weeSteady KickStarter Project Launched: Tiny Stabilizer For iPhones & Compact Cameras

Designer and entrepreneur Jack Campbell says his weeSteady gadget is a tiny little stabilizer for shooting video with your iPhone, small camera, or other smartphones.

Campbell observes that tiny cameras with HD video capability create big issues with shake and jitter. Unfortunately, camera stabilizers (or “steadies”) are still big, bulky monsters, not at all appropriate for these miniature cameras and phones – a reality that led to creating the weeSteady.

He explains that you stabilize a video camera by putting high-inertia mass underneath it to dampen out the little jiggles and wiggles that distinguish amateur video work from professional work. Existing camera steady products provide this heavy mass within the product itself of course, making them big, bulky, and heavy devices.

By contrast, weeSteady intelligently uses the mass of your own arm and body to stabilize your camera or phone videos. It turns out that most of that annoying jittery motion comes from a combination of the bad ergonomics involved in holding the camera with your hand, and the bad stability of your spindly fingers and wobbly wrist being in the mix.

WeeSteady is gripped in your palm, with the camera mount extending upward between two fingers, inside your lightly closed fist. You hold weeSteady the same way pros have held video cameras for decades with your hand lightly closed and your fist turned parallel to your shooting direction. The result? Massively more stable video shots, Campbell claims.

Design & Construction

Campbell professes a powerful aversion to paying good money for cheaply made products, and that consequently in developing the weeSteady he decided he wanted to create a “lifetime product” using high-quality materials and construction methods to assure that it will feel like a professional product in your hand and never corrode, break, or fall apart.

He says weeSteady is made from investment cast 316 stainless steel, electropolished to a permanent sheen. The tripod stud and the lock nut are also made from 316 stainless steel yeilding an over-engineered and over-built product.

The weeSteady Project

Campbell says he’s done the design, prototyping and product testing, sourced the materials and suppliers, and is ready to quickly take the weeSteady to mass production and into the marketplace. He’s launched Kickstarter project, contributors to which are promised the first weeGadgets ever made, and at a great deal that includes free USA shipping.

“I want to treat this like I am sharing a project with investors, not just ‘donators,'” says Campbell. “I am not a charity, and you are not here to just give away money. That said, the funds from this project will be used (a) to pay for mass production tooling, (b) to pay for packaging tooling, (c) to pay for final assembly and shipping from my factory to my warehouse, and (d) to hopefully generate some profits to seed additional weeGadgets products for small camera users.”

“The timetable for the project is (a) close out the fully funded project in 21-days, (b) wait 14-days for Amazon Payments to release the funds, (c) immediately pay my factories and suppliers for the tooling and mass production quantity order, plus as many more units as the money raised will allow. Tooling and review of sample parts will take 5-weeks. Mass production, assembly, and receipt of the products to my warehouse will take 5-weeks. So, there will be about a 10-week dead period following the release of funds before I can ship your products to you.”

Perks For Your Contribution

$1 Show Your Support

You get Jack Campbell’s sincere appreciation for your support and will receive backer updates and blog posts.

$25 Your own weeSteady

Get one of the first production weeSteady products – a $30 value shipped free to USA locations. International shipping add $10.

$70 A weeSteady 3-pack

Three weeSteady products – a $90 value – shipped free to USA locations. International shipping add $15.

$360 Reseller Special

Get 2 cases (24 pieces) of the weeSteady, plus a free fold-open cardboard countertop carton display. Shipped free to USA. International shipping add $60.

$1,750 Mega Reseller Special

Get 12 cases (144 pieces) of the weeSteady, plus a free fold-open cardboard countertop carton display. International shipping add $150.

For more information, visit:
http://www.indiegogo.com/weesteady