DIY steadicam build
Steadicam mark 2, the build for this is more advanced and requires some specific tools. A few of the tools that you will need are a milling machine or drill press, with a 5/8" Diameter Countersink Drill Bit and a 1/4" metal drill bit. We used square aluminum tubing, 2 1/2" and 1 1/2" inch at 1/8" inches thick, we had to buy one foot sections of both and we cut them down to one inch tall. You can either use a hacksaw to cut these pieces or if you're lucky you will have some kind of power equipment to do the same job. It is also important for this build to have a tap and die at 1/4"-20 (we used this size for much of the steadicam because that is the size of a standard camera mount and the 14" threaded rod also fits through the 5/8" bearing.
You can see in our video that we assembled a few things up front, we drilled the holes and fit the bearings in advance, we also bent the 1/4" aluminum rod for the slingshot mount. You may want to build a jig, we eyeballed it and it didn't turn out as perfect as we would have likes. We also drilled a 1/2" hole in the toilet bowl float and filled it with aquarium rocks, then sealed it with a square of duct tape and hot glue.
Out tests were similar to the original steadicam we built but with the smaller parts it is more compact and a bit more attractive than the original.
It is important to note that the longer the rod the more stable the steadicam will be, however there is a point where it seems a little impractical. For our build I would have liked the rod to be slightly shorter because we could not get as low as we would have liked. It is in my opinion that if you can hold the steadicam at mid body you will get even better results. You will also need to support the weight of the device and camera with your free hand.
Thanks for watching.
The rubber chicken is obviously optional!