SkyCrane or Kessler Crane?
 

Both cranes seem really nice. Any opinions? How about ProAm (on ebay)?

The Kessler Crane 12 foot model seems cool since you can choose to resize it to 8 foot if desired, and those extra few feet would be nice to have in reserve.

I'm staying away from ProMax and the other cheapo units, but I don't want to go much above $500 if I can help it.

I guess any one of them would accomodate one of the common servo pan units for later upgrading.

Thanks!

Thumbs up for the 12ft Kessler

Check out my post here.
 

Check out my post there:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...light=skycrane

I can't say enough good things about my Kessler crane. I bought an 8' crane about a year ago and love it and recently purchased the 12' with some of the fancy new upgrades. Well worth the extra few bucks!

Hey guys, I was recently looking at the Kessler, and I was wondering what tripod head you are using. I have a Manfrotto 503 and I don't want to damage it.

Any advices?

Update: I just realized that Kessler sells a Fluid Swivel for 200$. Is it worth it or is it better to buy a video fuild head (which one?) that I can reuse for other stuff?

Thanks,
Best Regards,
Quoc

The Fluid swivel does not have tilt, only pan. So you won't be able to use the cran's tilt lever. I use a Bogen 316 head which has worked great for me. They run about $500 or so.

Can you clarify why you need the tilt from the tripod head? With the kessler it seemed you only needed a pan. Am I missing something?

Thanks,
Regards,
Quoc

The head's tilt is what translates to the tilt at the end of the crane. As you're booming, you almost always want to adjust the tilt of the camera to keep your framing. The only real-use for a pan-only head would be if you're using a motorized remote head or some other method to control the camera at the end of the jib.

I feel really stupid asking this, but... why can't you just use the tilt handle of the kessler's jib? Meaning, while you boom you also control the tilt using the tilt handle. As far as I understood, on the kessler's jib, you can lock the tilt or control it.

Regards,
Quoc

Webb, just to confirm, you're not using the swivel, but a 516 head on your tripod with the crane at 12'?

Isn't that an awful lot of weight on a head rated at 22 pounds?

If the 516 could handle the weight without being damaged that would eliminate my only reservation about this crane.