$15 Dollar DIY Steadicam

• • 28 Comments

Vimeo member Jorge shares his $15 dollar DIY steadicam build along with some test footage. Shot on a Canon T2i, with a Bower 14mm Ultra Wide Lens. The process to build your own coming soon. [Thanks Jorge]

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28 thoughts on “$15 Dollar DIY Steadicam”

  2. Halim

    casey: lucky you to be able to find those stuff, i have been searching the city upside down for more than 3 days already and i can't seem to find the Pipe, Setscrew and traxxas.

  3. casey

    NOT $15 Dollars like he said it was. Its over $15 just for the hard wear parts at home depot. For the Traxxas 1561 and also the quick release plate those together is another 40+ dollars. Still a great idea and I might still complete the build but dollar amount is incorrect and it is ridiculously hard to find all the parts with the labels he has.

    The bent piping is in electrical and its called EMT elbow 3/4'' 90Degree
    The bag is EMT setscrew coupling 3/4'' steel package of 5

    Took me nearly 2 hours with the home depot guys (had three of them) trying to help me find all the stuff...

  4. Emm

     Post author

    @Peggy - A quick release is just for convenience, it's not required, and yes you can use other ones as well.

  5. Peggy

    How is this a $15 steadicam if you have to purchase a $50 manfrotto quick release plate? Can you use another mounting plate? How is the plate attached to the tubing?

  7.

    Thanks for all you guys that like my diy steadicam. Getem is a skeptic and who cares.
    This thing is inexpensive and it works. BTW, I mounted the Tamron 17-50mm 2.8f and all I had to do is add a bit more weight at the bottom...and still pretty impressive.
    I made a generic tutorial so check it out and hope it helps you guys. Thanks!

  9.

    This is a cool DIY project, but getem is right, with a lens that wide it's hard to make the shot appear shaky. I'm also curious how this rig would perform with a longer lens... cool project, though!

  10. Amy Barrett

    I think the key to success with anything like this is getting a macro rail head. The issue with these things is properly balancing the camera. The likelihood you will mount the camera perfectly balanced is unlikely. That would add to the cost but make it practical.

  12. Mike C

    From my town! The Bower 14mm is the same glass as the Samyang, and others. Downer is the inability to mount an ND, which would really come in handy since the main use of a lens like this is for steadicam work, which a lot is performed outdoors. For wedding work, there's a lot of indoor shots, so it could suffice, but it seems like the Tokina 11-16mm, as someone mentioned, would me a little more versatile with the filter threads.

  13. scottrellwi

    Nice DIY! I like how much room there is between the handle and the weights. My flycam nano has something like 1" clearance, and I always bump my hand while filming.

    Also, how are you fine-tuning the balance at the camera? (For example, fine-tune left/right/front/back.)

  14. Tony

    @Austin - I'd just wait for the instructional video to be made public. I know..we're all anxious to build one....well, everyone except getem. =)

  19. Tony

    I've seen many diy stedicams...but this one is close enough that I'd pull it out on a gig. Paint it flat black and its good to go. Also loved the opening music track. big thanks to Jorge for this and looking forward to the step-by-step. @getem- quit hatin'...its a $15 project that performs admirably.

  20. iana

    Really impressive, thank you Jorge!

    I'd love to see how the handle was put together in more detail.

  21. Tim

    @getem really? i'd like to see you walk stairs like this guy without any help, imo the results are pretty much like the merlin, impressive!

  23. Austin

    Forgot to ask though, 14mm lens, is it really worth it. For a few hundred more I could get the TOkina 11-16mm f2.8 lens which I feel like would be a better investment.

  24. Austin

    For the price I'll try making one, I just can't justify the price of a real steadicam for how much I would use it at the moment.

  27. getem

    Nothing really amazing here. You can practically handhold a 14mm lens and really get no shake at all. I want to see him do this with an 85mm lens, then I will see if it really stabilizes or not.

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