Browsing Category Wondlan Pegasus II DV Stabilizer

These are first hand tests and reviews of the Wondlan Pegasus II DV Stabilizer on the Panasonic GH1

Pegasus II First Impressions

It was a sweltering hot humid day in Philadelphia, not the kind of day to be shooting outside not unless you want to be dripping wet with sweat. Because of the heat factor, I was forced to do my first tests indoors at a local community arts center called the Asian Arts Initiative. I'm the Technical Director and work part time with adults and youth teaching theater and video programs.

Today, they had a youth lounge where youth have open space to focus on their craft. I was fortunate enough to be able to sit in on the youth B-Boy (Break dancers) crew, The Dreamers as they honed their b-boy skills and I thought this would also be a perfect opportunity to see the Pegasus II in action with the GH1.

For this preliminary test, I wanted to use the lowest common denominator and set the GH1 on its (iA) auto settings using the stock 14-140 lens because I knew the camera and Pegasus II would be in the hands of other youth who have never used a steadicam or a camera like the GH1. In that way, we could test if put in the hands of a complete novice is the Pegasus II and GH1 easy to use and can you still get some decent footage even when using default automatic settings? All the footage was shot at 1080/24P AVCHD with pull down removed via NeoScene.

It was important for me to just keep things raw including the audio in order to see what's working well and what's not.

Here are my initial observations of the Pegasus II with the GH1:

(+) Plus Side

Over all I have to say the Pegasus II and the GH1 make a nice pair. To shoot a B-boy crew you have to be able to move the camera at different levels and move out of the way if necessary. And you have to be unobtrusive. If you had a large rig then I think they would feel the pressure of feeling like they had to be “on” and perform well and in most cases what usually happens is that they are not as relaxed and won't do as good of a job.

For the small size of the Pegasus II and the GH1 there were only a couple times when the guys looked at the camera with the awareness of “oh, I’m being filmed!” but for the most part The Dreamers could be themselves. I think this is a key factor in doing documentary work and the low profile attributes of the GH1 and Pegasus II help in that regard. In fact, since the Pegasus II can easily breakdown and is compact I threw it into my messenger bag rather than using the case provided. It’s always a big plus for me to not have to worry about lugging around another piece of gear that may potentially get lost.

Overall, the nice thing I noticed was that it did not feel heavy and you were able to shoot for longer periods of time with out getting tired. It still takes some getting used to and there’s still weight on it so you will get tired. But I think for the hour and a half that I shot, it was very nice to know that at the end of the day my unfit body didn’t feel strained in any way from the shoot.

The quality of the Pegasus II is very good. When I looked at the gear it reminded me of the kind of quality and machine work that I received with my previous Letus gear. It seems that little by little the Chinese manufactures are getting better at creating quality products. Even the gimbal system was a nice surprise. It was one of the functions of the unit that in pictures gave me a little pause because the design looked like it was made with a threaded bolt going into a metal joint but in use, at least with the GH1, it seemed to work surprisingly well.

(>) Challenges

Using any kind of video stabilizer definitely needs some getting used to and this is no exception.

Partly do to this was Wondlan’s first units to have English instructions, the translations still need to be worked on to so I had to follow the visual cues from the DVD that was provided. It did take me a little longer than I had expected to get started but hopefully I can provide a few tips for those who do pick up the Pegasus II when using the GH1.
I'm still working on optimizing the balance of the GH1 unit and it seems to me that when using the Pegasus II you are constantly adjusting and optimizing the balance of the camera depending on what you are shooting. And in my case, where we were shooting a group of dancers that were dancing low to the ground, I needed to use the front and back adjusting knob many times to move the position of the GH1 to get better ground coverage. But the front-back locking lever which releases the plate is awkwardly placed just below where the GH1 sits and the left-right fine adjusting knobs get in the way of unlocking and locking the plate.

Making right to left adjustments is easy on the fly but getting that front and back adjustment on the fly, you have to stop shooting. I think Wondlan can easily resolve this by changing the position of the right and left adjusting levers and making the front-back adjusting knob and locking knobs bigger and more durable so that you don’t have to stop shooting to make a front to back plate adjustment.

Also, it may be just my unit, but if you don’t loosen the front to back locking wrench all the way then it’s a little tricky to slide the plate into place. I actually don’t mind this too much because it’s a nice safety precaution. There were a few times where I was making a front to back adjustment and released the locking mechanism too far so the plate just tipped far forward and in that moment I thought, “There goes my new GH1 camera!!!” But the locking lever saved me because it has to be released almost completely out before the plate can slide freely.

As you all probably know using a stabilizer, you are reduced to not touching the lens, if you do then you will notice camera shake big time, making your footage a little buoyant looking like you were a ship lost at sea. The Pegasis II gimbal system is rather sensitive probably because the GH1 is a pretty small camera. You have to use your other hand to guide the camera ever so slightly so that your movements don’t send the camera pointing to the wrong direction. Placing a hand on the GH1 fold out viewfinder actually helps in that regard as well as obviously not creating any fast jerky movements.

(?) Keep it or Sell it

From my initial first tests with the GH1 the Pegasus II is definitely a keeper. I've used a steadicam and with a steadicam you have much more control and ability to finesse your shot but you literally have to be rigged up which takes time not to mention it can get heavy after a while. Obviously, there's a huge price difference and if you want true steadicam footage then get a real steadicam or merlin but for roughly about a little over $300 when you add shipping costs from China you have a really great low profile, stick in your small backpack, “mini steadicam”.

As a documentary filmmaker, this is a great tool for stealthy situations and for those narrative movies where you are shooting in public spaces it doesn’t draw too much attention. And for event shooting well it’s one thing you can throw and fit in your tripod bag and may be a nice option if you don’t like the monopod and like to be roaming about.
Again, these are initial tests I’ll be doing a few more tests with the unit but all in all its a pretty impressive piece of gear especially for the price. Thanks for looking and hope this information is giving folks some options and things to consider when shooting with new DSLRs like the GH1.

Notes on 1080/24P AVCHD-

So some of you may have seen the earlier versions of this footage. It looked like crap! Lot's of macroblocking and compression issues. After hours of testing with the Cineform (422) MOV container I noticed that FCP was seeing the clips as having a framerate of 59.94 as if the pulldown was never removed. So instead, I used the Prores MOV container and FCP sees the clips as 23.98 and the footage is so much cleaner. Seeing the H.264 footage even compressed looks clean. I'm still trying to figure out what the problem is with the Cineform (422) MOV container footage but for those who are using the GH1 and filming dancers with lots of movement I think despite the file size the quality of the Prores MOV container is much better.

Pegasus II Jump Test

One of the members over at DVXUser asked me to do a simple test with the Pegasus II, a jump test as well as a test to show some simple panning left to right with the Pegasus rebalanced with more weights I thought I'd show the results here. I also added a brisk back and forth walk test. This was shot on the upstairs Mezzanine level of the Asian Arts Initiative. The safety railing looks a little off and one might think the camera was not properly balanced but the building is old and the floor is not exactly level. Just thought I'd let you know that in case you were wondering.

I have not found the ideal balance of the weights of the Pegasus II system yet but I am getting close. My feeling over all is that if you are shooting and doing simple to moderate tracking movements you should be able to capture some real nice results using the Pegasus II. As I stated in my previous post, practice and a little anticipation will help capture more intricate movements but overall you will get the bobbing head of the camera effect as it tries to move back into position from a quick move. Unless you are able to use your free hand to guide the camera, running or even fast walking does not seem like a reality with this unit as you can see from the clip. Still though, with the new weights it is much more fluid and has a significant amount of control.

As with any piece of gear, my feeling is that there are some limitations using the Pegasus II. You just have to work within these limitations in order to get consistent results. Also, something that I think all GH1 users have to deal with is using the stock lens and autofocus when using a video stabilizer. As you can see from the clip, the auto focus kicks in and out especially in low light situations or fast movement.

Pegasus II on GH1 More Weight

With the help of a few folks at DVXUser and also from Frederick Cheung distributor for Wondlan products, I was able to balance the Pegasus II unit better by adding some additional weights. I still don't think I have it right exactly because when doing the push-front pull-back test that Wondlan recommends the camera still dips down and back up. But rather than spend all day figuring out the best setting I readjusted the weight as best as I could and quickly went to shoot the opening reception of "Furious Style!" involving New York based visual artist Jeff Cylkowski.

This first set of clips was part B of the initial test of the Pegasus II DV Stabilizer which includes some tracking shots and skater footage.

Pegasus II DV Stabilizer with the GH1 – Tracking & Skate Test – 1080/24P AVCHD from Gary San Angel

You'll notice in the footage that the The Pegasus II unit was not weighted down enough so it does sway side to side or up and down a bit and unfortunately because of this problem the skater footage was really bad so what I have attached on the tail end of this footage are just the usable shots.

All this footage was shot at the Asian Arts Initiative, a community arts center in Philadelphia and the youth are participating in the Youth Lounge where students can come on a Tuesday or Thursday to hang out and develop their own skills in their own discipline or to learn something new.

The footage was shot at 1080/24P and for days I was having tremendous problems getting NeoScene to transcode the footage on a MAC using the Cineform (422) MOV quicktime container. I've figured out some possible workarounds. For now, I'd say when you use the cineform container always set it to best and don't work from a preset there seems to be a bug where sometimes the clips transcode without changing the framerate to 23.98.

This is test shoot #2 using the Pegasus II with the GH1.

Pegasus II DV Stabilizer with the GH1 – More Weights! – 1080/24P AVCHD from Gary San Angel

As I said, I had to shoot some B-roll and document "Furious Style!," a youth-centered exhibition led by NYC based artist Jeff Cylkowski at the Asian Arts Initiative.
Kaitin Dugan, who is one of my students in our Tech Apprenticeship program guides us on a tour of the artwork and theater space in this clip. You'll see some artwork, very enthusiastic youth who love to be on camera and Jeff the artist and instructor as he talks a little bit about the work.

These clips are all raw. Again, this is just for the purposes of showing the Pegasus II at work in a typical event type shoot. The audio was recorded from the camera. It sucks. Actually, when the subject is close to the camera and there is no competing noise it's usable but when we went into the gallery space with the crowd and DJ music playing, the voice gets lost.

At least for those who are looking at using the GH1 as a documentary type camera or event camera you can see what is usable camera audio and what is clearly not.
Also, I Ieft the clip long so you can shuttle threw it and see the Pegasus II and it's use over a period of time. Walking though a crowd, walking up stairs, it did pretty well.
There were a few spots with a fast turn or so that gravity made the camera sway but for the most part the extra weight helped. I still think I can get some better settings and tweak the weights a little more.

For the most part the Pegasus II will sway from right to left or up and down if the movement is sudden or jerky. As long as it's not that, the Pegasus II was was much better and the camera was able to move to where I needed it to go. The nice thing I noticed this time around is that I could move and track Kaitlin's movement as she walked though the gallery and the crowd with out having to use my other hand to turn the camera.

There is definitely a way where if you work with the gimbal long enough you can counter balance and move the handle to the right place before the camera head starts to turn or sway. Practice and anticipation is the name of the game here.

I think on the second shoot with the Pegasus II I'm still pretty happy with the results especially with the price point. Sure a steadicam has a lot more control, steadyness, and flexibility. There's no question. If you really need a steadicam shot that requires you to be doing sudden changes and moves this unit will take time to learn in order to achieve that level of precision. If you need a steadicam type unit that is compact and can give you some great stability with out a lot of fatigue I think this unit delivers that.
Personally, I'm glad to be able to have some test shoots with the unit before doing a real shoot. I think the Pegasus II does need practice so that you can create your own workarounds for shots that may require the operator to move quickly.

Jeff Cylkowski – Skater Shot

So after my first test with the GH1 I realized that there was a lot of sway and I needed to correctly balance the camera with the appropriate amount of weights on the Pegasus II.
Now with the Pegasus II optimized with the appropriate weights and with me practicing with the unit for like an hour a day for a week, I decided to give it another go and see if it would be possible to do use the Pegasus II on the GH1 for skate footage. I had done a previous test with some brisk walking and jumping the night before and there was still some sway to the footage so I adjusted my weights again and this is the new results so far.

Jeff Cylkowski, visual artist in residence at the Asian Arts Initiative, was kind enough to let me film him doing a couple skate board runs this past week one very hot and humid Philly evening as the sun was coming down. The first tracking shot of Jeff heading toward the sun, I was following him with a slight jog. The camera did have a little dip here and there but overall much much better than the first skater footage that I posted earlier. The second tracking shot of Jeff was just an all out let's just see what happens if I run with the Pegasus II and GH1 on the street along side of him. I honestly was not expecting much but when reviewing the tape I was really shocked at how well the Pegasus II did with the new weight system and me being more comfortable with the unit. Again, I was doing my best to balance the camera and run and keep up with Jeff all at the same time. I think if we had a few more tries we may have been able to get a good solid take but it was so hot out there we had to call it. Only downside was that the AF on the camera could not track Jeff. He was moving pretty fast and so the AF clearly loses focus especially toward the end of the run.

Overall, the Pegasus II really has a lot going for it and even with its limitations is a pretty great tool to have in your arsenal. Already for me its so necessary to shoot with the Pegasus II because any camera shake is just magnified on the GH1 so even a little sway here and there from the Pegasus II is so much better than shooting hand held.
If you look at the second run, you'll see my shadow and reflection in the store windows. I'm pretty much running! It's crazy!

Makoto Hirano – Elemental Dance Take 1 & 2

I've been very fortunate to know Makoto Hirano over the years and to see his work grow. When I approached him about doing some tests with the GH1 and the Pegasus II I thought it would be a wonderful way to collaborate and to help him document and explore his newest solo creation "Boom Bap Tourism" which he recently performed at the Asian Arts Initiative. Actually for many years, I've seen Makoto perform with his own company of dancers, OMNiBUS, as well as with Bill Irwin, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Nichole Canuso Dance Company, Kate Watson-Wallace, and others. This was the first time in a long while that I saw Makoto perform solo and it is truly an amazing treat to see live and in person and I wanted to investigate and see whether we could capture some of the essence of his live work within a film context.

Years ago, I used to do a lot of physical theater and abstract movement when my body was agile and I was physically fit so it was nice to bring some of those sensibilities with me in this shoot. Joseph Santarromana, a well known California based installation and video artist, once told me that he would tell his students when filming dance to move with the camera and to have that camera be an extension of your body. When filming Makoto, I found myself taking Joe's advice and really dancing with Makoto and feeling out his emotional journey in each piece. Each time Makoto performed it was different and unique. We never scripted or talked about the shots we just sort of rode the moment. Each take is sort of a living memory of that experience and it will never be performed in that way again and I think that is why I wanted to post the process to show not only the technical use of the Pegasus II and GH1 but also how we as filmmakers must throw out the technical aspects and limitations and just allow for that organic process of collaboration between subject and viewer to naturally unfold. Obviously in doing these types of shoots, you got to practice and learn the plusses and minuses of your gear so that when it comes to that real take it's already in your body and not your head.

In the documentation of dance, usually, dancers and choreographers want to see the whole movement and space and prefer a much wider shot. I find that most filmmakers, including myself, like that tighter look to see the emotion and facial expression as well as to capture strong intimate movement. So in many respects, the clips in this test capture more of a tighter feel and what I was also feeling in the moment as the viewer of the piece. If I were recording the work for Makoto to view and study, I would definitely have gone for wider shots. But since we also had the Pegasus II to test out it was my goal to see how we can use it well and push it to see what it could do.
Clearly Makoto's influences as a B-Boy, break dancer are present especially in "Elemental Dance" where he merges B-Boy elements with everyday pedestrian-like body movements as well as organic abstraction.

Here is a version that mixes segments from Take 1 and Take 2.

One of the challenges of course was that each take was a little different and "Elemental Dance" had very specific movements that were coordinated with the beat of the sound track so it was tricky to keep the continuity. Overall, it's interesting how each take and even this mix takes the piece to a different place. In looking at the footage, you'll notice that it does sway and bounce a little definitely much less than when I first started shooting. The nice thing is when you have someone like Makoto who really pulls you in, the slight sways and bounces are not going to be noticeable to the everyday viewer. To us DPs and gear heads that's the first thing our eye goes to. Everyone else was pretty drawn into watching Makoto's intensity and movement. Overall, it's really nice to see how the Pegasus II can be used for many types of shooting situations and it is definitely a go to piece of gear not just for the "steadicam" look but also for just everyday stabilization with the GH1.

If and when Wondlan creates a Pegasus III geared for the DSLR market here are a few things that I hope they could integrate for the future.

Wondlan Pegasus III Wish List:

I definitely would want to be able to turn the handle from a vertical position to a completely horizontal position. Currently, you can only turn the gimbal handle half way between a vertical and horizontal position. In order to get lower body movement or a subject that is low to the ground you need to physically bend down pretty low to the ground which is really difficult to do. Also, when you place the handle in that slightly horizonal position the handle completely rests on the gimbal system frame and not the spring and you lose it's steadicam abilities.

I wish there was a way to adjust the tension of the gimbal in terms of it's side to side and up and down movement. If there was some king of tension screw that you could tighten or loosen it would help with the use of the Pegasus II in different shooting scenarios. If you need to move a round a bit, a feature like this would help keep the camera head from drifting to the right or the left all the time.

As I said in an earlier review, I think the unit needs to be slightly modified to work with DSLRs, possibly having a longer plate to set the balance as well as a little bit of a space cushion between the plate and the camera. Currently, the stock lens sits pretty darn close to the plate. One user on DVXuser forum used metal washers from Home Depot to give a little cushion between the camera and the plate.

I've used a little chopstick to wedge between the plate if I need to move the camera or if I need to just stabilize the shot better. It would be nice to have a very tiny grip handle that we could connect to the back of the plate in case you need that extra bit of guidance. I find that touching the camera creates a little more camera shake.

The front to back locking knob sits right above the left-right fine adjusting knob and one of these knobs needs to move to a different spot. Currently, I have to move the left-right adjusting knob all the way to the left before I can loosen the front to back locking knob before mounting the unit and it's a little bit of a pain.

Makoto Hirano – Elemental Dance Take 2

I think I personally was stronger as a camera operator on Take 2. I definitely got a better handle on how to really work the Pegasus II on that take. As I said many, many times before it takes a lot of practice to know how to balance the camera so that you can move and get the camera to go in the direction that you want with as little bounce as possible. Especially when filming dance with a Pegasus II unit you need to be moving all the time. Over all, on both takes I tried as little as possible to guide my camera with my free hand and to just balance and move the camera with my hand holding the gimbal.

Here is Take 2 of Makoto Hirano's "Elemental Dance"

Makoto Hirano – Life Dance Take 1 & 2

This is an edited version of "Life Dance" by dancer / choreographer Makoto Hirano shot with the Pansasonic GH1 and the Pegasus II DV stabilizer using the stock 14-140 lens in (iA) mode.

This version of "Life Dance" combines both takes that we did at the Asian Arts Initiative theater. The 2nd Take was better as a whole and I kept it in it's entirety. The 1st take I was a little tentative at first and also accidentally brushed up against Makoto so the camera spun but as the piece went a long I got my momentum and still captured some interesting and powerful moments of this very simple and amazing piece. I shot with the Variable ND filter and so I set the filter so that the image is a tad darker on the 1st take than on the 2nd Take. That's how you'll know which take it was. In retrospect, I should not have adjusted the Variable ND filter so that both takes would match up. Also, you'll notice that at 14mm my lens hood starts to show on the edge of the frame. Just something to be aware about. It seems that at 17mm the lens hood doesn't show but I felt I needed the shorter focal length to capture as much full body movement as possible. It would be really nice to have that 7-14mm Panasonic m4/3 lens it would really help to capture the full body movement but I don't know it's abilities to have full functionality with all the auto features in the GH1. I think that will definitely be my next lens to try out. Especially, when moving using the Pegasus II you need that extra bit of coverage and it helps to mask that slight bit of camera sway that is still inevitable using any camera stabilizer.

Overall, I combined the best moments from each take and in some small way we get a sense of Makoto's struggle a bit more especially when he starts to fall to the ground during the later half of the piece. Many of those shots are from the 1st take and it's nice to get that perspective and to give it an almost two camera shoot feel.

This version of "Life Dance" was from the "Boom Bap Tourism" performed at the Asian Arts Initiative on August 7, 2009.

Creator/Performer: Makoto Hirano

Project Mentor: Hellmut Gottschild

Dramaturg: Andrew Simonet

Sound Designer: Mikaal Sulaiman with additional engineering and composition by Dan Giraldo

Videographer: Gary San Angel

BBT is made possible through an Independence Foundation Fellowship

Co-production support from the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater,

Yoga Sutra Philadelphia, and Asian Arts Initiative.

Makoto Hirano – Life Dance Take 2

I am very grateful to dancer/choreographer Makoto Hirano for being open to filming an excerpt of his new solo work, "Boom Bap Tourism" which he performed a workshop presentation recently at the Asian Arts Initiative and is one of the best solo performance pieces I have seen in years. It's a personal autobiographical journey through dance, performance, spoken word, and a few elements of spontaneous neofuturist unpredictability.

"Life Dance" is an excerpt of that work and this is the second take that we did using the Pegasus II and the GH1. This test was to see how well the Pegasus II and the GH1 would be in the documentation of dance, performance, and theater events. Obviously in this particular case, we were documenting the piece intimately not as live theater but as dance performance for film. So my goal as DP/Camera operator was to really dance with Makoto and ride the journey that he was on. We didn't script where he was going to stand but since this was our second take I had a better sense of anticipating his movement. It was still rather organic and it was really nice to be able to have the Pegasus II and the GH1 work in concert together.

There were a few bounces, slight sways, and a few auto focus tracking issues but the stability of the Pegasus II is much better now that it is weighted properly. I'm just really happy with the results despite the few flaws. So it's exciting results and I think many people will be able to use this little mini Pegasus II steadicam device for so many kinds of shoots. I hope this is just an example of one of the many possibilities.

By the way, the sound design by Mikaal Sulaiman is so integral to this piece and is just amazing.

This version of "Life Dance" was from the "Boom Bap Tourism" performed at the Asian Arts Initiative on August 7, 2009.

Creator/Performer: Makoto Hirano

Project Mentor: Hellmut Gottschild

Dramaturg: Andrew Simonet

Sound Designer: Mikaal Sulaiman with additional engineering and composition by Dan Giraldo

Videographer: Gary San Angel

BBT is made possible through an Independence Foundation Fellowship

Co-production support from the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater,

Yoga Sutra Philadelphia, and Asian Arts Initiative.

Pegasus II on GH1 tips

Good news!

After working with the Pegasus II and trying many, many, many configurations. I think I may have something that works pretty well. I spent maybe like six hours today looking at Steadicam Merlin videos, Hague videos, going back to the Pegasus II manual and videos and figuring out what the hell am I doing wrong that is making this unit sway!!

1st Test with the Pegasus II I had used very little weight and you can see in the footage the camera begins to wander both in the B-Boy and skater footage.
2nd Test the tour guide footage was better. It was weighted very heavily and for the most part it did fine but there was still control issues.

Basically here is what I found:

The actual weight of the lens and GH1 is close to about 940 grams so to apply the 1:3 ratio that is needed to balance the camera on the Pegasus II then we would need about 313 grams of weight. What I noticed in looking at Steadicam Merlin footage is that all the weights were similar in size so that got me thinking.
The Pegasus II comes with a big 250gram unit which I assumed to use first but somehow this larger weight did not balance the unit properly so you would have that buoyant effect. Luckily, the Pegasus II comes with smaller weights and are similar in size. When I did the recommended "push-front pull-back test" each time I did it the unit would tip or sway but this time since I used the smaller weights and it was very steady. YES!! Finally!! So don't use the big 250g weight use the small weights.

Here's what worked for me:

2×1 (100g) 1×1 (50g) 1×1 (25g)

275g of total additional weight to place on the Pegasus II

Also it’s important to note that the GH1 should be secured not in the middle or front of the plate but at the back end of the plate that way the unit can balance better. I have the unit set at (-3) from zero so the plate is just a little off from center.
Now when you do the "push-front pull-back test", it’s important to engage the spring of the gimbal in the handle before you do the test. Feel the spring and let the camera and Pegasus II achieve balance, then push the camera forward and pull back on a completely steady horizontal plane. The unit should stay completely steady the whole time.
I put a chopstick and wedged it into the back of the plate so I would have the ability to turn the camera as I’m using the Pegasus II. The skinny Japanese wooden chopsticks work the best because they are light weight and have a skinny point at the tip to wedge into the plate.

Panasonic GH1 with Pegasus II DV Stabilizer and a skinny chopstick!

Wondlan Pegasus II

Wondlan is a company based in China whose motto is "shoot movies yourself". They manufacturer a line of video camera products including stabilizers that focus on quality products for the budget filmmaker. Though their main market is focused in China and Asia I think they are now turning more seriously at selling their products to buyers in North America and Europe.

I've been looking for an inexpensive "mini steadicam" for the GH1 and came across the Pegasus II on ebay. It looked like it would be a good match for the GH1's small form factor so I approached Frederic Cheung, who is a retailer for Wondlan on ebay (seller name orpheus_c) based in Hong Kong and purchased one from him. Don't let the small feedback score scare you off. Frederic was very personable and communicated with me very well with a very good command of the English language. He shipped my unit on Saturday and I received the Pegasus II Monday afternoon. I was shocked how fast it got to me. That was the fastest that I ever received anything from China. Most of my adapter mounts that I picked up from China take at least two to three weeks to get to the U.S. So I was literally shocked to see the Pegasus II arrive at my doorstep in three days time.

Apparently, there's a special going on for the month of August for UPS shipments from Hong Kong to the U.S. and Frederic Cheung was able to jump on this shipping deal for me. So for those who are thinking of needing a Pegasus II this is a good time to get one while this special from UPS is still going on. One of the main things I was worried about was that I would have to pay a duty fee because it was an international shipment. I know a lot of used video gear that I've sold in Canada, Korea, and France all have duty fees attached and most buyers request to reduce the value of the item to $10 U.S dollars in order not to pay for the fees. However, Frederick valued the Pegasus II at the full cost of the unit so I was expecting to get slammed additional duty fees. But I received my product from UPS with no such fee (Whew!) and had no nightmare customs issues of any kind.

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