Chad Kapper

We just purchased the Skycrane "BakPakR" last week to use on a production this week. Overall we were very pleased with the simplicity and design. The fact that it's built out of alluminum was definately a positive selling feature for me. I think steel construction for something as light as DV and HDV cameras is overkill. For those of us that want to get started right away, it comes with an instructional DVD for assembly. Once assembled, we realized that the tilt control "felt" inverted. For some reason our natural tendency was to push the control bar forward to tilt down. I wouldn't consider it a design flaw. It's just feels different. A big postive is that it comes with a built-in fulcrum point. This eliminates the need for an expensive tripod head for operation. If you're looking for a solid, compact jib arm, the BakPakR is an excellent choice for it's price range!