What's the best consumer grade camera stabilizer?

[DanHaggerty]

I would like to hear suggestions as to what the best stabilizer is for consumer gear, e.g., camcorders, IPhones, etc. Our company is developing a different type of stabilizer and we would like to know what professionals think about these products.
Dan@Stabiletech.com

[deanwork]

I want to know that also. I'm beginning to shoot video with my D800 and I"ve been told that anything under $800.00 or so it not worth using. Wondering if that is true or not?

john

[DanHaggerty]

It probably is. The stuff I have researched at that price level are the pendulum types. These are ok for shots of long duration and little movement, but if you want to change direction or acquire a new subject rapidly, the momentum of the pendulum persists and tends to keep pointing the camera in the same direction. This is a hindrance when one is shooting action shots.

Dan

[Fine_Art]

Pendulum sounds crude. Tuned mass damping is well understood. So are gyros. The downside of the gyro method is the energy needed. How long will your batteries last? What is the weight of the system?

[DanHaggerty]

I'm not familiar with tuned mass dampers as camera stabilizers, I only know about them for buildings. Sounds complicated. Can you refer me to such a system?
Thanks.

Dan

[Petrus]

With one flywheel your contraption stabilizes the camera in two axis out of three, presumably. How about horizontal shake? Tilting the camera is not uncommon, but this will fight that.

I have experience only with Steadycam Merlin*, which does require exact balancing and practice. Also all pendulum stabilizers are hard and heavy to use for any extended time, few minutes start to be painful, unless using a body harness and balanced arm, which cost a lot and have their own problems.

*) which possibly is the best "consumer grade" stabilizer, while not the cheapest.

[Fine_Art]

I'm not familiar with tuned mass dampers as camera stabilizers, I only know about them for buildings. Sounds complicated. Can you refer me to such a system?
Thanks.

Dan

I also know about them from architecture. How much variability is there when your hands shake?