The Perfect Solution to Balance a Glidecam
I purchased a Glidecam HD-4000 stabilizer because I was looking to get some smooth shots at weddings and events. However, it’s a heavy setup and once setup with your camera, lens, and microphone it becomes tiring quickly.
One of the most difficult and frustrating processes for a new Glidecam HD-4000 owner is the balancing process. Once you get used to it, it goes quite quickly but those first few times trying to get your stabilizer to move smoothly and maintain a perfect balance seems almost impossible.
Adding to this frustration is the fact that without a stand, each time you make adjustments to the balance you have to pick up the Glidecam and wait a moment to see what may be out of balance. The problem is, after picking up and setting down the Glidecam so many times, by the time the Glidecam is balanced your arm is tired and you don’t have any strength left to get any of the cool shots you had envisioned!
The good news is Glidecam makes an official bracket for any standard light stand, the problem is the bracket is $90! You just spent $500+ on a Glidecam package and now you need to spend another $90 just to balance it? Plus if you don’t have a C-stand or light stand, now you have to spend another $30-$100 on a good stand.
The answer is the On-Stage MS9701B Tripod based microphone stand. It’s a standard boom microphone stand, but the shaft of the boom fits perfectly inside the handle of the Glidecam. Now, while at a wedding or event I have a safe place to store my Glidecam. This stand easily handles the weight, and it’s only $25!
Balancing the Glidecam is now a breeze with the On-Stage stand. I can simply slide the handle over the boom, and now use to hands and no physical effort to balance out my Glidecam before an event. What took me well over an hour the first time I ever tried balancing, now takes me about 5 minutes with little need to ever remove the system from the stand until I’m ready to shoot!
I can’t recommend this stand more for anyone who owns a Glidecam package, be it’s a HD-2000 or HD-4000, I believe both have the same handle so this stand should work with either one.
For a video overview check out my YouTube video here:
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