Dougmon a Steadicam? Nope. February 09 2013, 0 Comments

I have been asked several times, is the Dougmon camera system just like a steadicam, and the answer is no.

I designed the Dougmon to be a handheld device, which means that yes, it does help dampen the shake you get with handheld shooting and yes, does help you hold the camera for long periods of time without fatigue, but you will still pick up on the body movement that you get with handheld work. There is nothing wrong with this… a bit of movement is why you are shooting handheld as well as the advantage of working quickly to tell a story. The beauty here is when using the sling with the Dougmon arm, you can work both hands on the camera, and since I designed the Dougmon for documentary work, it is phenomenal for that. A steadicam device gives you a floating shot, nice and wide. It’s great for creating the illusion of a dolly, without all of the hardware, but doesn’t give you quick close ups, cutaways, etc. The Dougmon allows you to get in and get your shots quickly. Zoom into a face, bang, get it, widen out quickly and get a reaction from the other person, bang! The Dougmon can, with small video cameras equipped with image stabilization, create a steadicam type shot, however. I will be posting a video soon that illustrates that technique.