Action Camera Blog

First up, I tested out the Glide Gear DNA 5050 which sells for $349.95 in store. It is also available for rent at $31 for a single night. The hardest thing about this stabilizer is the setup time to get it balanced. Any time you change out anything on the camera you will have to rebalance the whole rig. The nice part is that once you have it balanced there is not much else that can really reproduce that floaty feel it gives the footage.

I also shot a little demo video of how the DNA 5050 rental comes in the case and what you need to do for setup. It’s pretty basic but I figured it might help someone understand exactly how the stabilizer is set up.

Next up, I check out the Cam Caddie Scorpion EX rig which sells for $59.99. The only thing I’ve added on top of what we have here in store is a little extra weight which can help with those jittery hand movements. I shot two takes for this rig the first one is normal, and for the second I switched on the in body image stabilization (IBIS) inside my Olympus E-M5 Mark II.

I tested out the Promaster Shoulder Support DSLR in a similar fashion with the first shot being without the IBIS and the next one I turned it on. The rig goes for $99.95 in the store.

Now for a run and gun videographer’s most used tool, the monopod equipped with a video head. We have a variety of different monopods available for purchase in our store as well as one for rent. The added weight can easily act as a stabilizer especially with extended out towards the ground acting as counterbalance to the camera. I shot this footage in 4K though only uploaded in 1080p. The reason I shot in 4K is to show you how filming with all that extra resolution can allow for easy stabilization in post. This first video will be the un-stabilized footage.

Ok now for the stabilized 4K footage that I ran through Adobe After Effects’ Warp Stabilizer. I start out with it cropped in for full screen then I zoom back out to show much footage has been cropped out. After that I fade in footage of me using the monopod shot at 1080p that shows how the relative size of the footage compares to the cropped in 4K. As you will see I had more than enough resolution to crop for the stabilizer.

Finally, I have gotten to our most advanced stabilizer in this comparison. This is the electronic, 3 axis, handheld Glide Gear Geranos that sells for $799.99 in the store and rents for $35 for a single night. This stabilizer is one of the steadiest and easiest to choose your framing while on the go. The only downside is that it can’t take nearly as much weight as some of the other stabilizers I used. However, if you’re running a mirrorless system especially with smaller primes then you should have no issues.

I did also include a little unboxing video of the Geranos just for you to be able to see what comes with the rental. Check it out cause it’s a complete package.