The Ghost camera stabilizer minimizes the phantom shakes

The Ghost is a new motorized video camera stabilizing rig

When it comes to consumer/prosumer video camera stabilizing rigs, they fall into two main camps. You get the cheaper, purely-manual models like the Steadicam Smoothee, or more expensive, motorized units like the MōVI M10. Another product may soon be added to the latter group, in the form of Montana film-maker Jesse Spaulding’s creation, The Ghost.

Finding a professional-level Steadicam vest to be too heavy and cumbersome, Spaulding looked to a lighter system that he’d already built for getting aerial shots with his hexacopter. Several alterations later, it became The Ghost.

Like the M10, the carbon fiber rig features a top bar with handles on either end, which the camera, motors and other bits and pieces hang beneath. Electronically-activated brushless motors keep the camera stable on two of it axes, while panning is controlled manually by the user via a ball bearing joint – an update kit is apparently in the works, which will allow for motorized panning, too.

 The whole shebang weighs in at about 39 oz (1,105 g), and is intended for use with DSLRs or small camcorders weighing up to 3.5 lb (1,500 g). Its motors and other electronics are powered by an included 4,000 mAh battery, which should allow for 2.5 hours of run time per charge.

Jesse is currently raising production funds for The Ghost, on Kickstarter. A pledge of US$1,595 will get you a kit, while $1,995 is required for a fully-assembled unit, when and if they reach production.

Footage shot using The Ghost can be seen in the pitch video below.

Sources: Spaulding International Cinema, Kickstarter