If you’re struggling with holding your full-sized DJI Ronin or Movi M10 gimbal with bare hands for extensive periods of time while shooting and don’t want to spend a fortune on a dedicated camera support system such as the Easyrig, here’s an easy way to build one on your own.
This setup will cost you significantly less and still will substantially reduce the strain and fatigue in your hands and shoulders by distributing the weight of the gimbal across your torso instead. Chung Dha showcases his approach towards building a DIY overhead camera support system by utilising a few dirt cheap materials that you can get from any local hardware store for less than $200, depending on the configuration and sturdiness you want for your DIY support system. All the components you will need to build this combo are a spring balancer, some V-slot rails, and a backpack.
The most important part of the Chung’s setup is the spring balancer. In case you want to have a lot cleaner design you can hide it in the backpack. Keep in mind, though, that if the cable inside isn’t long enough you can still swap it with a longer one that will fit your needs better. Just make sure that the new cable will be able to handle the weight of your combo once you attach the gimbal and the camera on it.
Another advice is to avoid utilising PVC elements for the main construction of your support system as these aren’t strong enough and won’t be able to hold the gimbal along the line. You can utilise V-Slot rails instead that are a lot more durable, but still lightweight and easy to use.
The V-slot components shown in the video are built of aluminum and have an incredibly smooth linear V-Groove on all four sides which allow for precise and accurate linear motion. Building with V-Slot is very similar to the traditional T-Slot, it can be cut and connected simply like a jigsaw puzzle, but the V-groove allows for linear motion applications like the one you have to build for this particular combo.
Just like an Easyrig, once you build your DIY support system you can control the height of its support arm. You can also adjust the length of the tension line by adjusting the spring balancer in the backpack. Just dial in the appropriate amount of tension for your rig and you are ready to roll.
Ultimately, as Chung claims, the total cost of this Overhead Camera Support should be around $200 to build as the most cost have been made for the V-slot parts and rails which are an essential piece of the construction. For more information and the full list of the components that you will need to build this DIY overhead support system, head over to Chung’s personal website here.
[via: ISO1200, source: Chung Dha]
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