Merlin Steadicam Stabilizer

So were SERIOUSLY THIS TIME (again) looking into buying a stabilizer system. It's been a struggle to find a stabilizer that doesn't cost a gazillion dollars but is still robust enough to handle our 5.5 lb Canon XHA1 with an extra 1.5 lbs of light, mic and battery. We've been leaning for awhile towards the Merlin. There's a lot of talk that it can't handle the Canon without support, but I think we'll give B&H a call this week and see if it might just need a little practice in order to work correctly. We've been checking some Merlin/Canon XHA1 test videos (like the one below) and it is giving us some encouragement that the Merlin just might work.

2 days with the Steadicam Merlin from Peter Szilveszter // Living Lens on Vimeo.

Check mic, check one check two..

Some exciting news today-we finally bought an essential addition to our equipment list-the holy "shotgun" mic. After researching, we found that the Audio-Technica AT897 was the best bang for our buck. It's sharp, perfect for interviews, and isn't too pricey. A professional shotgun mic was the last on our list of extreme essentials needed for production, so we were glad to finally buy it. Plus we're going to be shooting a friends wedding this weekend, so it was imperative that we ordered it today, to get the best possible sound pickup at the wedding. So we're eager to hold our new mic and test it out on future videos. The only things we really have left to purchase are a backup HDV camera, a merlin steadicam, and a (low-cost) dolly system. Once we have those final three things..look out world! We're taking over! Just kidding..for the most part.