Using a Glidecam For Smooth Video

Do you remember my “Hunt For Ron Voleman” post where I said I took some video? And that I might post it? I bet you’ve been checking back daily to see if I ever got around to posting that. Well, as it turns out, the video was pretty much unusable.

When I was recording that day while walking in the snow, I took every effort to stroll along as smoothly as possible. I am aware of how much camera shake can occur from what might seem like nothing at all. In my opinion, if there isn’t some sort of dampening device or a tripod involved, the video is worthless. You know as well as I know, the internet is full of video that can give you a headache.

In my case the other day, even if the snow hadn’t insisted on crunching beneath my feet, the movement of my hand would probably have made things just as bad. Even when I was standing still, I saw camera shake. That kind if thing frustrates me because it takes a lot of time to get all set up for something like this.

For years, I’ve been threatening to pick up a Steadicam Merlin, which is described as a professional handheld camera stabilizer. This little piece of camera equipment would really take my video to the next level. I first learned of this type of thing back when I used to post video made by egawauemon on his world cruise. Check out his Youtube channel and tell me it’s not awesome.

There are a few drawbacks to the Steadicam Merlin though; its price and its learning curve. From what I can find, it runs for about $777 on Amazon and can take a month or more to figure out. The learning curve is probably the biggest challenge. I’m into cameras, but not that much.

Now, since I’ve been getting out there more and more lately, I’ve decided that I do, in fact, need to correct the issue. I see many a great thing in my future and I would be upset if it was hampered by lousy camera shake. So with that in mind, I did a bit of research into camera stabilizers in general. The best rated one I was able to find and that was less costly than the Merlin was something made my Glidecam.

Glidecam HD2000 Review

I’ve watched many videos produced by Dave Dugdale and trust his opinion. And whether it’s the HD-2000 or the HD-1000, I think something like this might be worth owning, especially while being chased by alligators.