At first glanceThe Curve is sleek and simple in design. It’s obvious that it’s meant for easy portability/pocket-ability. It only weighs a half pound and is made to be operated with only one hand. It is the first Steadicam product that I have picked up and instantly felt at ease with it. Right away, I was instantly impressed with the usability of the device.
The Steadicam Curve is so light that you can just use your index finger and thumb from your grip hand to feather the balance and rotation at the base of the unit. What’s more, is that the control is intuitive and has a much lower learning curve than DSLR-sized units from both Steadicam and Glidecam.
The Curve has a built-in mount that works with the HERO, HERO2 and HERO3 cameras
To shoot with the Curve, you just grab the handle with the bottom three fingers of one hand, then lightly hold the rubberized swivel collar on the underside of the camera mount between your thumb and forefinger – bigger-handed users can also just hold the handle in one hand, and pinch the collar with the fingers of the other.
Operating the collar allows you to pan or tilt the Curve/camera relative to the handle, but more importantly it also lets you keep it from doing so on its own, due to inertia or wind. The latter is particularly a factor, as the Curve has a tendency to turn like a wind vane if not stopped from doing so. The challenge lies in maintaining enough finger pressure to keep control of the thing, while not applying so much that your hand tremors get transmitted through your fingers – it’s definitely a skill that requires some practice, so don’t expect perfect footage as soon as you start using it.
One of the Curve’s drawback’s is the required use of the Hero 3 LCD Backpack in order to achieve good balance
Specs from Tiffen’s website:
- Colours: Black, Blue, Red, Purple & Silver.
- Mount: Uses existing GoPro®
- Hero® 2 & Hero® 3 mount
- Adjustable bottom weight
- Fine-tune knob
- Quick release handle lock for handgrip mode.
- Lightweight, durable aluminium frame
- Can be balanced with GoPro® LCD Screen.
- Product weight 1/2 lb (0.227kg)
Using the Curve in the field game me results that were much better than using a GoPro handheld.
It requires patience and practice to master pefect usage of the Stedicam Curve.
To all new Curve users, that practice makes perfect. Going out walking around your neighborhood, finding the side to side level to the front and back level is important for taking smooth videos.
Tiffen really did their homework I’d say.
Our verdict? SteadiCam Curve is deserving of 4 out of 5 unshakable stars!
Other video reviews: