doryphoros:

Glidecam or Steadicam? Panavision or Arriflex? Lowel or Arri Lighting?

There are a lot of questions like this out there. When it comes down to it. Glidecam is just as good as Steadicam, and Steadicam just as good as Glidecam.

Its about like... your at the store, you need some pop! Now, do you get Coke or Pepsi? Well, 50% will say coke and 50% will say Pepsi. Does it matter? No. They both are pop, and one will not give you more than the other.

Just my adive.

Landon D. Parks
Producer / Director
Dark Vision Films

Personally I'd take my Steadicam JR over any of the alternatives that I've seen, but it's not really solid enough to handle an XL1. Being able to keep it permanently on the camera, and use it as a shoulder support for a small DV camera makes it far more convenient than the others.

The big downside is that it was designed for old Hi8 cameras, so it's hard to balance a modern DV camera on there: they're too light and compact to control the center of gravity easily.

Hey Mark, where can i get my hands on a good steady cam for under $100? Any websites? -Dean

I don't think there are any you can buy for that price, but there are web sites which tell you how to make something steadicam-like for a few bucks out of weights and poles. Another cheap alternative that's worked for us at times is just to attach a tripod to the camera and fold the legs in, then hold the tripod part-way down and carry the camera around on the tripod... if the weight is right that will give you a counter-balance to the camera and minimise wobble as you move.