8/28/2011 Fly your iPhone: Steadicam Smoothee
With the Tiffen Steadicam Smoothee the original inventors of the Steadicam created a solution for the iPhone. It comes with a mount iPone case (4 and 3 are supported with different cases) and is very easy to setup. The design is based on the Steadicam Merlin which is a top pro Steadicam for smaller video cameras.
Instructed by the master
This is a fun image because it shows me with Garrett Brown. Garrett instructs me how to use the Vest/Arm for the Steadicam Merlin. Garrett is the inventor of the original Steadicam and made film history (he received an Oscar for inventing the Steadicam). Handling a Merlin without the vest is hard because of the weight.
Smoothee
The Smoothee is very well engineered and works as expected.
Be aware that using any Steadicam needs a lot of practice. We are right now at the early beginner stage but our friend Peter iNova masters it very well. Watch this video here.
Also watch his "Low Mode" video here which is video 4 of his 4 part Smoothee introduction.
8/11/2011 Lens "Nuggets"
The fixed focal lens on the iPhone is clearly a limitation. Here are some inexpensive attachment lenses sold by Photojojo.
"iPhone 4 Disclaimer: our sticky lens rings don't play well with your sleek, well designed glass backing. But they work swell with a cover!" (quote from their web site).
We attached the provided magnetic ring to our current IP4 shell. This gives the lenses more distance to the built in phone lens. As a result we see some vignetting with all the lenses. That is why we often shoot in square format with the Hipstamatic or 6x6 apps (we like square).
Vignetting with the WA/Macro combo
The magnet is quite strong and holds the lenses just fine. We always tune a bit to get the lenses centered. Here is how we carry them in the field:
Like little lens "Nuggets"
These lenses are fun to use and also can produce very nice images. Here are some of our results.
Hipstamatic
WA/Macro
WA/Macro
WA/Macro
Conclusion
We like these lenses a lot and the image quality is surprisingly good. With square format and Hipstamatic we don't want to miss them anymore.
