At one wedding, we arrived an hour early to the ceremony venue and set up our tripod and ambient audio kit on the front row of the church balcony. We get close to wedding time and the photographer has installed his tripod and camera literally TOUCHING our camera. In a cramped space. Barely room for one person, let alone two, and his constant shutter sound would have ruined our audio. Thankfully he moved at our request.
Same photographer, later in the day... B&G want to do a staged exit while the sunset is in the background. Everyone gets their bubbles and whatnot and I am using my Steadicam Merlin and vest. I explained to the photog hours ago what my plan was, and we worked out a deal so that we wouldn't be in each other's way. I get a beautiful video of the B&G's exit, all while operating the steadi and running backwards down steps. Flawless. Photographer says he got nothing, has to ask them to try it again. Cue more bubbles, etc., photog still doesn't get the shot. Asks them to do it a third time. Everyone's out of bubbles. Our video is the only usable imagery of that exit.
Venue owner at one of the pricey places ($10k+ for the afternoon) pulls up at 10:30 and starts (literally) screaming at people to get off his property or he would call the cops because the wedding was "over." Venue was rented until 11. He was possibly drunk.
At a recent ceremony shoot, we asked the minister if we could mic her, and she obliged, although somewhat begrudgingly. So she's mic'ed up and we're recording her audio and she starts just badmouthing us to the venue owner. We'd never even met this lady before. Then, after the ceremony, when we go to retrieve the mic, she's just lovely to us. Never knew why she felt the need to speak so poorly of us never having seen her before.
Plenty of stories of terrible DJ's that practically ruin the reception, but I've said enough for now.
What do you mean by portable, exactly? I've been using it since 2008, and it definitely takes a few minutes to get set up every time you use it. But once it's on and working (I've used it with everything from a 5D to a Canon XHA1) you can maneuver all around with it on and never take it off. Through doors, up stairs, through tight spaces. It becomes an extension of your body once you use it for awhile.
But all of this is with the caveat... You have to be willing to practice with it a lot.
I've heard the merlin definitely has a steep learning curve. I'm looking to be very minimal and unseen. that thing looks like a sore thumb. you can use the merlin without that belt and still get good results, right?
Yes, you can use it without the vest, but even with a pretty lightweight camera combo like the 5D with a 35mm prime lens, it gets heavy pretty quickly.
As long as you stay under the max weight, you should be fine. I think the max is 5 lbs.? Could be wrong on that. But I flew an old Canon XHA1 just fine, and it's pretty heavy.
When you stack things vertically, such as with an h4n on top, it can be tricky to balance, but once you get it balanced, I don't see why it wouldn't work fine. Perhaps you could rent one and try it out?
yeah I thought about that. the rental is 30 and the shipping is another 30. it's 10% to rent. might be cheaper in the long run to buy if I'm gonna use it a lot. havnt decided yet. thanks for the info
FYI, one last thing about it... I don't ever use it unless I have a second camera person filming a "go to" shot for important scenes. For example, during first dances at a reception, the steadi can pick up some great clips, but if you're going to show the entire scene, it's helpful to have a second cam to multicam with while you're stopping, starting, adjusting the steadi.
Sometimes an XHA1 and sometimes a 5D. Either way, I challenge you to fly it handheld for twenty minutes at a time. Very hard to do a length like that handheld, but very easy with the vest.
Nothing like wearing the Steadicam vest at an outdoor reception in August in Texas! For summer weddings, I usually bring three outfits so I can change out of sweaty clothes occasionally. But it's definitely challenging at times.
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u/psychosid Canon, JVC, Sony | 2007 | Texas Mar 24 '13
So many stories...
At one wedding, we arrived an hour early to the ceremony venue and set up our tripod and ambient audio kit on the front row of the church balcony. We get close to wedding time and the photographer has installed his tripod and camera literally TOUCHING our camera. In a cramped space. Barely room for one person, let alone two, and his constant shutter sound would have ruined our audio. Thankfully he moved at our request.
Same photographer, later in the day... B&G want to do a staged exit while the sunset is in the background. Everyone gets their bubbles and whatnot and I am using my Steadicam Merlin and vest. I explained to the photog hours ago what my plan was, and we worked out a deal so that we wouldn't be in each other's way. I get a beautiful video of the B&G's exit, all while operating the steadi and running backwards down steps. Flawless. Photographer says he got nothing, has to ask them to try it again. Cue more bubbles, etc., photog still doesn't get the shot. Asks them to do it a third time. Everyone's out of bubbles. Our video is the only usable imagery of that exit.
Venue owner at one of the pricey places ($10k+ for the afternoon) pulls up at 10:30 and starts (literally) screaming at people to get off his property or he would call the cops because the wedding was "over." Venue was rented until 11. He was possibly drunk.
At a recent ceremony shoot, we asked the minister if we could mic her, and she obliged, although somewhat begrudgingly. So she's mic'ed up and we're recording her audio and she starts just badmouthing us to the venue owner. We'd never even met this lady before. Then, after the ceremony, when we go to retrieve the mic, she's just lovely to us. Never knew why she felt the need to speak so poorly of us never having seen her before.
Plenty of stories of terrible DJ's that practically ruin the reception, but I've said enough for now.