The Steadicam® Operator's Handbook

Longer lenses

The Steadicam is not just for running around with wide-angle lenses. In 35 mm, we typically shoot with 35 to 75mm lenses, just like our counterparts on the dolly. Some of the most beautiful shots are done with normal to moderate telephoto lenses (50 to 150mm).

Steadicam operators use longer lenses for all the same reasons conventional camera operators use them: to make faces look better, to isolate the subject from the background, to reduce spatial clues, etc. Images become more graphic and flat, less naturalistic, more abstract, out of everyday experience. Subject to camera distance increases; things are less intimate or “in your ...