6 Axis stabilisation
I have always shot a lot of hand-held. It's still the most intuitive operating style, the one most in sync with the human movements of your subject. But the breathing and sway it brings can denote an extra point of view, the presence of the camera watching in the scene.
The Easyrig was the first step away from this, still handheld but with a stability and glide that moved it away from the point of view camera. I still love the Easyrig and for handheld work I will always reach for it.
Until recently only a Steadicam would keep this sort of mobility whilst erasing the presence of the camera, offering some of the smooth solidity of the heavier grip set pieces.
That is until the current crop of gyro stabilised systems came to the market.
I had been using the DJI Ronin with 3 axis of gyro stabilisation. This combined with an Easyrig and Flowcine's Serene arm would provide for four axis of stabilisation.
But it is only now with the addition of Flowcine's Puppeteer that this rig feels like a real game changer.
The Puppeteer brings a further two axis of stabilisation to the rig.
So thats 6 axis of stabilisation, and there are only six axis of camera movement. 3 axis with gyro stabilisation and 3 axis with mechanical/gravitational stabilisation.
The results are spectacular, very smooth even on an 85mm lens.
Operationally I prefer the 16-32mm range for moving with an energetic subject. But the rig will happily hold an 85mm like a tripod.
The range of camera movement opened by this rig does feel slightly revolutionary.