2017Vests forum
Identifying and dating vintage Cinema Products steadicam vests from the late 1970s
What the thread found
- The earliest steadicam vests were manufactured by Cinema Products Inc. in collaboration with the steadicam inventor, identifiable by a logo on the front panel
- Original Model 1 vests from the late 1970s featured white plastic components and included jumper straps in the back connecting the lower and upper sections for added support
- Later modifications to Model 1 vests sometimes included black plastic waist pieces as replacements for original components
- The design principles of the original Model 1 vest influenced modern steadicam vest designs such as the GPI PRO model
Depends on
- The vest discussed lacks visible serial numbers that could confirm manufacturing date or original owner
- One contributor's vest is noted as slightly different, suggesting variations existed even among original Cinema Products models
- The claim about black plastic being a specific modification by a particular individual cannot be independently verified from the thread