The $14 DIY Steadicam Built from Everyday Items

Written by mike on January 20th, 2010

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Steadycam test 2 – before and after from Nathan Carrick on Vimeo.

Shaky footage can be one of the biggest killers when shooting video. As cameras get smaller, and zoom ability gets more powerful, the effect of shake is multiplied greatly. This can still be fine for everyday, “snapshot” use – but to capture footage for any semi-serious use, you need to brace your camera against the jitters.

A way to retain mobility while combating shake is to move the center of gravity of the camera to a point that is not in line with the lens. This is the basic idea behind the steadicam, a mounting rig that is used by many professional camera operators. Typically, a counterweight is affixed to the camera at a certain distance via a mounting bracket. The length of the bracket and the heft of the counterweight are set for the specific style of shooting that you want to do. The displaced center of gravity helps nullify the small jitters from shaking the lens, and the added mass of the setup also helps keep the motion more fluid and less herky-jerky.

Normally, you’ll see high-end steadicams that have a nearly frictionless joint (gimbal) that allows the camera to remain steady as the rig twists, turns, and tilts. But satisfying results can be had with a simple unit that uses just the counterweight alone.

Johnny Chung Lee has a start-to-finish writeup on his site steadycam.org on how to build a $14 steadycam with everyday items. The gist: two short lengths of steel pipe are combined in a sideways T, one side for a handle, the vertical piece to hold the camera at top and the counterweight below. A small weight is affixed on the bottom, the camera is connected to the top with a modified endcap that has a mounting bolt in it, and voila: DIY steadicam.

DOIT reader Nathan Carrick sent me some photos and videos of his assembly of this project, and a before/after video of the results (the inspiration for this post). I’m impressed – you can see how this improves the quality and creates a smoother looking result.

Nathan's PVC endcap for the DIY Steadycam. The 1/4" mounting bolt on top is the standard size all cameras use.

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Posted in DIY, Photography, Video |

5 Comments so far ↓

Jan
20
6:45
PM

Foy
Wouldn’t it be better for there to be two handles, one to the left side, as shown, and an additional perpendicular handle pointing back towards the user (forming a right angle between the two handles)? This way the cameraman would have the ability to do smooth tilts as well as pans.
Jan
20
6:53
PM

mike
Foy – that’s a solid modification idea.

I think the designer of this idea had it in mind to keep the center of gravity just about in the middle of the bar, so the tilts can happen without much effort.

But if the balance is off, or of a modified design is used (see the examples on the bottom part of the steadycam.org site), that additional handle would be very valuable.
Jan
20
9:23
PM

Foy
Wow…Great concept video… I hadn’t looked through the entire website yet.

Thanks for writing about this; I just recommended it to my college professors. Our film department has had quite the lack for steadicam equipment, and this would allow us to get several quite cheaply, which is nice considering that they have approximately $0 to spend.
Jan
21
10:37
AM

Nathan C
Serisously, this was a snap to put together! It definitely inspired me to do more DIY projects.
May
6
11:17
AM

Leonardo
my dad lives in new york, where it could buy over there, please to address