The Poor Man's Steadicam


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The steadicam Pilot cost SGD6500 region. Glidecam x10+HD4000 is SGD5600 region for your reference

Slideman home now has lower price: 2460 EUR (5 074 SGD).
(Was 5 680 SGD before)
After the discount -10% ( -507 SGD) the price will be 4 567 SGD which is still less than Pilot and Glidecam.
 

I am a bit worried buying from unknown brand ; Slidecam. Have had the bad experience of being conned when I thought I was buying a cheap digicam from a 'person' in Romania. How can I trust Slidecam? No web trust? no referral? no shipping details? Caveat Emptor guys..:dunno:
 


Hi Isaryan,

If you are in Singapore, I suggest you check out Expandore.

Glidecam HD4000 + X10
Price: SG$3,737.86

I'm not promoting them specifically or anything like that but I think buying from a local supplier poses a lower risk factor.

Cheerio !!
Azman

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Hello,
My name is George Vrabchev and I represent the company Slideman. I hope that this post will not be accept as advertising. I noticed that here you discuss our system and I think it is appropriate to give you clarification from the source, not from interpreters. Our system is not very different from the others. Kit includes vest, arm, sled, bag and accessories. Unlike some systems, including some of those that were described here is that we are not removed some necessary tools from "Slideman Home" that enable a fine balance of the head, which is needed to balance system for precise work, especially when use lighter cameras. Our sled allows you to adjust the position of the gimbal, changing the position of the battery and the monitor. This in turn allows the device to align in perfect dynamic balance, which facilitates your work. Our vest is lighter version of that which is intended for 12-18 kg. cameras. That is why our price is like that. We believe that if we provide the client device to stabilize the camera, it must have all necessary components, but not to dispose of important ones, just to reduce the price because the low price will not make your picture more stable. If you think that 200 USD are more important than the quality of your future projects, I will agree with you.
 

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Poor man Steadicam? check out this video of a DIY steadicam in action :) But of course if you are talking about a steadicam for cameras such as P2, I think you better get a proper one, you do not want to break your back :p

http://www.vimeo.com/3803065
 

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Thanks for the reference Azman,

Actually i did emailed expandore a few days ago (still waiting reply duh!:dunno:) of the system that you mentioned. I met one of the sales guys there before during broadcast2009 about certain products they're selling online only to be told that they are out of stock..:confused:

So i might as well be safe either by calling them up or emailing. (why their email response is slow i dont understand).

Coming back to our topic here, are u using one azman? i am contemplating whether to get the one from glidecam OR the steadicam flyer or pilot. I am a bit worried to go with glidecam since some forumers (not CS) said that they've used the glidecam system but ended up buying the steadicam due to ease of use, built quality and functionality. ur thoughts? i know about the (high) price difference.

input from cs users of both system?

thanks guys..

ps. george of slideman..u still dont have any important details like shipping and payment etc at ur website.
 

isaryan, we don't have these details on our website, because the deliveries are made according to the wishes of the client. Some prefer established companies such as DHL, others want their supply to be cheaper. Most clients trust TNT, which offer a decent price for quality service. For example through their supply of "Slideman Home" to Singapore for 2 days is 350 Euro, and for 7 days is 300 Euro.
For the first time the information for the way of payment is so important, so we have not thought about it they need to publish. Either way, always before the customer decides to purchase leads correspondence with us and then ask information how to pay. We work through a bank transfer payment, which until recently was the only possible way in Bulgaria, and still be the most reliable, especially when it comes to larger sums.
 

Thanks for the info george, however the modus operandi of such con that i have encountered is more or less such as yours.
That payment is either by bank or wire transfer. This happened to me before, so pardon my french for not being enthusiastic about your MO.

Long long time ago, this happened to me. After I had transferred money to the 'person' in Romania and after he/she 'proved' in a way that 'invoice/receipt' was in order pertaining the item that i'm interested in purchasing (photocopy by email), the contact vanished after saying that the item was in delivery either by TNT / DHL / UPS etc..i opted for DHL.

Mind you that i was naive back then and learnt my lesson. Talking about GBP 800 worth of experience!!!:(.

So please convince me by saying that you have customers here in Singapore or anyone that have used your service and have the product in hand which i am more than happy to view.

I stand corrected if you say that
1. you dont have customers/clients yet from Singapore
2. others already purchased and happy (anyone from M'sia/Asia/Singapore/Indonesia?)
3. you have a specialized customized product, meaning that your clientele is small.
4. I can refer to someone BY email or somebody FROM your own country.
5. you can't match other big company OR
6. you havent established any corporate/merchant account with Visa/Amex/MasterCard.

I prefer to do business either by paypal or credit card. One of the reason that i frequented B&H in new york. So far, items ordered arrive on time and refunded if i'm not satisfied.

thanks george :-) and again pardon my french for being cautious..
 

isaryan,
My english is not good too.
problem of trading via the Internet is really great. It is hard to trust someone, especially if you have not previously traded with companies from his country, especially in your case since you are burned by a citizen of our neighboring country. This can happend and in some quite stable countries. During the summer by a German company for delivering, lost our consignment worth 6000 Euro while it was in Austria. Naturally I had to send the client's backup set, to be fair with him.
Currently we have clients in Russia, Portugal, Italy, Malta, Israel and of course in Bulgaria. In Singapore a man familiar with our equipment is Zivko Girginov, who also wrote on the forum (jivkogir). It is not only familiar with our equipment, but also helped a lot in the process of improving the effectiveness of their ideas through, literature, tests and what not. We are a small company and we have not yet developed our market around the world. We rely heavily on feedback from our customers who recommend us to others and demonstrate equipment purchased from us. You can connect with people from this countries, of course it's not correct to publish their contacts on forums without their consent, I can send you a personal message if you want.
 

For example through their supply of "Slideman Home" to Singapore for 2 days is 350 Euro, and for 7 days is 300 Euro.

Hi George. I think you will have problems selling many of these systems with such high shipping charges. The figures look quite outrageous actually, I find it hard to believe TNT, DHL or Fedex are asking so much. Forgive me if I am wrong.
 

We are not a supply company and we has nothing to do with these companies, except that we use their services. We don't take rate, over what they charge and we have no interest to do so. The sets have their volume and the delivery is costly. If you have companies that offer more reasonable prices, we will gladly use them, but so far we have not found any.
 

Well, just for comparison, B and H Photo will ship a Steadical Merlin Arm and Vest upgrade kit from USA to Singapore for USD91.25, using UPS Worldwide Saver (3 - 5 days) delivery. I have bought a few items from them and they seem to be very reliable.
 

Coming back to our topic here, are u using one azman? i am contemplating whether to get the one from glidecam OR the steadicam flyer or pilot. I am a bit worried to go with glidecam since some forumers (not CS) said that they've used the glidecam system but ended up buying the steadicam due to ease of use, built quality and functionality. ur thoughts? i know about the (high) price difference.

Hi Isaryan,

I'm using Glidecam Pro 2000 but I modified it so that it can be used with a heavier camera yet need not increase the amount of counter-weights. However, I did not buy the support arm and vest as my camera work don't require them...yet.

I think the difficulty with the Glidecam is during the inititial setting where you place your camera on the platform and adjust the balancing. Sometimes it has to be so accurate that even a 02mm misalignment can offset the balance. It can get very frustrating at first but if you don't change your equipment that often, the setting-up can be done very quickly.

Cheers !!
Azman

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jaegersing, perhaps in the U.S. have such cheaper services, but here in Europe we can not find a similar price. Maybe I can't find, but if there were such, we will use this delivery services. Customer can obtain goods and to pay the shipment and upon receipt, if for example in Singapore works out cheaper.
 

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