Charles Papert flies the Steadicam Pilot in the Missionary Position with a Canon XH A1.When Garrett Brown was first developing the Brown Effect Stabilizer in the early 70’s, the cameras he used on his prototypes were then-current bantamweights like the Eclair and the Arri 2C, as it only made sense that if one were to cantilever weight off the body that it should be as minimal as possible. As it become obvious that his invention (now dubbed the Steadicam®) was not just for running and jumping but also for capturing nuances of dialogue scenes, the system grew to accomodate full-size 35mm cameras and the the job description of Steadicam operator came to include “must have the constitution of a bricklayer.”
Eventually Garrett and and his licensees (first Cinema Products, now Tiffen) realized that there was a market for lower capacity stabilizers to complement the broadcast and prosumer markets and a progression of smaller rigs emerged, however the mechanics of these lighter and cheaper rigs lost some of the elegance and performance of their big brothers. Around this time, competitors such as Glidecam began to emerge with their own interpretation of the concept.
The DV revolution opened up a whole new market as for the first time, cameras that cost under $5000 could begin to be taken seriously (thanks to impressive image quality, 24p acquistion and image controls), and the demand grew for support gear that was complementary in size and price. Even in the seemingly saturated market of handheld stabilizers, the introduction of the Steadicam Merlin drew plenty of attention; unlike its rather clunky competitors and predecessors (including the original Steadicam handheld unit, the JR), the Merlin was sleek, lightweight, precise and elegant. Meanwhile, the Steadicam Flyer had become the gold standard for arm-and-vest based operation, featuring a scaled-down version of the patented Iso-Elastic™ design of the larger Steadicam arms that handily out-performed those sold by others.
But as anyone who has handled even the Merlin for periods of time can tell you, a handheld stabilizer takes its toll on the “meat-based” support system that it attaches to, namely the operator’s own forearm. Thus the Flyer arm was further miniaturized and the Merlin got its very own arm and vest. Building on that, Tiffen surprised everyone with an “inbetween” rig, the Pilot, which used the same arm and vest as the Merlin but with a beautiful new sled design and an attractive price point.
The first time I saw the Pilot, I thought “now THAT makes a lot of sense”. The skinny center post of the Flyer had been re-imagined in carbon fiber and made wider for a better handgrip; the battery and monitor were mounted on an adjustable horizontal post allowing each to be independently positioned, which would allow for much greater control of dynamic balance than the Flyer’s lower section. The 10 pound capacity would neatly encompass all of the 3-chip cameras on the market even with accessories on board. And the option to add the Merlin weights at the outside corners of the rig as inertial supplements was a stroke of genius.
I got to play around with the Pilot a few times at trade shows and at a friend’s house, where I discovered that the device acted uncannily like my full-size rig yet I could wear it seemingly endlesssly and not feel the weight. All of the fun, none of the pain! After a few glasses of wine and an hour of galloping around in the back yard, they had to pry the rig off me. Later I borrowed a unit from Tiffen for a marathon shot on a feature, where I had reasoned that by using the Pilot for rehearsals I could save my energy for the actual takes (to be achieved with my full-size rig with Genesis onboard) while still delivering a respectable image back to the monitors. Even though my rig weighed about six times as much as the Pilot, the operating choices I had learned during rehearsals translated perfectly. Subsequently, my old pal Garrett Brown loaned me his Pilot so that I could review it for you, dear readers, and I was more than happy to oblige. Herewith, said review:
Storage for sled, arm.The Pilot comes in what is described as a “backpack”, but I would probably want to hire a Sherpa to carry this thing for me on his back. It’s more of a rolling case (has wheels and a telescoping handle) so it wouldn’t be hard to cart around an airport, although it definitely is not a carry-on. Opening the case reveals the vest, which is quite compactible as it is essentially a flat frame. Under this the components of the Pilot nestle in foamed compartments along with space for a Merlin if desired. One drawback is that these compartments are cut specifically enough that if the center post is extended or the lower components radically adjusted for a particular situation, the sled will not fit back into the case, so if one was moving around from location to location within a shooting day it would be best to (carefully!) transport the sled separately to avoid having to rebalance each time. The arm has been designed to split into two sections via aircraft pin that cleverly doubles as part of the hinge mechanism, thus it travels in two separate compartments. There isn’t a dedicated slot for a charger or batteries, but the IDX package will fit into the zippered compartment on the top of the case. The Pilot can be ordered in IDX, Anton Bauer or AA battery pack versions, as well as a less expensive “Co-Pilot” version that only takes the AA batteries and has a smaller, 3.5 inch monitor.
Pilot vest folds virtually flat.I mounted my Canon A1 to the supplied camera plate via included screw and provided “anti-rotation” pin that sits fore of the 1/4″-20 mounting hole found on all current cameras. With my A1, the supplied pin was smaller than the hole and the camera still had the tendency to rotate slightly even when the camera screw was tightened fully. Some double-sided tape on the bottom of the camera would have improved things, or a thin layer of rubber. The plate then fastens to the top stage via 4 captive thumbscrews, which are spring-loaded and admittedly a bit funky feeling–I thought I had broken something when releasing them but they actually work just fine. The setup appears reminiscent of the Glidecam 2000/4000 top stage but while those products rely on these screws to adjust fore/aft and side/side for balance, on the Pilot they simply mount the plate to the camera platform.
You will need a beefy light stand (I recommend the very nice Steadistand available from Tiffen) but the Pilot does come with a docking bracket to store the rig between takes and aid with balancing. The sled is secured to the bracket with a sliding pin that I found sticky and difficult to guide quickly, a shame as this is a procedure that one will perform many times during a shooting day. The docking bracket has two mounting holes, one of which will project the rig far enough away from the stand that continuous spin balancing is possible, a very thoughtful addition. Use common sense when balancing so that the stand doesn’t tip; position the docking bracket over a leg of the stand and drape it with a sandbag or similar ballast (a sleep-deprived production assistant may be happy to oblige).
All supplied weights up on the top stage.
All supplied weights up on the top stage. Also shows fore/aft
and side/side controls, and detail of docking pin.
The Pilot ships with a selection of small steel weights, the same little guys that are used on the Merlin for counterweighting, but here they are purely for augmenting inertia as desired. Since my camera was on the lighter side with no accessories onboard, I added all of the weights fore and aft on the camera stage. With a heavier camera or having more weights in my possession, I would have added them as well at either end of the lower spar, which would have increased the inertia of the system even more. Although the weights themselves are fairly small, the effect they demonstrate is significant and this will aid in producing steadier shots. In general, the further weights are positioned from the center of gravity of the system (which is just below the gimbal), the more effect they will have. While this is a basic and easily proven concept, there are still some stabilizers out there that ignore this and have very slender profiles at the base–such is their loss.
The Pilot has two knobs for adjusting fore-and-aft and side-to-side balance, something which will be a revelation to those who have previously used rigs that require loosening a series of screws, physically moving the camera plate, and re-tightening for each adjustment. With the Pilot you simply turn the knob and immediately judge the effect on balance with minimal fuss. Thus if you want to make on-the-fly adjustments (such as trimming for headroom or severe tilts), it is easy to do with one hand. I have heard from some owners of other systems that they have had to develop a whole series of techniques to fine-tune their top stages, such as the Nudge, the Coax and frequently, the Don’t Bother, Just Suffer.
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Written by Charles Papert, S.O.C.
Thrown together by Chris Hurd.
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