I've been using the Merlin a bunch with the 5DII (and now 5DIII) and it's a superb product, but I'm struggling to get the control I really want from it. The problem, largely, seems to be inertia, and preventing side-to-side sway. There's no doubt that operator skill plays a huge part, but I've definitely plateaud in my ability to improve with it, and I practice a lot. So I'm considering a few different options. The obvious one is to upgrade to the Pilot - I can use my Merlin arm and vest by replacing the arm post, and the addition of the monitor and battery (even if I don't want to use it) will help the inertia question, as will the post length. Alternatively I could stick with the merlin and try adding stuff onto the camera to bulk up the weight, and have more counterbalance weights in play to keep it all more stable. I could also practice more. I'd love to hear from anyone who's gone from the Merlin to the Pilot (or even to the Flyer or Zephyr) and what your experiences were. I'd prefer not to hear from anyone who's going to try to sell me on Glidecam. Been there, tried that, if it works for you great, but it's not for me!
I think your second idea is a good way forward, at least it's cheaper than jumping up to the vest and worth doing before going up to the pilot, more weight will help inertia. I can't imagine the pilot vest helping you on your wedding shoots with you needing to be able to chop and change? More bulk brings more attention and you get nice natural moments from people when your discreet? My 2 cents
I'm already using the Merlin arm and vest and finding it improves things a ton over handheld. It's actually super easy to use at weddings. So the real question is whether the design of the pilot sled is going to yield big improvements over the Merlin design.
I'll probably get shot down in flames for this, but here goes: in Steadicam circles, there is a little talk about 'antlers' - added weight to either side of the central post to add a little mass to quieten down the propensity of lighter rigs to yaw (dynamic balance and all that). Especially with little cameras with sticky-out LCD panels, which can act as a one-sided sail. There is the Blackbird from Camera Motion Research - http://www.camotionllc.com/ - not in the pro league by any measure, but a step beyond the Merlin for larger cameras. It's designed to work on the Merlin Arm & Vest with an adaptor spigot, and reports are that it's an easier rig to work with for people who don't do this all the time. And at the bottom, there's Antlers! The Flyer was a little too much for a Z1 style camera, the Pilot (with a V-lock) was absolutely bang on. However, it was still a tool that you needed a few months of experience before you'd try it out on a shoot, and needed regular practice with. The Blackbird is more of an 'occasional' tool. BTW, I really have no position to comment other than an intense 3 days with Robin Thwaites's Steadicam course, but IIRC the pendulum effect means you're too bottom heavy. It's comforting to have a little bottom heaviness to ensure a straight horizon, but you have to correct for the lens to dip on a push forward and a rise on a stop using the appropriate fingertip pressure. That's where the Blackbird is supposed to be a little easier, as the head is (gasp!) a bit stiffer. Anathema to the steadicam way, but people who use it like it.
You'll never need antlers for a 5DII or a 5DIII, seriously. The problem is as mentioned, too bottom heavy. No need to "bulk up" the camera weight on a Merlin either, the 5D will fly perfectly as is. The "sweet spot" is "just barely" bottom heavy, not bottom heavy that just hangs straight up and down. Inertia problems are commonly a result of over control rather than weight issues. You need to use your control hand (your free hand) to keep a very light but firm (yes I know that sounds wrong) touch, bacisally anticipating the corrections before you need to make them. Any swaying, assuming you have your drop time close to optimum, can be easily stopped by slight friction with your thumb and index finger. Control of any Steadicam (or knock-off) is much the same as learning to ride a bike, you anticipate the corrections without even noticing ending too. I would venture to say you're concentrating so hard to avoid the problem that this is what is causing it. Relax, and concentrate on framing your shots rather than trying to control the Merlin, I'll bet you get better results right away. Over control is one of the main issues in using any stabilizer, and if you're running into that problem, moving up to a Pilot really isn't going to get you better results, it will take the weight off your arms, but you'll most likely still have the same problems. Try to fly your Merlin without noticing it, easy to say, but it does work. Then of course there is the "P" word, practice, you can never do that enough. Hope this might offer a bit of help, the Merlin is a great tool, just a pain to learn.
Update: I ended up renting the Pilot for a weekend and used it at two weddings. It was *much* easier to control than the Merlin and everything felt much much smoother and more in control. I know I still have a lot of practicing to do, but using the Pilot definitely raised the base quality level a lot. The main difference with the Pilot? Being able to move things around on the bottom spar to change dynamic balance. I didn't have time to even get true dynamic balance and the thing behaved much better than the Merlin. So, if anyone has a Pilot (sled only - already have the arm and vest) they're looking to sell, let me know. Ideally I'm trying to find one with broken/missing monitor and battery mount as I found it easier to use my smallHD mounted on the camera as my reference.
