VariZoom VZPROLITE - Manual (Page 3)

Page 4
First, insert the charged battery into its housing and plug in
the connector cable, then tighten the screws. To prepare
the camera for attachment to the sled you should first find
the center of gravity (CG) of the camera. The CG is the
point at which the camera will balance best, and it can be
determined by using a rounded object such as a pencil. Set
the camera lengthwise on top of the pencil so that it is
balanced to find the lateral center (side-to-side), and then
set it on top of the pencil in a perpendicular orientation to
find the longitudinal center (front-to-back). The spot where
the lateral and longitudinal centers intersect is the CG – you
may want to mark it with a grease pencil or marker
(depending on how pristine you want to keep your camera).
Once the CG is determined, you must mount the camera to
the dovetail (mounting plate) using a hole that will put the
CG closest to the center of the mounting platform. Look at
the bottom of the dovetail, and on one side you will see a
metal rack of teeth and on the other side a pair of sloped
end stops. When you attach the dovetail to the camera, you
want the rack to be on the same side as the LCD panel /
viewfinder so that it will line up with the brass pinion gear in
the dovetail channel of the stage.
Page 9
You will want to play with the independent adjustments of
each arm section until you get the right cumulative force, but
it’s probably not a good idea to have one section fully
tensioned and the other totally slackened. There should be
some degree of balance between the two sections, but the
lower arm section does bear more weight, so the individual
adjustments will likely be different. Set the adjusters until
the camera base floats at a level below your collarbone, but
the arm should not feel ‘mushy’.
The float point is not necessarily an exact setting, and you
may find that what works for you is slightly different than
another person’s preferred float point. The important thing
is the end result: you have a sled that rises and falls with
slight force and absorbs most of the shock imparted by
walking.
Now you should be able to turn on the monitor and begin
practicing, assuming the battery is charged. You may need
to adjust the balance slightly after positioning the monitor.
Dovetail lock
Locking
Pin
Longitudinal adjustment
Lateral adjustment