one pound), this thing will massively reduce the shaking on a flip/kodak. as you flip/kodak users know, the shaking is the main downside to these pocket cams.

[peteloughran]

hell yeah, stop touching it

[3DotEntertainment]

RIGHT (THE HELL) ON! This vid is more annoying than anything!

[MonkeyFCoconut]

Thanks for sharing, great design and cheap too... but DUDE, seriously if you flipped that handle around any more I was going to have to stab myself in the thorax with a ball point pen. Test footage would be good ;-)

[ThumpMonkeyFunk]

Do you have any test footage with this?

[mure413]

What did you use for the gimbal? I haven't figured it out.

[ThumpMonkeyFunk]

That is a Heim Joint, tie rod-end swivel joint, or ball joint... It's and automotive part but I have no idea where you'd find it other than online.

[Jaalto]

Down to the bone design! Love the simplicity. My only request would be a parts list. I know it would be easy to figure out but....yes, I'm that lazy. Thanks, this clip got me thinking. (Flip Float is nice but much more complicated and pricy. )

[spreadopulence]

I dont know why anyone would give this 1 star, I have been trying to find a small image stabilizer for my Flip Mino HD for the last few hours and this is the closest I have gotten to it! Great job!

[nana2226]

Do a search for a ' Flip Float ' some guy did a nice job with his stabilizer.

[spreadopulence]

Thanks for the comment back! I saw that last night. =)

[ThumpMonkeyFunk]

I'm not sure this would produce good results, because for it tow work it has to have some weight to it to keep the shake down. I'd like to see some test footage though.

[localskateboarding]

@ThumpMonkeyFunk

it does have a weight on bottom.

[ThumpMonkeyFunk]

I was referring to over all weight, the lighter it is, the less effective it would be to reduce shake... With the very light cams such as the Flip, you have to add weight to both the top and bottom to get any kind of effective counter balance thing going on to reduce the shake.

Not saying you can't balance it without the weight, just saying it wouldn't reduce the shake that much.

I would really like to see some test footage with this though.

[localskateboarding]

oh. Same here. I have an insignia 1080p camera. It sucks, but that's what I use to skateboard.

[tewkewl]

@ThumpMonkeyFunk it reduces the shake a lot. would you arm chair critics try it before you comment?

[ThumpMonkeyFunk]

@tewkewl, Since I commented a year ago, I have tried it... It completely failed as it is put together in this video (there's no significant reduction in shake between hand held and mounted to the device)... however where there is a bolt here in the video, I attached a handle with a skate ball bearing, so it moves freely from side to side, I also added more weight on top and bottom for stability, and it works remarkably well now. I'll post test footage, and a look at the rig..

[tonyf80]

@spreadopulence do a google search on a readysteady flip camara stabilizer. It is pretty cool and very compact

[poppyl90]

great DOP