Glide Gear SYL 3000 Video Stabilizer for Mirrorless and DSLR Cameras .5-3 lbs

I'm rating the Glide Gear Syl-3000 video stabilizer an overall 5 for the combination of performance and value. Is it the performance equivalent of a Merlin Steadicam? Not exactly. But, is it a very, very good stabilizer for the price? Absolutely.Overall, the setup was extremely simple - took less than five minutes. Balancing for my video camera took about another five minutes of fine-tuning. So, in less than ten minutes I was up and running. This is a SIGNIFICANTLY different experience than the first time I used a Merlin (which I rent when needed). It took me hours to get the Merlin balanced and ready for use. I found the Merlin to be very tempermental and delicate...seemed the slightest variation in settings would throw it off and required several additional minutes to recover. Once the Glide Gear was set, it was set.I was concerned when the unit arrived because there were several loose parts in the box and no instructions on how to put them all together. There is a Setup and Operation Manual, but it doesn't contain instructions on how to assemble the pieces when they arrive. I was nervous about snapping the ballhead of the gimbal into the gimbal joint, but with just a bit of pressure, it snapped right into place. The rest of the assembly was intuitive.I found the operation to be simple and straightforward. Hand positioning is comfortable and feels very natural. With just the slightest effort, the gimbal joint grip can be used for smooth panning. It's easy to stop, without sway. Even with the counter-weights, the unit is light, making the up-down movements of booming simple and comfortable.I haven't travelled with it yet, but it appears the Glide Gear unit will top the Merlin in this category as well. I shoot destination weddings and have to travel as light as I can. Folding the Merlin to fit into my gear bags required substantial re-work at the site to get everything re-set prior to use. The Glide Gear is so simple and compact, with just the slightest "break down" and reassembly, it appears it will be ready to go. Can't wait to try it on the road.On the down side - the movement of the Glide Gear's gimbal assembly is not as smooth as the Merlin. The movement of the Merlin's gimbal handle is like operating in zero gravity. The handle moves left-right-up-down with almost no friction at all. That's truly the amazing part of the Merlin, in my opinion. The Glide Gear can't match the Merlin in this category. The Glide Gear gimbal assembly is smooth enough for the type of shooting I do (panning, flying, mostly through wedding and bridal parties), but for delicate uses, the Merlin outperforms the Glide Gear.Is the down side a show stopper? Absolutely not. I paid one-tenth the price of the Merlin for my Glide Gear, so now instead of renting the Merlin when needed, I own the Glide Gear outright. For the savings, I'll accept the slight limitations.If anyone from Glide Gear reads this...please do two things...add assembly instructions in the box (it'll ease the nervousness about snapping the gimbal components together), and please consider re-doing the pictures in the Operation Manual (they're terrible...the backgrounds distract from the point of the images and make them pretty much useless as instructional tools). Otherwise, thanks for a great product.

It looks cool when you get it, I tried it out and it didn't balance as well as I thought it would. When you pay a cheap price, you get a cheap product. I have already returned mine.

Noone reviewed this item, but I found good review for it on ebay from many people who bought this item, so I decided to take a chance and try it out. So far, I got what I expected.I tried to download the unboxing to amazon, but it just takes too long. If you will go to my you tube channel (just type my stupid screenname: aubie0071971 ), you can see the unboxing video and test footage I put together in 30 minutes. I can't really give a good review just yet because I just got it, but, so far, would say it is made out of durable parts.pros: 1- $78 ( it was almost half the price of the other cheapest one)2_ durable, corrosion resistant material3- plenty of weight for my t3i with kit lense and looks like it could handle more4-compact and easy to hold/handle designcons: 1-just shipped loosely in a box. (see my video)2-no instructions (this might actually be a pro)I'll put up some comments as a learn more. I hope this helps you. If you are like me, shaky video footage ruins the video.

You get what you pay for. Yeah it's cliche, but it's true here. The gimbal system is plastic and will stick when you're using the upper end of the system capacity. That being said, when using a mid weight camera, and after a lot of balancing, the results are decent. This brings up a problem I should mention. In the amount of time it took me to balance the system, I could have applied for, gotten, and work at a job long enough to afford a professional stabilizer. That is, however, one setback of this sort of platform, the movement of the focus glass can change the entire balance of the system, so that's one thing to look out for.Here's my final word on this system. It's a good place to start, and a good learning experience. You'll be able to develop a sense of what it takes to balance the camera, and move fluidly. After some time, I upgraded to the Glidecam system and was getting good shots in a matter of minutes, probably because of what I learned from the Syl-3000. It's your choice, and I can't really recommend you stay away or go for it, but I will say that I haven't gotten rid of mine after upgrading, it is quite compact.