NAB (National Association of Broadcasters tradeshow) is this week and Tiffen just announced their new Steadicam Fawcett Exovest for the show. It is a semi-rigid exoskeletal vest that transfers the weight and torque of supporting a Steadicam system into anatomically appropriate areas, without interfering with natural movement.
Primary weight transfer is to the pelvis via four pads ergonomically placed around the waistband, and primary torque transfer is via a pad system at the upper back. Lower pads avoid compressing the abdomen in front, and the base of the spine in back. Upper pads avoid compressing the neck, shoulder joint, shoulder blades, and spine. The absence of chest straps allows for unrestricted breathing and arm movement. Pad systems are connected by rigid sliding components, and tightened by double and triple-purchase straps for precise fit under load, so weight-bearing characteristics can be fine-tuned on the fly.
The rigidity of the outer structure extends the torque-resisting lever-arm from mid-back (on existing vests) to high-shoulder level—halving the force required to counterbalance a Steadicam rig. Symmetrical twin-rod spars, rising fore and aft from the waistband, increase vertical range of the socket block and uniquely, permit both front and rear arm mounting. Four integral pivots allow the vest to conform to natural body movements. The rise and fall of the hips as weight is shifted from one leg to the other is accommodated by a lower pivot system, so the socket block remains level, andat the same height when walking—resulting in less muscular strain, and better overall stability and balance.
The upper system allows free movement of the shoulders. The resultant feel is of increased lightness and control. Between takes, the entire vest may be relaxed by means of one over-center lever, as the upper pad system beds in only under load. Compared to conventional vests, the Fawcett Exovest is lighter and less constrictive—allowing for better respiration, circulation, transpiration, and movement and is especially comfortable for female operators.
The Steadicam Fawcett Exovest is available today for $6495.00 USD, which is pretty expensive. But as we saw earlier this week with the a crazy awesome stabilizer that could change the industry forever, that's the price to pay for steady shooting.
The profit margin for this thing must be about $6395 USD
OMG too funny. If they sell even one of these after the announcement of the Movi we will truly find the stupidest "steady cam" operator alive. Oh Tiffen, welcome to being truly a day late and about $3K too short. I hope you didn't spend too much in R&D because if you sell 3 of these at this price it's 3 too many. This has no business in 2013 filmmaking and shame on them for not thinking outside the box. We live in a time when everything is vunarable to "what if", and that's a good thing. That's the MO behind things like the Movi, and that's why I LOVE living in today's age.
The good thing about a vest is that the weight is distributed onto the body... the Movi (from footage we've seen so far) is just handheld. Handholding a fully rigged Epic or Alexa for an extended period of time might be a little too much...
I see the Movi and a vest working together (If they haven't thought of it already someone will, especially as @syntt:disqus mentioned the high weight of a full rig.
It's funny because professionals uses gyroscopes on steadicams constantly.
People whine the price 6495$ without even knowing that this isn't a "hobbyist" tool, this is professional gear. This gear is extremely expensive! If you do a movie, high quality one with RED cameras and Arris, you will use these kind of tools. You can try and use those cheap knock-off tools with Arri but you will notice why the gear is so expensive. They are high quality, they work perfectly as meant to and they can carry the weight of heavy cameras easily without any problems.
Too bad people don't understand this, they just keep complaining the price. If Fstoppers would post a news of "Canon C500", people would whine that "oh god, it's too expensive for the quality, my 5D Mark 3 can do it better derpaderpadoooo...".
From experience shooting in big budget feature films I don't see for a second how a camera op is supposed to use the Movi with an alexa plus power source and other attachments while doing a moving shot. The weight would be far too much.
Things like a steadycam vest are industry standards for a reason. If there was a better solution, the industry would use it.
Would the Movi rig be good for a film student or someone on a shooting with DSLR, I don't see why not but andersonimage I think you need to look at both ends of the spectrum here.
I had the amazing pleasure of meeting Chris Fawcett, the inventor of the exo vest, at the steadicam workshop. All I can say is, this vest is incredible. It is absolutely a professionals tool and feels incredible to wear. During the workshop, I tried using many different vests, and this one by far felt the most comfortable. Chris pays so much attention to the way the body moves and interacts with itself, thus making this vest work WITH the body excellently.