DIY - Steadicam Merlin On Seagull Shouldermount.mp4

Balancing and leveling the Steadicam "Merlin" can be a very time consuming task.
If you balance it bottom heavy, you just need a few seconds to level the thingy,
but you´ll also get fed up with the permanently tumbling.
Balancing it as perfect as possible needs a lot of patience and therefore
either strong arms or some little helpers.

I had a great idea to connect my merlin to a Seagull shouldermount,
which is super easy and effective as hell:)

Hope you like my tiny tutorial and maybe it´s also helpful for you :)




Equipment used:
Canon EOS 7D,
Tokina AF 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX,
Kenko Polarizer,
Steadicam "Merlin",
Seagull Shoulderrig,


Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38,
B+W MRC Polarizer, slim,
Canon EF 50mm/ f/1,4, USM
B+W MRC Polarizer, slim,
Manfrotto MA 055 CXPRO3 tripod,
Manfrotto 701 HDV videohead,
Manfrotto 808 RC4 3way-head,
Zoom H2N external Audiorecorder

© 2010 The IE·DNlab Project

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Canon EOS 7D
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• merlin
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• Seagull
• shouldermount
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[Enlazador9]

Is it too difficult to do rotations with the camera? Or even more, rotations while walking too?

Seems to me from the video that when you rotate, the camera barely moves, wich is awesome for steadiness, but what do you do when you want the same movement for the camera? If you must use your hands, does this affects the steadiness? Hope you understood my question, if not I can rephrase xD

[IEDNlab]

@Enlazador9

Of course you can do rotations with the camera....it´s one of the principles of a steadicam, to do smooth rotations and movements while walking.

Or do you mean banks around the z-axis? This could be a bit more tricky;)

You adjust the rotations with your thumb, whichwill affect the smoothness, if you do it to harsh, therefore you need quite a lot experience and have to get used to the steadicams own dynamics.

[eyalgamili]

Thanks for info :-) can u tell us please what is the diminutions of the pin if we wand to give it to mechanic ? diameter height....mm

[IEDNlab]

@eyalgamili

Hi...thx :)

The measurements are:

Length: 48mm, Diameter 12,5mm with a 15mm long thread on one sinde (M6, metric or similar for america)

[24ozheineken]

what if we don't have a mechanic friend to make us a special metal cylinder? :(

[IEDNlab]

@24ozheineken

well *g*..can be possible, then I would suggest to contact a workshop ;)

[Dncyx]

a pocket in the table!

[IEDNlab]

@tdepke hi there. This setup contains 3 pieces, the Merlin steadicam, the seagull shouldermount and the brass-bolt. the measurements of the bolt you can find anywhere in the posts on my profile on vimeo For travelers this is an absolute amazing toy, if you wanna do lots of steady shots. overall it´s not even the weight of the half of a glidecam, which is r.a. 3.5-4 KG. On vimeo you´ll find all information you´ll need to DIY. Wish you lots of fun :)

[dieterbohlen90]

good job!

[mipmipmipmipmip]

This should be marketed!

[eyalgamili]

Thanks Man Good bless U

[IEDNlab]

@Dncyx

well, yeaahh...that happens sometimes to "genglish" speaking nOObz :D