Steadicam inventor and camera operator legend Garrett Brown calls it an “electronically gyro-augmented Steadicam for smartphones that weighs one pound, with the inertia an feel of a 40 pound rig.” What that means (I think) is that it works like a simple hand-held gimbal stabilizer, but uses a motorized gyro to give it artificial inertia, keeping the phone steady when you move your hand. Unlike motorized three-axis gimbals, it’ll work even when the battery is dead.
The Volt can accept iOS and Android smartphones weighing 100 to 200 grams (3.5 to 7 ounces), from 58 to 80mm wide. It comes with an app that helps you balance and tune it, and has dual operating modes for novices or advanced users. The lithium-ion batteries last eight hours between charges, but you can run the device in a reduced way with no juice.
Since it’s more of a mechanical gimbal than a fully motorized rig, the Steadicam Volt probably has a steeper learning curve than the DJI Osmo, and looks to require some manual dexterity. However, the company says that also makes it more responsive and gives shots a more natural look. In a side-by-side demonstration, Brown shows that the fully motorized Osmo has trouble keeping up with the more manually operated Volt.
The Steadicam Volt is less complex than a fully motorized rig (therefore probably less likely to break), and at the Kickstarter price of $139, is a lot less money, too. That said, some operator skill is required as with pretty much all Steadicam devices, so don’t expect a fully automatic experience.
The product has already met its Kickstarter goal after just a few days (the early-bird $119 offer is already gone, unfortunately), and with Tiffen behind it, you can be pretty sure that the June 2017 shipping time and price won’t slip. As a bonus in the video below (at around 1:02), see Brown on the set of Return of the Jedi operating a special gyro-equipped, Vistavision steadicam rig used to film the speeder bike background plates at 0.75 frames per second.
