Steadicam Curve (Equipment Review)

Posted by Jeremy T. Hanke on Apr 28, 2015 | 0 comments

Manufacturer: Tiffen
Website: Click Here
Description: GoPro camera Stabilizer
Purchase/Rent: Purchase.
Pricing: $59.95 core rig; $12.95 for extra weights (if you don’t have a GoPro viewscreen attached to your camera)
Footage: Click Here
Discount: Click Here
Release: Available Now
Review Issue: #109 (04/15)
Reviewed By: Jeremy T. Hanke
Final Score: 7.4 (out of 10)

When I was in college, the high end Steadicam rigs were just coming out and blowing everyone’s minds, as now Hollywood films could do long, elaborate following shots of characters that wouldn’t leave you nauseated. For years, these rigs were so far out of the price point of any low-budget filmmakers that we had to come up with our own stabilization devices that never worked quite as well, but were at least affordable.

However, now, in this world of ultra affordable cameras, like the GoPro, there’s an affordable stabilizer actually made by Tiffen, the originators of the Steadicam.

So, how well does it work? Well, read on to find out!

Ease of Use

There are two basic components to ease of use when it comes to camera stabilizers: ease of initial calibration and ease of actual use.

The ease of initial calibration for the Steadicam Curve is, frankly, not good. This is largely due to the fact that there are no actual bubble levels anywhere on the machine, but it also wasn’t aided in my tests by the fact that the instructions actually give the wrong base weight system for the GoPro 3 that I was testing. (Once I went to their website and printed up their compatibility spreadsheet, I was able to get things set up much more directly.)

However, it was still a painfully slow process of over 30 minutes of tweaking the rear adjustment knob (which deals with the forward/backward movement, or “pitch”) and the bottom weight (which deals with the sideways movement, or “yaw”) to get the thing working properly. And even then, despite the fact that my hands are actually fairly small for a man’s, I had to use the “large hands” approach which involves one hand holding the grip and the other hand stabilizing the collar (which is connected to the camera mounting plate).

Once I was actually working with it, however, the ease of use was comparable to most camera steadying devices I’ve used, which is to say: it takes plenty of practice. With that said, it was less nitpicky to use than some steadying devices I’ve use, which was good. (More on that in Performance.)

For a future version of the stabilizer, besides the inclusion of bubble levels, I’d love to see them add an actual thumb pad on the steadicam mounting plate so you could easily help control where the camera is pointing during turns with the thumb of the hand holding the grip, rather than having to use your opposing hand to guide the collar.

This is the Steadicam Curve in its locked position, which allows it to be stored easily—even with the GoPro attached.

For most men, the two handed approach for using the Steadicam Curve will be required, including the left hand stabilizing the collar.

If you’re not using the GoPro viewscreen, you’ll need to use the optional weight kit so that it’s properly balanced.

Using the Steadicam Curve is fairly straightforward once you get it properly calibrated.

Depth of Options

Generally, when we talk about depth of options for equipment, we’re talking about how many ways you can configure and reconfigure a system to do different types of things. However, with something like the extremely focused unitasker of the Steadicam Curve, this becomes less about how many different things it can do, and how easy it is to have with you so you can use it whenever the creativity bug hits you.

The Steadicam Curve may lack many of the options of larger rigs like the Steadicam Smoothee, but it’s actually more compact and easier to store because of this. Its small form factor can fit in a fairly small camera bag with your GoPro camera or in a coat pocket.

With that said, it would be nice if a future version of the stabilizer actually included a carrying pouch to keep it protected and keep any extra weights with you.

Performance

Steadying devices actual performance can shift drastically as operators get to know them and conform their movements to them. As such, I decided to record my comparison footage after 15 minutes of practice to show new users a much more realistic example of what they’ll be able to accomplish soon after getting the rig set up.

As you can see, it actually shows quite a bit of improvement shortly out of the box, which is pretty impressive. It also feels well put together, which is what we’ve come to expect from Tiffen’s Steadicam brand, and should last for years with decent care.

After continued practice with it, the one area of performance that I found frustrating was that it did show a propensity for some “yawing” movements, requiring me to have a firmer grasp on the collar than I’d like. (The firmer your grasp on the collar, the more your body movement and any shaking will transfer to the camera.)

Value

When it was originally released at $99, the Steadicam Curve was about the cost I would expect for a basic stabilizer from Tiffen that is restricted to a single camera series. That hyperfocus on just one type of camera was the biggest barrier to its value for low-budget filmmakers. Personally, I thought an official MSRP of $79 would make this more attractive to our readers. However, Tiffen went one better and dropped the price to $59, which is an extremely smart price point.

If you want a stabilizer that works not just on your GoPro, but also on other low-budget camera options like your iPhone or FlipHD, you’ll need to drop an extra $90 to pick up the Steadicam Smoothee instead.  (Hopefully, Tiffen will take a page from their Curve marketing and drop the Smoothee down to the much more attractive $109 price point, so that it’s a more reasonable $50 jump to the next step up.)

Final Comments

Once you get past the nitpicky process of getting the Curve perfectly calibrated, it actually works fairly well. My footage shows that using it in a useful manner is actually a fairly non-technical process once you have the calibration set up—although, like all stabilization devices, the difference between decent footage and amazing footage is in the amount of practice you’re willing to put into it.

Jeremy T. Hanke

The director of two feature length films and half a dozen short films, Jeremy Hanke founded MicroFilmmaker Magazine to help all no-budget filmmakers make better films. The second edition of his well-received book on low-budget special effects techniques, GreenScreen Made Easy, (which he co-wrote with Michele Yamazaki) is being released by MWP in fall 2016. He's curently working on the sci-fi collaborative community, World of Depleted, and directed the debut action short in this series, Depleted: Day 419 .