Laing P-04s (P-03/p-04 Upgrade) 2014 New 1-15kg Pro Carbon Fiber Stabilizer for Video Camera Dslr

Purchased this unit back in December 2013.Pros:1. Quality build.2. Fine tune adjustment knobs - front/back and left/right directions for the camera platform.3. Markings on quick release plate in 2mm increments for easy reference.4. Safety release button for quick release plate so camera doesn't accidentally fall off.5. Locking levers can be pulled out and rotated freely to position handle in any angle while lock stays engaged. Very handy when you run out room/space to turn the lever or so you can make all the levers face in the same direction.6. Outstanding customer support.Cons:1. Instruction manual is in Chinese. But you don't really need it as there are many YouTube videos showing how to balance this type of stabilizer.2. Gets heavy if hand held for long periods of time.My setup weighed in at about 4.5 lbs. - Panasonic HDC-TM700 camcorder with extended battery pack, GoPro 3+ Black edition plus 2 weights. I recommend a vest or support rig if you need to shoot a long footage of 5 minutes or more.Initially I was disappointed with this unit as I was not able to statically balance the unit from 0-270 degrees. I searched the internet and watched many good videos on how to balance a stabilizer. Spent many hours trying to balance the unit but to no avail. I concluded it was just me. I set the unit aside for the past 9 months as other things in life needed my attention. Not much info was on this unit over the internet until recently when I came across a video on YouTube that showed a faulty gimbal on a similar product. I had the exact same issue.Symptom: You can statically balance the stabilizer in one direction but turn it 180 degrees and it becomes unbalanced.Diagnosis: The gimbal is not centered within the yoke.I contacted Queenshiny for some help and I was directed to Tracy a Laing representative. Can't say enough on how helpful she was with my situation; especially, 9 months after the purchase. Very responsive and courteous during our correspondence. She escalated my issue to their engineers and they replied within a day that the gimbal was not centered to the yoke. Tracy then emailed me a procedure on how to center the gimbal.With the procedure in hand, I was able to balance the stabilizer statically at 0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees in about a couple hours. I showed my results to Tracy via YouTube but it still was not perfect. She decided to send me a replacement gimbal free of charge, covering shipping costs from China as well.Received replacement gimbal in about a week. I replaced the gimbal and I was able to statically balance the stabilizer within 10 minutes.During this process, I also learned from watching more YouTube videos that you need to "dynamically" balance a stabilizer unit like this. The dynamic balance is critical in reducing/eliminating the "swaying" effect when you stop or turn with the stabilizer. Once both static and dynamic balance was achieved, the stabilizer performed very well and now I just need to practice to make my footage even smoother when I turn my direction or pan the camera.Devin Graham of YouTube fame uses a Glidecam HD-4000 (which costs 2x more) and been doing it for 9 years to achieve silky smooth footage in his videos. He recommends practicing everyday for an hour until you are satisfied with your results. I plan to do that.Conclusion:Despite the initial setback with the gimbal, this unit is built very well and performs to my expectations at half the cost of similar units in its class. I believe Laing has worked out their quality control issue in regards to the "un-centered" gimbal. Their outstanding customer service more than made up for the faulty gimbal. Very satisfied with purchase.p.s. I did use the unit (prior to receiving replacement gimbal) to record my daughter's marching band. Footage is not perfect but way better than hand held. Note: I only had a couple hours of practice with the unit before the event so the footage is not to my satisfaction. Blame it on the operator rather than the unit. I hope to get better results on the next event.

So i bought this stabilizer because I like doing video as a hobby and wasnt about to throw down all that money on a Glidecam. I was a little hesitant at first because there werent many reviews and and never heard of it before, but I am very impressed. After putting it together and ballancing it properly, the thing works great. It even came with a nice carrying case to hold everything. I brought it on a trip with me and used it in the rain and on a boat in pretty choppy water. I use a Canon 70d with a Tokina 11-16 or 24-105L with this, and it flies great. Just make sure you practice a lot with it or you will have a tough time. Go on YouTube and watch lots of videos on how to use these things. Also, when balancing, make sure you balance it exactly how you will be shooting. At the exact focal length, with or without the lens hood and the lens cap off.I would recommend getting the "Giottos MH621 Quick Release Adapter with Short Sliding Plate camera mount" to use with this. Its a quick release plate that allows you to quickly take the camera on/off without having to rebalance every time. Here is the link for that. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010SIAV2?redirect=true&ref_=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_73

I absolutely love this product and the value even gets even higher when comparing prices to other stabilizers. I was able to use this for every shot I needed it for in my last project. I am not giving this product a 5 star rating because of the balancing system. Unlike its higher priced counter parts, the Laing P-04s is quite the struggle to balance dynamically. Odds are if you are using this product you are looking for something that balances dynamically, or when you are moving around rather than still. The dynamic balancing can take a littler longer than I had hoped, but once it is prepped and ready I am a big fan! I've used this product for over 4 months and have produced professional videos for a couple different companies. The Laing p-04s can become heavy after a long period of shooting, but I did not see this as any different from the rest of the industry. Customer service was great as always through amazon. Great value for the price!

After thirty seconds of owning this stabilizer, a few things are apparent.1) the quality is good-not fantastic. there's some grittiness in the adjustment knobs, one locking knob seems slightly flimsly, but the unit feels solid overall.2) it took me 25 of these first 30 seconds to balance the stabilizer with a 6d mounted by itself.3) most importantly before I can give an in-depth review later with footage-you will get tired QUICKLY. there's a reason they sell vests for these. holding the stabilizer and a camera, with NOTHING else on is tiring, let alone trying to put everything else needed on it.

Since I am a mexican, I mostly do quinceañeras. I had tried a couple of cheaps steadicams, just to save money. But we needed e steadicam that can hold more much weight than those steadicams we used to have. So, we decided to give it a try to this steadicam. So, the steadicam arrived, and we have used it two events now, and we are satisfied with the results. We use it with vest and arm. The load we put on it is about 10 kilos.

I haven't had a chance yet to use it as much as I would like, but so far, so good! For the price, this product is amazing. Received exactly what the company promised, set up took less than half an hour and it works with my DSLR beautifully. Lots of extra weights, etc. Doesn't feel cheaply made and the ability to adjust the location of the handle made balancing it really easy.

Awesome product! Yes, it may come from China, but it definitely was developed with care and attention to detail. I saw several reviews and tutorials competing this product with the Flycam. Well, I learned that there is no reason to buy a GlideCam. It is way more expensive, and it is poorly designed. Again, this product looks like if it was developed by Canon. Incredibly clean, beautifully designed.