best options to steadycam a arriflex st

[MattWalters]

hi there,

wondering what the best thing to do to steady the arriflex st would be

shoulder/chest mounted device ? i suppose its much better without the 400' mag right, so should i then only be shooting 100 foot rolls

I haven't rec the camera yet, does anyone know if it has one of those ports for a wire cable release, so that i can 'pull the trigger" so to speak without having to touch the camera itself?

thanks

- matt

[Will2]

You can rig an on/off switch on the battery cable, some kits would already have that although they are usually home made things.

At Arri ST would not be a good steady cam camera because of the angle feed. You need to have the film straight up and down or the balance gets shifted as the film runs through. Something like an A-minima with coaxial magazine would work better.

[MattWalters]

hmm, cant afford to go in the aaton direction, only bought the arri because I got an insane deal on it

i do have a russian Kiev 16 actually with a coax loading system, what is it about the coax system that makes it better for shooting on an angle ?

does this mean I should never really angle my arriflex ST at all?

[Will2]

Give it a try, it may not be that bad since it's only 100' at a time. You may just have to compensate with how you hold the steady cam.

[Will2]

hmm, cant afford to go in the aaton direction, only bought the arri because I got an insane deal on it
what is it about the coax system that makes it better for shooting on an angle ?

does this mean I should never really angle my arriflex ST at all?

I think you miss understood, what I meant was that because the film shifts from front to back, or on an ST from upper front to lower front (at an angle) as it moves from source reel to take up reel, the weight shifts and messes with a steady cam's balance.

On a coax system the weight basically stays in the same area although it does shift from side to side a little. That's why there are special steady cam mags for 35mm cameras that are 100% vertical.

[MattWalters]

understand you now Will, of course that makes perfect sense

thanks!