Cine Gear 2025 / Vol.02
It was heavy and cold, and the moment I picked it up, I felt a sharp pain in my lower back and couldn’t move a single step. “It’s not something I can handle.” That was my first experience with a Steadicam. I remember it from a certain broadcasting equipment exhibition more than 20 years ago. 10 years later, thanks to the help of many senior operators and the technology and products of Steadicam that continue to evolve every year, I was able to open the door to becoming an operator, something I was unable to do more than 10 years ago.
Fast forward another 10 years and it’s now 2025. Having gained experience using Steadicam in various locations, I decided to set foot on Los Angeles soil for the first time when I heard that the long-awaited new Steadicam would be exhibited at the Cine Gear LA Expo. In this article, I will introduce the exhibition held at Universal Studios for two days from June 7th to 8th, 2025 from the perspective of a Steadicam operator.
Tiffen releases new Volt system!
The Cine Gear LA Expo venue is an open set area about a 15-minute walk from Gate 4 where the reception is located. I headed to the booth of Tiffen, a company that manufactures Steadicam brand stabilizers, located near the center of the venue. The product that caught my eye was the VOLT 3, a 3-axis control type VOLT system whose prototype was released at last year’s Cine Gear LA.
Last year, Tiffen announced the Steadicam AXIS, an update to the Aero-30 rig that is equipped with a 3-axis Volt system. While the AXIS comes with a built-in 3-axis Volt system, the newly announced “VOLT3” system has a 3-axis control box attached to the side of the Steadicam M2 top stage, and a newly designed Volt gimbal with added motor control in the Pan direction is mounted on the post, which is its main feature.
According to Tyson Galland, a Steadicam operator who was also involved in the development team for the VOLT3 system, the ability to electronically control the pan direction on a large rig like the M2 has made it possible to stably operate the previously difficult Don Juan (where the camera faces backward in the direction the operator is moving), as well as long high mode and long low mode using a three-section post.
There are almost no differences from AXIS, but you can set three Volt presets in advance (AXIS has two), and you can switch the control level with one touch depending on the situation during operation. The price is US$10,995 for early orders until June 30th, and the standard price will rise to US$12,995 after that.
In May of this year, the development team of the Steadicam Volt system won the 2025 Academy Scientific and Technical Award. We had the opportunity to talk to Steve Wagner (right) and Robert Orf (center), the two key engineers of that team, about the development of the system.
The difficulty in creating the VOLT system was to miniaturize the equipment while preventing electrical interference between the digital level with an added acceleration sensor and the mechanical device that controls the rig based on that. Steadicam developers Garrett Brown and Jerry Holway supervised the system, and they said that it was difficult to express the same inertial force (the weight you feel when swinging something heavy or long) as a normal Steadicam. The basis is still a normal Steadicam. This is said to be the biggest difference from other electronic gimbal systems.
GPI PRO stabilizer also updated
GPI PRO SYSTEMS, a stabilizer system with the same mechanism as Steadicam that is loved by many operators, also updated their equipment. The power connector area on the top stage was updated overall to meet current needs, and a 24V battery plate was added to the power junk box that is attached to the bottom of the post.
The newly developed monitor yoke can be mounted on the post or parallel to the battery plate, and the junk box also features a highly visible digital level for added convenience.
Super lightweight! Stabilizer arm made of rubber bands
Several Steadicam operators from Japan also came to Cine Gear LA. Among them, Yoshinobu Nagamori of SOG (Steadicam Operators Guild), Kenichi Oshino of SOG who lives in New York, and Hironori Sekimoto of NHK Technologies (pictured right) were interested in a lightweight stabilizer arm that supports the weight of the rig with rubber bands instead of springs.
The APOLLO arm provided by Germany’s ROCKET STABILIZER was jointly developed with ARRI and uses two types of rubber bands to adjust the tension, with a maximum load capacity of 77 pounds (35 kg). According to Mr. Nagamori, compared to conventional arms that use springs, “it allows for very seamless up and down movement.”
This arm uses two types of rubber bands. The thick ones can be adjusted in 1 pound increments, and the thin ones can be adjusted in 1/3 pound increments. The recommended temperature range is -15°C to 50°C. If the temperature difference is more than 20°C, the performance will decrease by 20%, so in that case it is recommended to change the rubber to match the temperature.
There was also a demonstration of the NB Arm from NB Stabilizer, which also uses rubber bands, combined with the Rock-a-bye rotating rig.
When I operated it myself, I could see that the light arm significantly reduced the burden on the operator.
The APOLLO arm mentioned above was only 2.89kg when I measured it on site! The NB arm was 3.6kg. For reference, the TIFFEN G70x2 arm, which has a similar load capacity, weighs 5.9kg, and even the lightest Steadicam arm I used on site, the Pilot arm (load capacity 6kg), weighed 2.4kg. The weight reduction of the arm alone significantly reduces the physical burden on the operator, so it goes without saying that the operator can concentrate on the camera’s composition and movement.
The trend in camera rigs is to reduce operator burden
Since I often shoot with ENG cameras in addition to Steadicam, a rig that reduces the burden of carrying a camera on your shoulder caught my eye.
Ergorig is designed like a Steadicam vest. When carrying a large cinema camera on your shoulder, you need to attach a shoulder pad, but with this rig, you can carry the camera on your shoulder without removing the base plate and without hurting your shoulder. When I tried it on, it felt like there was armor cover only on the shoulders. In reality, on the set of a drama, it is necessary to seamlessly switch between tripod, crane, and handheld camera settings, and I felt that it was very useful for that.
The Spanish SteadyGum rig uses a monopod leg attached to the V-lock, distributing the weight of the camera to the waist area, reducing the burden on the shoulders. The attachment is lightweight and easy to handle when changing batteries and media, so this is a rig that I would like to have.
The former is for film cameras, and the latter is for ENG cameras. Both can be rented from equipment rental stores in Japan, so if you’re interested, give them a try.
Summary
The development of equipment to reduce the burden on operators has remained unchanged throughout history. Most of them are aimed at experienced and skilled camera operators. Among them, the development of the Steadicam Volt system seems to be aimed in a different direction.
The day after Cine Gear LA, an event called Stabilizer EXPO was held at the Tiffen headquarters. In addition to the equipment exhibits similar to Cine Gear, there was a talk event by Volt operators, making it a real gathering of Steadicam operators.
Among the visitors were some young filmmakers who were handling a Steadicam for the first time. One of them was given a detailed explanation by the Tiffen staff and was able to test drive the VOLT3.
He is not blessed with a good physique, and rather, he could be described as delicate. Every step he took with the rig on his shoulders was heavy and unsteady. However, the instructor continued to cheer him up by saying, “Good! Keep it up!” And with the help of VOLT3, his shots were perfectly level and stable, just like a professional operator. I felt that this was a great evolution of Steadicam.
The development of Steadicam helped me 10 years ago, and it still opens the door for young people who want to enter this industry. The evolution of Steadicam, which has been awarded the second Academy Scientific and Technical Award since 1976 (for the development of the VOLT system), has taught many people the wonder of moving image shots. That was the first thing I felt through the Cine Gear LA Expo.
Originally written in Japanese by Tetsuo “TEZ” Suzuki | Profile
Mr. Suzuki is the CEO of Studio Iron Bell, a part-time lecturer in the Department of International Media at Tokyo International University, and a member of the Steadicam Operators Guild (SOG). In 2018, he was trained by Steadicam inventors Garrett Brown and Jerry Holway at the Fall Steadicam Workshop hosted by the Steadicam Operators Association (SOA) in the United States. In 2022, he translated and published the Japanese version of the Steadicam Operators Handbook. As a Steadicam/ENG camera operator, he participated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, and the Paris 2024 Olympics with the OBS Olympic Broadcasting Service.
