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2013Steadi-Newbies forum

Suitability of Glidecam HD2000 for stabilizing a Canon 5D3 with various lenses

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

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

What the thread found

  • The Glidecam HD2000 can effectively balance a 5D3 with battery grip and a 16-35mm lens.
  • The HD2000 is not adequately sized for balancing a 5D3 with a 70-200mm f/4 lens; the Glidecam 4000 is better suited for this combination.
  • The total weight of a 5D3 with battery grip and 70-200mm f/4 is approximately 7 pounds.
  • When operating a stabilizer with a telephoto lens on a DSLR without wireless follow focus, shooting at wide focal lengths and stopping down the aperture are necessary to maintain acceptable focus.
  • Manual focus adjustment while holding a stabilizer rig is impractical and becomes tiring quickly, especially with longer lenses.
  • The Glidecam HD2000 can balance camera setups between 2-6 pounds total weight.
  • Learning to operate a stabilizer rig effectively requires substantial practice over days or weeks, not hours.

Depends on

  • Discussion concerns a low-cost entry-level stabilizer rather than professional-grade equipment.
  • The original poster had only a few days to learn and deploy the equipment for an actual production.
  • No wireless remote focus system was available, limiting lens options for dynamic shots.
  • Thread participants held differing views on the feasibility and value of attempting telephoto work without proper focus control infrastructure.

Parts

Follow Focus

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