Tiffen Steadicam solo User manual

User’s Manual

Solo User’s Manual

v. 01.01

p/n LIT-821000

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome to STEADICAM!

Getting to know the SOLO

Mounting your camera

STEADICAM MODE

Balancing the SOLO

Basic STEADICAM Operation

What NOT to do!

Beyond the Basics of STEADICAM

STEADICAM Training

MONOPOD MODE

Monopod Operation

Maintenance

Useful Accessories, Contact TIFFEN

User’s Manual

NOTE: It’s important to read this manual thoroughly, so you can have your SOLO up and running

(maybe literally) in just a few minutes. Let’s get started!

Welcome to STEADICAM!

A letter from Steadicam® inventor, Garrett Brown.

Dear Friends,

Congratulations! Your Steadicam SOLO™ is a professional shooting instrument. It’s also

a brand new critter -- a radical hybrid that crosses-over seamlessly from Steadicam to

monopod and performs tricks in between that neither can do alone.

You may be a veteran Steadicam ace looking for the ultimate run-and-gun rig for your

new digital camera, or a seasoned conventional shooter, eager to expand your technique,



professional world...

in any case you’re in for a rewarding experience. Your new SOLO is a true Steadicam®:

precise, rigid and beautifully engineered, and it’s also a brilliant and versatile monopod;

but most startling to me, after decades of shooting, is the realization that SOLO can de-

liver combination shots I never imagined, and with a speedy panache that would spin

the heads of my old Hollywood colleagues.

With its inertia-augmenting ‘wings’ folded out, monopod shooting is stable in all three

axes -- ‘tilt and roll,’ obviously, but now also ‘pan’ -- and with SOLO also balanced in Stea-

dicam mode (at any desired length), you can smoothly ‘lift off’ and walk, run or climb

stairs like your favorite moves from the movies.



then seamlessly return to monopod or Steadicam-mode -- with or without the optional

arm and vest.

              

-

nally depend more on skill and talent than on big budgets -- and SOLO can help you get

there.

This latest iteration of the ‘noble instrument’ is cool and it’s hot! and I look forward to

seeing your results -- in sample reels, documentaries, commercials, home videos, reality



-

yond, including superb Steadicam training exercises and monopod techniques.

Good luck with your new Steadicam SOLO™ and good shooting!

Garrett Brown

Philadelphia, 2013

www.garrettcam.com

Back to Table of Contents

4User’s Manual

Top Stage

Quick Release (QR) Plate, Lock

Knob and Release Button.

Balance Adjuster Knobs.

Gimbal Handle and Post Grip

One to support and one to control

the rig.

Yes, the handle is supposed to be

loose!

4-section post

Post Locks.

Length increases for MONOPOD

MODE or for Beyond Basic

STEADICAM Operation.

Getting to know the SOLO

Back to Table of Contents

5User’s Manual

Getting to know the SOLO

Wings

With 8x Weights.

They’re folded now, but you’ll

spread them and be flying soon.

Swivel Foot

For use in MONOPOD MODE.

Or for resting the rig after a long

STEADICAM shot.

Tools

Allen Wrenches.

Next: Mounting your camera

Back to Table ofContents

6User’s Manual

Mounting your camera

Build the camera exactly as you

plan to use it

Install the battery and media card

(or tape or film!)

Attach ALL camera accessories, in a

compact setup with no loose wires.

Make sure the LCD screen is flipped

open and positioned for easy

viewing. It’ll affect the balance.

Find the center of balance of

your camera

Use a pen or something round to

find the Fore-and-Aft balance

point.

Back to Table of Contents

7User’s Manual

Mounting your camera

Mark the point with a piece of tape

on the side of the camera.

Rotate the camera 90° and find the

Side-to-Side balance point.

Mark this point as well.

Back to Table of Contents

8User’s Manual

Mounting your camera

Fasten QR Plate to your camera

Remove QR Plate from the Top

Stage and remove the 2 camera

screws.

Center the Camera to the QR

Plate by using the Fore-and-Aft

and Side-to-Side marks you made.

NOTE: Some cameras (like DSLRS)

may have balance points OUTSIDE

of the camera body. In that case,

you would mount the QR Plate

to the camera FIRST and use the

pen to find and mark the balance

points.

Back to Table of Contents

9User’s Manual

Mounting your camera

Fasten with the appropriate camera

screw.

Do not over tighten, but ensure the

camera will not rotate.

NOTE: The QR plate will work in

either direction, but make sure to

mount it parallel to the lens.

Mount camera to Top Stage

with QR Plate

Slide the QR Plate into the Top

Stage, position your Fore-and-

Aft mark at or slightly behind the

CENTER of the Post.

Tighten the Lock knob to ensure

the QR Plate won’t slide.

Back to Table of Contents

10 User’s Manual

Don’t pick it up just yet! We’ll learn

how to set up the SOLO to fly in the

next section.

Mounting your camera

Using the Side-to-Side Adjuster

Knob, align your Side-to-Side

mark with the CENTER of the Post.

Next: STEADICAM MODE

Back to Table of Contents

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