Steadicam Ultra2 User manual

p/n LIT-257010-D
Gimbal: Ultra2®/Shadow™

2
The Gimbal &
Centering
The gimbal
The Ultra2® gimbal (also used on the
Shadow™series stabilizer) uses high-
precision and high load bearings, and
the body, yoke, and handle are precisely
registered to each other. The yoke’s
shape and contoured edges extends the
range of motion without interference and
promotes a better operating grip over a
wider range.
The operator can easily center the gimbal
in the eld – useful if you’ve taken apart
the gimbal for cleaning, taken a really
bad bump, etc.
Note: You might notice that
there is a small amount of
in and out “play” between
the handle that holds the
remote and the Y shaped
yoke. This is part of the
gimbal design and is
normal. In use, the play
disappears.

3
• Balance side to side and fore-aft as precisely as you can to get the post vertical. We
recommend you use a bubble level on the stage, and be sure that the tilting head is set
90oto the post (horizontal). Rotate the sled 90oso that the camera is aimed at along the
axis of the yoke handle, as shown in the right photo, above. Tweak the fore-aft balance
as precisely as you can, then do not touch the stage adjustments for the rest of the
procedure.
• Rotate the sled 90 degrees again, as shown below, and test for level. Rotate 180
degrees and test for level. If the sled is level, great. If not, use the “blue whale” tool
to loosen one of the two end caps 1/16 of a turn or so, and tighten the other one to the
same degree.
Centering the gimbal
• Place the gimbal on the docking stud (as you would for normal balancing), give
yourself a 3 to 4 second drop time, and aim the camera along a line through the two
bearings in the yoke, as shown in the left photo.
• If the sled does not hang perfectly level,
move the whole sled “uphill” with the
yoke bearings.
• If it gets worse, you chose the wrong
one to loosen! If it gets better, keep going
until it is perfect. Do not rebalance fore-
aft with the stage.
Adust the yoke bearings equally – i.e.
loosen one and tighten the other the same
amount - and do it in small increments.
A small warning: do not over-tighten the caps against the bearings, as this
will cause binding. Just tighten each cap down to touch the bearing. If the
bearing starts to bind, just back o one of the two end caps until the gimbal
is free again. The blue whale tool also makes it easy to take apart and clean
the gimbal if this ever becomes necessary.
Blue Whale Tool
Tip: We urge you to test
your gimbal’s centering
with a normal drop
time, and then with
progressively longer
drop times. Go slowly
and follow the procedure
closely, rebalancing
carefully and testing
everything as you go.
Before you adjust
anything, be sure it’s not
your balancing technique
that is causing the
problem, or a dangling
cable, anything loose on
the sled, or the wind. With
long drop times, the sled
is very sensitive to these
shifts and inuences.

4
The Tiffen Company, 90 Oser Avenue, Hauppauge, NY 11788
 631-273-2500•1-800-645-2522•www.tiffen.com
TiffenSteadicamOperations,2815WinonaAvenue,Burbank,CA91504
 Phone:818-843-4600•818-843-8321
© The Tiffen Company, LLC, manual version 7/1/2010