Gimbals are awesome for smooth shots, but I always feel like they get in the way when I’m squeezed between rafters or ducking under beams.
Yeah, that’s the trade-off. I’ve tried to rig up a “Frankenstein” setup with a monopod and a cheap gimbal—works until you hit a tight crawlspace, then it’s just awkward. For attic work or crawlspaces, I keep going back to my old shoulder mount. It’s not as smooth, but at least I don’t whack my head on every joist.
I hear you on the shoulder mount. Gimbals look fancy, but honestly, when I’m crawling around in tight spots or up in the attic, I just don’t have the patience to mess with balancing and charging batteries. My old shoulder rig’s clunky, but at least it doesn’t snag every time I turn around. Plus, if it gets a little banged up, who cares? It was cheap.
I do wonder if anyone’s found a budget-friendly gimbal that’s actually compact enough for this kind of work. Most of the ones I’ve seen are either too bulky or just not sturdy enough for awkward angles. Or maybe there’s some DIY hack I’m missing? I’d rather spend my money fixing up the house than on camera gear that’ll get trashed in a crawlspace.
Curious if folks have tried those little handheld stabilizers instead—are they any less of a pain in tight quarters, or is it just more stuff to trip over?
Handheld stabilizers are honestly just another thing to juggle, at least in my experience. Tried one in my crawlspace and it bonked into the ductwork more than it helped. I’d rather have a scratched-up shoulder rig than a fancier tool that makes me swear under my breath.
I get where you’re coming from—those gimbals can feel like wrestling an octopus in tight spaces. But honestly, I’ve had the opposite luck. My shoulder rig is fine for wide shots or when I’m just shuffling around the living room, but the second I try to get a smooth pan down my basement stairs, it’s like I’m filming a found-footage horror movie. The gimbal’s saved my bacon more than once, especially when I’m trying to keep the cat out of frame and not trip over laundry baskets.
Yeah, it’s another thing to charge and fiddle with, but I’ll take that over the “shaky cam” look any day. Maybe it’s just my clumsy shoulders, but I’d rather have a gadget that does some of the work for me—even if it means a few accidental whacks into the water heater.
I get what you mean about the gimbal being a lifesaver in tight spots. I tried using a shoulder rig once while filming some before-and-after shots on a steep roof, and it was a mess—kept bumping into vents and nearly lost my balance. But with the gimbal, I could actually focus on not falling off the ladder instead of worrying about shaky footage. Only thing is, have you ever had your gimbal just randomly die mid-shot? That happened to me last summer in the heat, and I had to finish with handheld... looked like an earthquake hit. How do you deal with battery life when you're moving around so much?