I first read about this in an AOPA Pilot magazine (a magazine for private pilots, a community of which I am not a part but hope to be able to be at some point). There was a story about an AOPA staff photographer. I was reading it to learn about some of his techniques. But it also listed his equipment. He was a Canon user, his list included a 1D system (possibly a MarkII) and a 70-200F2.8L IS and a shorter zoom. But what was interesting was his mentioning a gyrostabilizing system. http://www.ken-lab.com/ That may have been the maker of the system he used. It's a clever idea, especially because it should work in addition to a camera or lens based IS system. But before you go getting excited, check out the prices. I won't mince words, I think that's an absolute ripoff. If you want proof, check out the cost for just an extension cable. Nearly $100. It IS an impressive system. Those gyro flywheels have to be fairly well made to stand up to those kinds of rotation speeds. If one broke up while it was being used I don't think it's a stretch to imagine it potentially killing the user, it would explode outwards with considerable force. It also seems to use a lot of power, and it still takes a while to spin up. In other words, this isn't like an in camera or in lens IS system, you don't spin it up just as you're about to take the picture. You have to turn it on minutes before you start using it. And perhaps more problematic it would actively resist any attempts to turn rapidly, say to track a moving target. For the applications that the we in this forum are likely to encounter I suspect that the gyro approach is overkill. I'm guessing it would be appropriate for the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, but otherwise a good IS lens would probably be sufficient and far more convenient. But I can't stop wondering how much it would cost to build one of those myself. I mean the basic gyro concept is simple. A heavy wheel that spins fast. The biggest concerns are making it perfectly balanced and strong enough so that you can trust that it won't break up on you. Bearings designed to handle 20,000 RPM while taking significant side forces (if you want to turn the camera you have to do it against the gyros) might be tricky too. Plus I can't deny that I just want to know what it would feel like to have a camera that actively resists rotation like this.
