After 4 months of the Glidecam HD-2000 just sitting in my office collecting dust, I finally tried it out. Took over an hour to calibrate the balance and glad to find out this thing actually produces the smooth shots as advertised (and which physics makes truth). Won’t lie though, saying this thing isn’t user friendly is being generous. As many have reported, the Glidecam HD-2000 balance calibration is super sensitive. Any change in your camera setup (Camera itself, lens, lens cap, hood, etc) will need a full rebalancing. Part of the reason why I didn’t start using the Glidecam till now. Had to get the Manfrotto release plate to mount on the top for easier (and realistically practical) camera mounting. So I was just lazy about buying the release plate, not lazy about calibrating the Glidecam balance.
I would’ve posted the first test video, but I won’t. I’ve heard, and now agree, that the Glidecam takes a bit of practice to get nice smooth shots. I was able to walk around and use the stairs with amazingly stable and smooth footage. But this thing, when all put together with the camera, is quite heavy and punishing on the wrists.
Still, looking forward to using this sparingly in upcoming music video and commercial shoots. Instead of using it for the cool shots you see in wedding or skateboard/extreme sports videos, I’m thinking of using the Glidecam in more subtle ways. If I can use it without you noticing, that’s mission accomplished. However, would’ve been awesome to have used the Glidecam to get action shots for the Learn Parkour SoCal commercial I shot a few weeks ago for my buddy Vinny and Anthony Grosso.
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