Do you use a dolly
 

I was wondering how many people use a dolly for there wedding shoots. I was thinking for the church's with hard floors a dolly might be the perfect smooth transition after the procession. That way I can peel off to the side, out of the center aisle smoothly as I have shake problems with my arms, I try to shoot on a tripod as much as I can.

Re: Do you use a dolly
 

Now that I think about it floors probably have to many grout bumps.

Re: Do you use a dolly
 

IMO, dolly's not worth the trouble most of the time. If you're doing a party, reception on a completely smooth floor, it could work out and be very helpful. But they can be a nuisance and distraction, at least the few times I've used them.

Re: Do you use a dolly
 

Hey Scott

Our Churches also have tiny narrow aisles..I even struggle to fit a tripod in the Church never mind a dolly!!

You can really never rely on floors so you would also have to lay rails for the dolly...they don't call wedding videographer "run and gun" for nothing....time and setup is an issue too!!

Chris

Re: Do you use a dolly
 

Can't believe this hasn't been mentioned yet ... but why not use a slider? Much more compact, easier to set up, cheaper, less obtrusive ... WINNING! d;-)

Re: Do you use a dolly
 

I do use a dolly for ceremones whenever possible. First I shoot on a tripod and I hate picking it up and moving it and if I need to make a "fine" move I can't do it. Also for my "big move" to the rear of the church center aisle. I can roll back and using my controller I can keep pretty decent framing of the B&G. Since some of the venues I work in are pretty big I don't go all the way back and may very well have to move to, if not cover some of the events that I can't cover otherwise, I have to move out of the way for the recessional. I also use it at receptions some of the time depending on how many I've done for the weekend and how tired I am as well as where the ceremony is. For instance this past weekend I did 2 at 2 different locations but both were ceremony and reception at the same location and because of time restraints rather than wasting time going from one rig to another I simply left the camera on the tripod for intros, cake and toaasts. My preference? No but time was quite short and frankly I was very tired.
For narrow aisles well I modifed my Manfrotto 114 (Bogen 3067) 5 inch wheels. I cut the outriggers down to 13 inches each so the footprint is quite a bit less than stock and I can fit thru a 30 inch doorway so I don't worry about that anymore. As for grout lines, yeah they suck but I'll get over them quick if I can and if not then I use something esle like a multirig for the processional or a monopod or the tripod and no wheels. Gotta be flexible.

Re: Do you use a dolly
 

I built myself a DIY platform dolly a while back - the one that runs on PVC pipe. I used it for a couple of weddings during the photshoot sessions and got some good shots with it but at the end of the day it was a lot of extra baggage to deal with. I just used my steadicam now.

Art