Steadicam Merlin & Canon 7D - 2nd Test (HD Video)

[iSleepDoc]

Very smooth!!!

[mjkobb]

I just love the look of Steadicam.

[voidofambition]

Had a hell of a time trying to balance this thing earlier today. Gotta master it!

[VEGAMF]

Very nice and smooth.

[davidstonephoto]

loving the audio! Reminds me of Deep & Chilled Euphoria. Did you have IS enabled?

[MannYgfx]

great, just the kind of test i was looking for! awesome video man. damn, i want one of these babies.

[biasvoltage]

Were you on a bicycle or (pant) running? Also, what other steadi type cams did you look at ? Pluses..minuses? I'm surprised it stabilized so well with you moving as fast as you were.

[AndyKWilkinson]

@biasvoltage No bike, just me running (but not running very fast - wide angle makes it look faster than it is. Looked hard at Glidecam 2000 and Blackbird. Blackbird is supposed to be easier to fly but has a long T bar which would limit my use of it. Glidecam is punishing on the wrist with anything remotely heavy (from what I've heard) so would need a vest. Merlin with Canon 7D is OK for about an hour (without a vest). No vest used here..

[DavidPannellRealtor]

@AndyKWilkinson Help me with something, is the M Hole the balance pin or the actual hole used to attach the camera? I can't figure this thing out.

[AndyKWilkinson]

@DavidPannellRealtor M hole is the one labelled on the underside (blue side) of the Merlin Plate. That is the one I used to attach the Merlin Plate to the 7D. Hope this helps!

[roglowe]

what a great video, be good for that little girl to one day show her children.

[madgrapetv]

Where is this town actually? is it in Beverly?

[AndyKWilkinson]

@madgrapetv Ely!

[shaneephraimsphotogr]

@AndyKWilkinson Where is Ely?? sorry for noob question.

I have glidecam.. was heavy & wasn't very stable after many attempts to perfectly balance it i thought id buy the smooth shooter vest, after much use with it i realized there was another piece i needed, the x-10 extension arm. So after thousands of dollars spent i look at all the steady cam footage on the net & realize.. dam my glidecam is a piece of crap.. seriously. Im going to sell it now... i just cant use it lol.

[AndyKWilkinson]

@shaneephraimsphotogr 12 miles north of Cambridge, England. Lovely place!

[rucerial]

I was wondering if you are able to adjust the focus on your lens with this stabilizer. Does it move if you try to adjust the lens on your Canon DSLR camera? Thanks.

[AndyKWilkinson]

@rucerial Nope! You set focus for the shot and fly. If you try to adjust it (or touch the camera at all) it will destabilise it big time. It's a very fine balance that you have going on with a Steadicam like the Merlin. That being said, I sometimes need to do a quick adjustment of focus, zoom or exposure so I just grab the camera with my other hand, do the change, settle it down then continue to fly. Obviously, that bit gets chopped out in the edit as it's totally unusable!

[johnny48166]

Great video !

[AndyKWilkinson]

@johnny48166 Thanks!

[AuraQualic]

I been wanthing Canon D series its just to good , this is the first time I seen Merlin has been use and it looks so much win!

[nisangha]

Hello goodafternoon from the Netherlands. I looked at your video and I am impressed. I have also a 7d canon and a 10-20 sigma lens. Can you please share some set up settings to me?

Thanks a lot!

devy

[AndyKWilkinson]

@nisangha Hi. My Merlin settings for a Canon 7D with Canon 10-22mm are at the end. I don't know if they would work for your Sigma lens but may be worth a try - might get you close to balancing. maske adjustments as needed as per the Merlin DVD instructions.  Then it's just practice, practice, practice...

[wackman845]

Great vid, are you using vest/arm? Also, What neutral density filter are you using to get this DOF? THanks in advance.

[AndyKWilkinson]

@wackman845 No Vest/Arm Rig, all Hand-Held (you can do it easily for about 10 minutes at a time). I use either a 77mm Tiffen 0.9 ND Filter (cuts 3 stops of light - used fore this film) or a B+W rotating polariser (cuts about 1 stop) as used in my first test (on YouTube also - just search my videos to see it). Hope this helps.

[RlNCE]

I can't believe you've been actually running... this looks like flying, man - great job!

[thejavster]

I love your footage. I can't wait until mine arrives :)

[AndyKWilkinson]

@thejavster Thanks! I'm getting better all the time. Just remember to read the manual and study the DVD and then it's practice, practice, practice. Have fun!

[BobbyLongoria]

This is really great footage Andy, but I too am highly concerned with manual focus. Obviously having my hand on the focusing ring would eliminate the Steadicam's features. The thing is, I love using my 28 mm f/1.8 lens. It produces amazing footage and generally I don't like to do any shutter speed other than 1/30 when shooting at 24 fps. What do you recommend for what I got? A really high aperture? What focusing distance generally?

[AndyKWilkinson]

@BobbyLongoria Well, as you know, a F1.8 lens, even a fairly wide one like a 28mm will be about 45mm equivalent on a crop sensor Canon 7D = a very shallow depth of field when wide open on aperture. I hear you on the 24p thing/shutter at 1/30 but maybe try 1/48 to 1/50th (or thereabouts and see how that looks). Sounds to me like you need to try some stuff at about F8 area and try different (manual) focus settings when flying it to test out the look you're after for the subject. Good luck!

[RealtyStudioHD]

Can I ask how you keep EVERYTHING in focus?? From near to far? I only ask because I can't focus my 7D while on the steadicam, and you can't autofocus while filming. Wondering if I should have ever given up my Canon XH-A1s for this 7D. PLEASE HELP!

[AndyKWilkinson]

@RealtyStudioHD It's pretty simple really with such an ultra wide angle. Shoot at about F8 area (which at 100 ISO and a shutter speed of 1/50th - or 1/60th second depending on region you're in - will need Neutral Density filter and/or a circular polarizer). This will give you a HUGE depth of field, and the wider the lens setting the greater the DOF. Most of the shots here were shot at 10 to 14mm. Also, make sure you set your focus manually to e.g. 4-5 feet (AF switched off) and it'll be OK.

[RealtyStudioHD]

@AndyKWilkinson: Thanks so much for the quick reply Andy! Will give what you said a try.

[RealtyStudioHD]

@AndyKWilkinson: Thanks so much for the clear explanation. It works perfect the way you described!

[Toelehh]

Nice and smooth! i heard alot of people say that ist not good in fast objects/or fast camera moves, did you have any expirience with that? did you also shoot the timelapse of the moon with the 7d?

[AndyKWilkinson]

@Toelehh Thanks! Merlin can do anything a skilled operator can make it do (I'm still learning) including some fast moves - but I think a lot of people get them then give up when they realise the amount of time required to really master the skill of steadicams, Yes, the moon shots were with 7D with Canon 70-200mm (at 200) and a Canon 1.4X Converter and some cropping in FCP in post (to make it bigger as I can't afford a 500mm canon lens just yet!).

[LesHerstik]

Nice... I want one...what did you set you focus at???.. exposure.. shutter etc... cheers

[AndyKWilkinson]

@LesHerstik Camera and lens on full manual. 1080p25. Focus about 4-5 feet. Shutter 1/50th, ISO 100-200 area, with F stops about F8 or f9 area as I recall - would have needed to have been 3 stops higher without the Tiffen 0.9 ND filter and so resulted in (more) diffraction softening.