Cheap camera stabilizer for 7D and 550D / T2i - Zacuto alternative

A cheap alternative to Zacuto

Sometime ago I visited Hidalgo St in the Quiapo area of Manila to look for studio equipment. Hidalgo St is known to be the Philippines premier location to buy camera equipment wholesale. You can find some great deals on lighting, umbrellas, flash units, and other camera accessories manufactured directly from China. You can even find antique camera gear here.

In one of the shops, I found a shoulder mounted video camera stabilizer.

This is not one of those popular Zacuto rigs that cost $500+. Since I didn't bring my monopod or tripod on this trip, I wanted to test out this cheap $40 plastic stabilizer.

I put on a Canon 7D camera w/ battery grip and used a Canon 35mm f/1.4L lens. For me, this is a relatively heavy setup. I was naturally concerned if the plastic rig would hold up that much weight, so I made sure the 7D's strap was on my neck. After figuring out how to screw the camera on, I was set to go.

Results

I was frankly impressed with the results. I brought back the video files and it was SHOCKING. I was able to get usable shots with this cheap old $40 shoulder stabilizer. An example of how reliable this was can be found here:



I'm not saying the build quality of this plastic stabilizer is sexy like the Zacuto shooter. But it is light, small, cheap, and can stabilize your shots very well. For me, that's practical. One thing of note, you want to use the included strap to tie it to the other side of your body or you will start feeling the imbalance of the weight.

I tried to find this product on B&H and it wasn't on stock, but I did find it on Amazon. You can try this out for yourself...heck it's cheap enough: