Saturday, January 26, 2013

Steadicam Smoothee Review

Because of Mostly Skateboarding's Google ranking, people from time to time send us products to review. The Steadicam Smoothee is one such product. It is a Steadicam for iPhone, GoPro, or Flip Camera. My test unit was set up for my iPhone 4S. It requires that the phone must be out of any case, so if you have a lens that requires a case, you can't use it with the Steadicam Smoothee. The idea of a Steadicam for an iPhone is kind of silly because the advantage of the iPhone is that you can have it in your pocket. The bulk and size of the Steadycam means you could just bring out a full size camera with the weight that could keep it steady on its own. I have to say though that I am impressed with the results. It takes a little bit of time to get used to the Steadicam and get it balanced. If you add a lens (I used an Olloclip) then you have to adjust the unit for that. It is actually pretty easy to adjust once you have figured out how to do it. I follow filmed a few lines and had to step off my board for Lloyd's long line. You can tell, but the shake from me walking instead of skating is better than when I've had to do that with a VX. The major drawback for me as a skate filmer is that you can't make dynamic moves like you can with a solid camera. With some practice, you could probably get the hang of moving the camera around however you want to. If you need a Steadicam for your iPhone I can recommend the Steadicam Smoothee. Buy it from Amazon and I'll get a small cut.

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