built a steadi-cam out of a scooter

[Ryan Sutter]

I have been plotting and planning on building a handheld camera stabilizer for quite a while.  I have seen a lot of plans for them online and this week I had an inspiration which has resulted in (drum roll please) the Scooter-Cam (as I've taken to calling it).

The Scooter-Cam is based on the design of the Glidecam 2000 (retail price $329) and is built using the following:

- a used Razor Scooter acquired at a garage sale for $4
- an old tripod ($5 from a friend of mine)
- tennis racket grip tape ($2.78 at Walmart)
- 1.5 lb donut weights ($7.43, Walmart)

The basic procedure involved disassembling the steering column and front wheel assembly of the scooter, disassembling the tripod, mounting the tripod head on the inverted scooter handlebar/steering column and taking the frong wheel assembly, removing the wheel and using the fork/collar pieces as a handle with a 2-axis gimbal.  After hack sawing some extra stuff off, wrapping the handle in grip tape and some fine tuning I have a hand held stabilizer with the following features:

- quick detach camera mount with spirit level
- telescoping post and adjustable weight
- 2-axis gimbal handle
- light weight
- made of machined aluminum parts, very rugged

Total cost was under $25 and when I filmed with it for the first time last night, my friends and I actually gasped when we saw the results.  Smooth, fluid camera while walking quickly up stairs.  Wow. In the next week I will be putting pics online and building another one for my friends that I will take pictures of as it's built with instructions for anyone else who wants something like this...  Hardly any tools or expertise required.  Just buy a cheapie scooter and find an old tripod (or monopod) and do it...

I am so excited!

Ryan