The Best Steadicam For Sony A6000 Cameras!

Steadicam style manual camera stabilizers have been steadily increasing in popularity over the last few years and we are seeing a steady stream of people reaching out and asking for advice on the best Steadicam for Sony a6000 cameras. Now, a few years back, the obvious answer would be to pick up one of the stabilizers from the Glidecam range but in our opinion, they are simply not worth their premium price tag anymore.

Their range has become stagnant over the last three to five years or so with little to no real innovation coming from them. In addition to this, a number of newer materials have been developed that competing brands have used to their advantage to make lighter, tougher, and cheaper Steadicams while Glidecam still has their premium price tag products that really are starting to show their age.

This is why we always recommend that our readers seriously consider adding the Flycam Redking to their collection of camera accessories when they are in the market for a manual Steadicam camera stabilizer. We would imagine that the Redking would be able to meet the needs of a large number of our readers and save you a few hundred dollars when compared to purchasing something from the Glidecam range. Flycam has taken advantage of the various advancements in metal alloys and plastic polymers along with developments in gimbal technology to knock out one of the best manual stabilizers on the market right now.

In our opinion, it is able to provide very similar levels of image stabilization to products over double its price and it is no surprise that it has managed to win a large market share in a short time since its release. In addition to this, it has managed to quickly earn an excellent reputation for itself within the community that is still growing at a rapid pace.

Performance And Functionality

There is no doubt that even to this day, after all the new additions to the Sony Alpha range, the Sony a6000 is one of the most popular mirrorless cameras on the market right now. Thankfully, the 15.4-pound maximum load capacity of the Flycam Redking is easily enough to support the 0.76-pound weight of the camera body of the Sony a6000 even with a bunch of heavy camera accessories mounted to it.

This ensures that no matter what you use your a6000 for or what setup you run, the Redking will easily be able to support the payload weight of your camera rig. Additionally, if you do plan to upgrade to a heavier camera or add some heavier camera accessories to your collection in the future, the Redking will likely have the load capacity to support those upgrades too.

Another strong point is that you are able to use long, heavy lenses with your a6000 without having a problem with the center of gravity on the Redking too. This ensures that you are able to mix up your camera setup as required to get the video footage you need at the time while still having the excellent image stabilization that the stabilizer provides.

The clips in the video above show off exactly what you can expect when using the Flycam Redking as your go-to Steadicam style camera stabilizer of choice. The video offers an accurate representation of the butter smooth image stabilization that you can get for your Sony a6000 and how it is able to improve the level of image quality that you can capture.

As you may know, manual camera stabilizers like the Redking are well known for being able to provide you with excellent quality, natural-looking stabilization for your camera. Although modern motorized 3 axis gimbal stabilizers like the Zhiyun Weebill Lab are able to do the save with their manual and point of view modes, many motorized gimbals still have that slightly robotic feel them their footage.

As we mentioned above, in our opinion, the Redking is able to compete with Steadicams double its price when it comes to performance and the use of the latest materials available makes it blow most competing stabilizers out the water, especially at this price point. When you take all of this into consideration as well as its low price tag, you can see why it is such a popular unit and why so many people have posted excellent reviews of the Redking since its release.

User Interface And Control System

Now, unlike their motorized gimbal counterparts, manual camera stabilizers don’t really offer much in the way of a control interface as they are simply not needed. Unlike a motorized gimbal that is designed to provide image stabilization in a number of ways, products like the Flycam Redking have been designed to provide the best possible natural-looking image stabilization for the price.

Other than setting the stabilizer head as required and adjusting the central column as needed and actually balancing the unit that we will cover below, there really is not much for you to do. If you are looking to purchase your very first Steadicam style stabilizer for your Sony a6000 then the simplicity of the Redking is ideal.

Balancing

Now, we have previously typed out how to balance various gimbals and manual stabilizers that we have recommended to our readers and initial feedback was that it was a little confusing. These days we simply share a YouTube video like the one above that shows you a step by step balance procedure on the item. We feel that this is the easiest way to show how easy it is to balance the Redking and the whole process is covered in the user manual that comes with the stabilizer anyway.

If this is your first stabilizer then we understand that the balancing procedure can sometimes seem a little daunting but Flycams system has been designed to be as quick and easy as possible. Although we would imagine that simply following the process as explained in the user manual will ensure you can work your way through balancing the stabilizer, there are a bunch of YouTube tutorials available too.

Build Quality And Design

Now, as we mentioned back at the start of the article, Flycam has used advancements in manufacturing and materials over the last few years to their advantage to essentially create a product that is just as good as higher price point products while being much cheaper. The majority of the body and base plate of the stabilizer on the Redking is made from the highest possible quality of CNC machined aluminum to ensure that it is as tough as possible while also being light.

As you may have to hold the weight of the Redking with your Sony a6000 camera rig mounted to it for long periods of time, its lightweight is a godsend and can really help make your life easier. It helps to ensure that you can use your Steadicam for as long as needed without your hand, arm, or shoulder starting to ache or crame up during use.

The tough nature of the Redking also ensures that the unit is going to be able to take all of the bumps and knocks coming its way without issue too. Additionally, if you are working in a videography or vlogging niche where you have to travel a whole bunch then the robust nature of the Steadicam ensures it can take bumps while in transit too.

Flycam have also licenced the Manfrotto dovetail quick release plate system for use on the Redking too. This ensures that you are able to quickly and easily hot-swap your Sony a6000 between your Steadicam and any other compatible camera accessories that you own. For example, during a videography session, you may know that you will need to use your a6000 on your Steadicam, a motorized gimbal, and a tripod. If they all use the Manfrotto quick release plate system then you are able to quickly switch between them within seconds.

Now, we don’t actually consider this a major negative but as there really isn’t a major bad point about the Redking, we have had to be picky as we always try to show the negatives of the products that we recommend. We know that this is nit-picky but the handle grip on the stabilizers handle can rotate when being held. Although your camera rig is safe and it has little to no effect on your image quality until you get used to this happening it can give you a shock as it feels as if the handle has come off the Redking causing your a6000 to fall to the ground.

We know that it is a minor thing but the Redking is a great product and Flycam has done a solid job with it so there really aren’t many negatives to report. Due to the lightweight of the Sony a6000 and the popular camera rigs used with the Sony Alpha range, chances are that this may not happen for you as it tends to only happen with the heavier camera rigs anyway. Even if the handle grip does rotate for you, a few drops of superglue around the top and bottom of the grip seems to stop the issue anyway.

The actual handle grip itself is really comfortable though allowing you to grip the Redking with ease. So many manual camera stabilizers at this price point have a hard grip that can cause problems when it comes to holding your rig for long sessions. Due to the comfortable handle on the Redking, this is not an issue.

Our Verdict

That brings our article going over what we feel is the best Steadicam for Sony a6000 cameras to an end and although it is a short one, there really isn’t much you can say about a Steadicam style camera stabilizer. Anyway, depending on your needs, you may have to go with a stabilizer from the Glidecam range but in our opinion, you should definatley check to see if the Flycam Redking is able to meet your needs.

We would imagine that a large number of our readers will be able to use the Redking and get everything that they need from it while potentially saving hundreds of dollars on what a Glidecam unit would cost. Additionally, the Redking has a bunch of glowing independent reviews that you can read that offer a great external insight into the performance of the unit that are definatley worth reading.