hand-held camera stabilization

[milmonster]

im trying to decide on a camera stabilizer for my Sony HDR-HC1. I like allot of the finished products ive seen with the Glidecam 2000 pro. the Flowpod by Varizoom also look nice and vestal, but i have not been able to find very much footage shot with it. How does it compare? the Steadicam JR and Merlin are also in the mix.

what are the pros and cons or all they all about the same? Do any of them limit movments such as tilting?

any knowlagable imput would be sweet

 

[MarkG]

I used a Steadicam JR for years with my old Hi8 camera (sony V600 I think) and it was great. I never got it to work properly with my TRV900 though: I think it was designed for long, heavy cameras and the more compact and relatively light modern cameras just don't stabilise well.

Don't use it anymore as the Z1 is the right shape, but too heavy to stabilise at all!