Zach: I rented the HD1000 for about a month. I had great experiences with this unit, and would highly suggest it as long as you realize its limitations. This is for fairly light camera setups. I used it with a Canon t2i, an extended battery pack, and the kit lens or a 50mm 1.8. It was fairly easy to balance and while it took some getting used to, was quite easy and FUN to operate! I borrowed a friends canon 10-22 lens, and this made the setup too heavy. The camera would not stay upright with this lens. If you're using a canon 7d, and some L glass, you probably need to upgrade to the heavier models. Otherwise the rig just topples upside down. You can't expect to be able to sprint around with this and having it look perfect, however moving shots, especially with wider lens, are quite easy to make work. Especially when coupled with software stabilization. Moving interviews were my favorite use for this. Should be easy to find footage of this online, and there are some great tutorials on vimeo on how to balance it. If its a windy day - expect this to be much harder to use. You have to do a little bit of steering with your left hand on occasion. Not a perfect product, but very helpful in many occasions!