View Full Version : how do they keep those sticks so stable?
Hi guys. I was just curious - I've seen several youtubes where somebody is hiking a wilderness trail, with all the ups and downs, rocks, whatever - and they're holding a selfie stick out in front of them, or to the side - and the stick seems to be unnaturally stable. How do they do that?
orthofingers
07-14-2016, 09:02
Your hands and arms are just naturally good shock absorbers. Did you ever carry a too-full cup of coffee or tea and miraculously didn't spill a drop? If that same cup were on a shelf attached to your waist, most of it would end up on the floor.
Also, some video cameras (and, I believe, the video function on the iPhone 6s) has image stabilization built in. That helps a lot too.
if I'm carrying a too full cup of coffee, I'm walking real slow. Not the case in these videos. And I think image stabilizer helps keep the video from jumping, but , well, here's the video below that really brought this to my attention. This guy is walking at a good hiking pace, holding that stick, and the stick doesn't seem to bounce up or down one iota! (btw, I thought that vid was a GREAT PCT documentary)..
https://youtu.be/Gqi5SODj13E
Puddlefish
07-14-2016, 10:54
Your hands and arms are just naturally good shock absorbers. Did you ever carry a too-full cup of coffee or tea and miraculously didn't spill a drop? If that same cup were on a shelf attached to your waist, most of it would end up on the floor.
Also, some video cameras (and, I believe, the video function on the iPhone 6s) has image stabilization built in. That helps a lot too.
The trick to carrying a drink is to not look at it. The body balances pretty well until you start overthinking it.
Many of the recent phones (iPhone 5 up) and Camera's have stabilization capabilities built in. That plus some post editing software also helps to create a more stable environment than what actually may exist when originally filming.
Youtube also has a feature when you upload a video that says they can detect shaking in the video and asks if you want them to correct it. Don't know how it works though.
nsherry61
07-15-2016, 14:27
I'm always shocked at how stable my videos are that are taken with a selfie stick. No software or hardware stabilization tricks needed in many cases.
Youtube also has a feature when you upload a video that says they can detect shaking in the video and asks if you want them to correct it. Don't know how it works though.
This sounds like it might be what's going on.
pizzawizard
07-16-2016, 00:19
It helps to use a wide angle lens. The wider the angle, the less you will notice lens shake. A lot of people use go-pros which are have a very wide field of view.