Modified SteadyCam Smoothee – DIY “Cheesycam Baby Merlin” Build For Under $200

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In case you've been living under a rock for the last couple months, there is an amazing modification for the Steadicam Smoothee, a cheaper consumer version of the popular merlin stabilizer from SteadyCam made to fly iPhones/iPod Touch, GoPro Hero/Hero 2 cameras, Flip Minnows, etc. It uses the same gimbal as the Merlin stabilizer, has knobs to dial in precise balance, and although a cheaper (hard plastic/aluminum) build, for a camera under 3lbs it performs flawlessly with just a simple mod.

This will run you between $150-$180 depending if you buy it on sale at B&H until the end of the month or buy it on eBay, where I even picked mine up for under $150 shipped (in Canada).

So with the build parts you could have yourself a stabilizer almost as good as the $800 version for under $200 (modified) provided you don't intend to fly anything over 3lbs.

See the following links:

Can you modify a Steadicam Smoothee

DIY Steadicam Smoothee Mod – Cheesycam Baby Merlin

Steadicam Smoothee Modified – Baby Merlin

GH2 on Baby Merlin (modified Steadicam Smoothee)

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Steadicam Smoothee Unboxing:

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DIY Camera Stabilizer Steadicam - Baby Merlin:

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Baby Merlin Steadicam Smoothie (My First Try Out):

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GH2 with Baby Merlin:

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People have been buying an extra GoPro mount for $25 and taking a hacksaw to it, but I found that for a $10 black cutting board purchased at Wal-Mart, a hacksaw, belt sander, and my rotary tool, I custom fabricated one that is much stronger, sits perfectly flush on the quick release, and was less than half the price.















I then bought one of these flash brackets from China for $3 shipped, drilled it out the rest of the way, and filled it down smooth.








To finish off the build, I picked 2 of these nickel plated ¼ -20 flash bracket knobs, a handful of heavy fender washers at home depot, two 1/4 - 20 x 7/8 inch coupling nuts, one of which I inserted into the center of the weights, securing a short screw holding a smaller washer on one side, and screwed one of the flash bracket knobs into fastening the slide to the weights. I put a couple thinner 1/4 x 1-1/4 inch fender washers on each side of the other coupler after inserting it into the hole I drilled in the plastic weight housing that came with the smoothee (after taking out the existing weights), a small screw on one side and the remaining knob other the other for the slide pivot to finish it off. Rubber flat washers on each side of the thin fender washers hold everything nice and tight and complete the build.

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Notice how the total weight of the stabilizer is exactly 2lbs 10oz (including Manfrotto 323 RC2 Quick Release Adapter housing) which is coincidentally the EXACT SAME WEIGHT as my camera with the following:

Canon VIXIA HF S200 Camera
Raynox HD-7000 Pro 58mm 0.7x High Quality Wide Angle Converter Lens
Cavision LH-100PW Wide Angle Sunshade with 86mm ARP486 Step Down Adapter Ring
Canon DM-100 Directional Stereo Microphone
Canon 3.5" LCD Hood
BP-827 Battery
Quick Release Plate

So there you have it... I’m flying at a total of 5lbs 4oz now, and BTW, it is PERFECTLY balanced in just seconds every time.

Good Luck!

[Jim-in-LA]

Which should be bought for an HV40? Would it need modification? What type of mod?

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Which should be bought for an HV40? Would it need modification? What type of mod?

The EXACT SAME THING ABOVE would work perfectly for the HV40! (and ANY camera under 3lbs)