DIY iPhone 4 Steadicam

[AEtherDrinker]

I for one am not super thrilled with Apple's antenna solution today, even if I am glad they did something about it. But to focus on something fun for the iPhone instead, here's a little project I just completed:

h t t p : / / tinyurl.com/2epl2dl
(I had to space out the first part of the url because I'm too new to post links)

It's a pretty easy to make ~$30 steadicam that can help get some really cool footage with the iPhone (especially if you have steadier arms than me). I put up a demo video with some local pro skaters, and a video tutorial. It's not much more than a bit of geeky fun, but if you like shooting video with your phone then it might come in handy.

 

[noaim]

cool idea thanks for the link

 

[w00dy]

Really good Job. Im an old skateboard head... So any videos that show skating hold a place with me

 

[Scott R]

Hey I was thinking about this sort of thing a while back. Great job. A couple of comments/questions:

1) Your test video seemed to have a lot of stuff with you being stationary and maybe doing some panning, but to really show this off I'd like to see some samples of you running up/down stairs with it, etc.

2) Is the gimbal just needed for the (optional) handle? If I can live without a handle, do I just have a single solid bar connected to the iPhone with the two counterweights at the bottom? If it's needed regardless of the handle, how would you hold it? Above or below the gimbal? I think I've seen other DIY steadicams (not for the iPhone) which didn't seem to have a gimbal. Example: $14 Steadycam The Poor Mans Steadicam

 

[chobbs1]

Can some one post the link?

 

[Scott R]

This is the OP's link:
Æther Drinker Photography: DIY iPhone 4 Steadicam

Here are some other non-iPhone DIY Steadicams:
$14 Steadycam The Poor Mans Steadicam
DIY Steadicam Merlin Pt.1 ? BLAG
DIY Steadicam, Glidecam

It seems like the first one doesn't use a gimbal, but the others all do, and it makes sense why you'd want/need that.

 

[chobbs1]

Thanks for the links! Very fun ideas!

 

[BuddhistGirafe]

Very cool indeed. To much effort for me but cool none the less.

 

[jakej914]

Yeah...too much effort, but cool nonetheless. Since I'm just shooting video randomly, I'll stick to uploading to iMovie '09 and using the stabilization feature.