Mounting a brushless gimbal on a steadicam for extended camera movement range and combined stabilization

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2014General Discussion forum

12 years old. Gear and prices may have changed since.

DisputedParticipants disagreed and reached no conclusion. Read the findings as positions, not as an answer.

A three-axis brushless gimbal can be mounted on a steadicam using a custom bracket that allows the camera to move from ground level to overhead by rotating 180 degrees around the gimbal.
The Porta Head 5 gimbal mounted on a steadicam can operate in follow mode where pan control is achieved by turning the steadicam post, allowing intuitive framing while the gimbal maintains stabilization.
Follow mode settings like a 0.6 degree follow window combined with exponential curves in the gimbal software enable responsive and controllable pan movements without requiring a separate pan operator.
The Porta Head 5 system works with Red Epic cameras and can be used from inside a vehicle supported by bungee cords or mounted to a jib arm on a camera car for mobile shots.
The gimbal operator can manage pan independently while the steadicam operator controls tracking movement, allowing single-operator control with coordinated timing between movement and framing.
The complete gimbal and camera assembly weighs under 8 kilograms with a Blackmagic camera, remaining lightweight enough for steadicam use.

Single-operator follow mode for both pan and tilt simultaneously is not possible with all gimbal systems; alexmos-based software allows separate follow mode control for tilt and pan while some competing systems do not.
The system was tested primarily with Blackmagic Pocket Camera and Red Epic; testing with Scarlet and Epic cameras had not been completed at the time of discussion.
Operator adaptation is required because pan control through post rotation works differently than traditional camera pan movements.
The exact weight and feasibility with heavier camera packages like Red Scarlet or Red Epic was not fully verified.