Poor man's steadycam

I’ve been using a magic arm and some spare tripod parts I had lying around to achieve more stability when shooting video on the 5D MkII. It all works pretty well, and can be configured in different ways depending on what you want to do with it. The only problem is that the rig looks a bit like high-tech weaponry – not recommended in certain situations. One trick that is useful in a pinch is to carry some parachute cord and attach it to a D ring or tripod plate under the camera. Step on the cord and pull the camera up until it’s taut, and you have a relatively stable platform to shoot on if you’re doing run & gun stuff where you need to work fast and light.