Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

I use this with GoPro and iPhone cameras. It is very easy to use out of the box. Very smooth moves without a lot of practice.

Wish I could add other cameras or the GoPro 3D camera setup.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

I don't think I truly appreciated the Smoothee until I finished my first edit. As someone who has been around a lot of productions my standards are pretty high, so I was a little critical during my first use. It definitely has a learning curve and it's not for every shot. But the shots that made the cut simply would not have been possible with a hand held iPhone. The phone mount is clean and easy and has the added advantage of giving you a tripod mount, yes you still need a tripod in your bag. The whole unit it light and compact and it does deliver the goods. I would recommend it.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

This is a great product to make your iPhone movies much better. Indoors works best as ANY slight breeze will mess up the balance. Not much else to say, but happy I made the purchase.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

I take the Smoothee with me on location assignments. Especially those difficult to get to places where packing extras HDSLR gear is prohibited.
The iPhone 4S HD video is quite good and the Smoothee steadies the shot.

Balancing the unit takes some getting used to and deciding on which method use to prevent the unit from swivel rotation becomes the "English" to be learned.
I'd like to have seen a more standard mount that retrofits to Manfrotto or Really Right Stuff tripods when not used on the Steadicam.

All in all, a great quality, inexpensive steadicam for the iPhone.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

Easily handles Sony HX9V point and shoot camera (245g) + Genus Variable ND filter + extra ballast (on top stage, front and lower weight). Bearing is as smooth as silk and the trim controls are precise and cover a wide range. Very solid pro construction.The tiny Smoothee/Merlin-style finger control is difficult to learn and makes tilting difficult to any degree of precision or while moving ... but this is the limitation you will confront even with a Merlin at 5x the price! [Note: One major conceptual advantage of the DIY "WSCLATER" Merlin-type design which uses separate pan bearing and universal joints (as commercially adopted in the Blackbird stabiliser) compared to the Smoothee/Merlin all-in-one bearing is that you can apply a "brake" to the pan bearing while tilting the camera and thus have nowobbling in the pan axis ... largely unavoidable with Smoothee/Merlin]For [$]+ shipping to Australia the Smoothee is a stunning and truly game-changing Steadicam for the consumer market ... especially for those experimenting with DSLRs or cannibalising the Smoothee for other DIY projects.Having quite a bit of experience and theoretical knowledge of Steadicam, It took me only about 7 hours to completely accessorise, dismantle, experiment, reconfigure, conquer and IMPROVE the operation of this little beauty. I have settled on a total rig weight of 1.2kg as an ideal minimum operating weight that tends to ride out minor operation errors and small amounts of wind.The absolute key to the Smoothee is the **lightest** of touches. I describe it as "stroking the varnish" ... so light that when you pan it your fingers actually slip off, and it takes about two separate "panning movements" to get it moving.Be advised that the Smoothee gives you the challenge (and opportunity!) to learn about detailed steadicam principles such as Dynamic Balance if you are using it with cameras other than the Iphone for which it is designed. You may need to experiment a LOT with adding little washers and bits or weight at various points. Read up on Jerry Holway's famous "Dynamic Balance Primer" PDF availale from tiffen.com and other steadicam sites which breaks down the theory and mathematics of balancing Steadicams.Although i haven't yet used ithe Smoothee with an Iphone, I suspect that a newcomer may get annoyed by the susceptibility to operator error, fatthumbs and wind buffetting. But be assured this is capable of awesome results and is no toy.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

I just received my Smoothee for iphone 4s.
I have played around with it for several hours.
If I tilt the handle slowly to the left, the whole unit stays slightly tilted to the left. It does the same thing if I tilt it to the right and forward and backward.
The gimbal is too tight for the weight.
I added weight to the top and bottom, and it does not have this problem.
It may get better as the gimbal wears, but I doubt it.
I took it outside. You better not have any wind with this light thing.
I may send it back and just use my bigger rig.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

You get stable video footage for your iPhone.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

It look me about an hour to balance it, but after that it flys pretty good

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

Up and running in no time, easliy addjusted for balance, high quality feel and look.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

It works as one expects with this price.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

Lightweight, ready to go out of the box. Nice feel in hand and the resulting footage is as advertised.
Does take a little time to get comfortable moving it around.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

The Smoothee is one of the best examples of how a sound technological principle can successfully make its way from Hollywood to the palms of the hands of the rest of us, getting a lot simpler and friendlier along this path. Because mobile devices are so light, configuring and balancing the accessory is very easy and straightforward with almost any model for which an adaptor exists. I use mine with an iPhone 4 and I'm up and running in less than a minute. I have done several pristine shots with Smoothee. They look better than anything else I have ever tried to record on the device. The gear itself is very light, unobtrusive and sturdy. It also comes with a very handy bag. I'm perfectly satisfied with it.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

I made a 20-mile trek around downtown Atlanta and created video of a park that will one day be a green belt with trails and transit. I used various Smart Phones to stream the journey. The Smoothee is beautifully manufactured--the phone fits perfectly in the carrier (if it's the right one) and the rest of the apparatus is well manufactured. However, it did not produce a really smooth broadcast for me. I imagine it's possible to do for shorter shoots, but a long take like mine is asking too much of such a small device.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

Okay, so I was skeptical, then I saw some online comparison video between the seriously shaky iPhone footage and footage shot with the Smoothee.

I bought the Smoothee within minutes and have never looked back.

It's smooth, man! I mean, seriously, you will really be surprised at how much shake it takes away.

Setup was really easy including balancing, but it took a little getting used to, to operate. Still, there are several different ways you can hand hold this, and I found my style, and am now getting some great footage.

Originally I bought it for fun, but now have used it on some pro sports shoots for effect style footage. Good times.

On top of that, if you slap a piece of hook/loop Velcro on the front, and if you're crafty, try doing the same to your Go Pro and attaching that.

Can you say double use? Then go out and get that shot of the double rainbow. Duuuuuuuuble rainbow!

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

Well actually it doesn't rock, it's as steady as and so dead simple to setup and use. I have it with me all the time and it comes in so handy. And the end results are truly worth the small investment.

Get you iPhone vids to look better than the next guy by a mile.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

The steadicam for iPhone is amazing. Gives a LOT of stability to holding an iPhone for HD video. But it's free floating and it's taking me a lot of practice to be able to walk with the steadicam especially in windy situations. Working on either the thumb stabilizing method or using two hands.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

This little gadget works pretty well out of the box. Snap on the iPhone, adjust the balance and you're off. You do have to practice to get just the right touch with your thumb (or thumb and forefinger). You need that for 'drag' and to pan. But you can do walking shots with it and walk arounds altho you can move faster than the iPhone can focus. Be a better deal at around 100 bucks but if you want to make an iPhone film, you need this gadget.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

I really like the Smoothee for iPhone 4 by SteadiCam you really should get one.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

I saw this bought it on a whim but I really like it. It makes the iPhone an actual useful video tool. Took it to a street fair and shot some really nice video of the people and events that look great. It does take a little getting used to and it susceptible to the wind overall I am pretty happy with it. I'm hoping they will come out with an adapter for additional cameras.

Comments about Steadicam Smoothee for iPhone 4 or 4S:

I am a video/film professional and often use small HD cameras to complement a more robust HDV camera (e.g. HVX200) shoot. I've recently returned from a test shoot in NYC and found the Smoothee to be pretty darn good.

For me, shooting handheld with the iPhone yields unusable footage due to shaking and wobble. The Smoothee makes an incredible difference, and the shots look really nice. That said, as with other Steadicam models, the pan can be difficult to keep under control, and I found my shots panning by themselves, sometimes almost 180 degrees, unless I constantly made adjustments. That means that, per the Smoothee's instruction manual, you have to lightly keep a hand (or your finger and thumb) on the rotating pan wheel to keep you shot aligned. This is not always easy and sometimes yields an unacceptable or unexpected result. You have to practice to be able to use the pan control without jerking your shot too noticeably. While this method isn't ideal for every shot or situation (wind, for instance, was very difficult to shoot in), you can still get some really nice results with this little rig.

Precision and repeatability are not things you'll get using Smoothee. Also, tilting is not something you'll want to be trying with this unit. I've found it can be done to a degree, but is a real challenge.

If you have an open mind, are adventurous and love cool new tech, you can make this work for you. It also helps if you're a skilled DP or camera operator. All in all, if you use this device with the mindset that not every shot will be what you expect, you will be very pleased with the (mostly) great, smooth shots it can help you to capture.

And if you had told me I'd be shooting HD Steadicam footage on a cell phone 5 years ago, I would have laughed in your face!