How to stop swaying of Merlin Steadicam?

[barneybaby]

Hi

Anyone has used Sony V1 on Merlin Steadicam? Just got merlin but my V1 sway alot from left to right and top to bottom..can't make use of it for my shooting.

I use the Merlin cookbook's user-supplied's setting of SONY HVR-V1P (NP-F970) :
weight - 1.9kg kg
Front Weights - 1 Finish
Lower weights - 1 Start, 5 Mid
ARc Size - 34 cm
Mt hole - H
Stage Mark - (-1.5)
'Z' - (-1)
G-platz - YES

Is my setting correct? Tried all ways...but can't fix it... so thinking if i got the wrong setting?

Thanks so much.

 

[engr]

i suggest u weight the cam with the batt and get the CG point. Balance from scratch. Confirm it will work.

 

[samvision]

Hi

Anyone has used Sony V1 on Merlin Steadicam? Just got merlin but my V1 sway alot from left to right and top to bottom..can't make use of it for my shooting.

I use the Merlin cookbook's user-supplied's setting of SONY HVR-V1P (NP-F970) :
weight - 1.9kg kg
Front Weights - 1 Finish
Lower weights - 1 Start, 5 Mid
ARc Size - 34 cm
Mt hole - H
Stage Mark - (-1.5)
'Z' - (-1)
G-platz - YES

Is my setting correct? Tried all ways...but can't fix it... so thinking if i got the wrong setting?

Thanks so much.

hi there,
i think i u can refer to the cookbook for merlin, just make sure that you got the mt hole correct. just got to do simple fine tuning and it should be fine. but it does not balance as well as the glidecam but its lighter and more flexible.

 

[jaegersing]

If the camera and counterweights are perfectly balanced, the camera will tend to oscillate easily because there is not much friction (damping) in the gimbals on this system.

You could try screwing the handle section up to move it closer to the camera. This puts the camera nearer the centre of gravity so it shouldn't move around so much, or at least the movement will be countered faster by the counterweights.

The drawback of moving the camera closer to the COG, if you overdo it, is that when you move the system around, the counterweight will lag behind more than the camera. You need to compromise between static balance and dynamic balance, and a finger on the side of the gimbal helps a lot to damp out the unwanted movements.