Build it, And they might come!
Over the past few years I have built my own steadicams to help make shooting video with a DSLR camera easier when off a tripod. The first started off with following a YouTube tutorial to make one out of pvc plumbing. However I saw room for improvement so the next two attempts would be of my own design with improvements on the functionality and ergonomics. But eventually my ability to improve the design hit a wall due to a lack of technical resources.
This year(2017) I saw an opportunity to build one more steadicam but this time, taking advantage of 3D printing. In recent years it has grown in popularity and become more affordable, allowing me to design and print my own bespoke parts. For the new version I designed a new base for the camera to make lower the height profile of the steadicam as well as new brackets for the top handle. To bring it closer to an industry standard, I used a manfrotto plate system for universal mounting as well as a cold shoe mount for accessories. The remaining parts then consist of pvc pluming for the main body parts and BMX grips to increase user ergonomics.
The purpose of this project was to embrace the open source maker culture and try make a new steadicam that would be cheaper than it’s more expensive counterparts available online. The cost would turn out to be little over €100 which would have been considered extremely successful just a few years ago. But now that margin of savings slowly dwindles with the increase of Chinese products coming onto the market. 
A positive note can still be taken from the experience however. I have once again designed and created a steadicam that anybody could build with parts that can be bought or 3D printed and with a very limited tools. An ability which I would slowly loose with each new previous version. So based on this success, I have decided to share all my knowledge so far on how to build this new steadicam. Ive created a blog that shows you how build one from start to finish and provided the printable 3D files on Thingiverse. 
My hope is that people can have the same fun building their steadicam as I did and eventually design and share new, improved designs in the future. And if you decide to build one, I hope that you have as much fun as I do!
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