For the Indie Filmmaker with no Cash

Thanks for the link John. Yeah I built one of the $14 Study Cam. It cost alittle more than 14 though...I think they need to raise that price alittle. :P Works very good with some practice.
 
if only they didnt make to much noise though.... im sure there are ways around it. Alot of noise is created with the wheels so you could probably buy better ones or modify them somehow. ill let you think on that one....
 
I've just applied for a patent on a unit that will cost ~$60 retail, and has none of the confining restrictions on movement that counterbalanced systems have. No moving parts, just a design that eliminates camera shake, and of course does much more.

There is a website that lists tons of plans for homebuilt stabilizers such like dollies, steadycam, jibs etc. If you want it just PM me... It doesn't have the plans to my unit though ;)
 
WideShot said:
I've just applied for a patent on a unit that will cost ~$60 retail, and has none of the confining restrictions on movement that counterbalanced systems have.
I was told it's better to keep it in patent "pending" status if it has any secrets you want kept secret, otherwise, if you get the patent, the records are publicy available and can be copied with minor changes.
 
Patent pending means the patent has been approved and is awaiting finalization which can take awhile (paperwork, filing, etc.) True the plans don't show up in patent searches but it will only be that way for a while (usually 4-8 months). There really is no way to keep it in that limbo status. Nor is there really much one can do to prevent a patent from being ripped off by small improvements, but it does give you the security someone couldn't just copy your unit and sell it. Nor do I think they could beat our price either. We have a fantastic way of producing the units that allows us to make them and sell them for about as inexpensive as you can get.

Regardless, that is our strategy, to take advantage of early market interest aggresively, and get our brand out there.
 
I built one of the $14 steadicams, too. It works pretty well. If you've got bad shoulders (hey, I'm old) it's good only for short durations.

Building one with PVC might work and end up being lighter... I'll have to give that a try.
 
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