Hello

I want to get a camera crane for my FX1 can anyone advise what tripod and head i will need

At the moment i have a Manfrotto 055CL http://www.manfrotto.com/Jahia/site/manfrotto/cache/offonce/pid/2048 will this sort of basic tripod be any good for a crane with the right head or will i need to upgrade to a better one

Thank you for your help

I wouldn't trust a tripod without strong speaders to hold the legs together. Also the extra weight of the jib and weights often means that you can't raise the tripod legs off their lowest position without worrying that the entire thing will fall over.

I have a Z1 and originally I bought a Vinten Pro5 tripod. Then the Hague MultiJib (fantastic) The Pro5 will hold the weight of the full jib and camera. But the speaders sometimes start to give up, and the legs of the tripod start to drift apart (bad).
You can't raise the tripod legs stages up with too much weight on. I regularly run with two sections of the jib on, and it's all fine.

Sometimes I'll use a single length on the jib, and I can get away raising the sections on the tripod, without any slipping.

My Z1 has a Large Vocas matte box and Wideangle adaptor on, so it's heavy. Anyway the head on the Pro5 has always been crappy, with no counter balance.

So I bought a Pro6 and the counterbalance wasn't up the job. After a call to Vinten the Pro10 was soon put in the post and also the matching Protouch Dolly. It's a vast improvement. The pozilok system used on the Pro6 and 10 legs is really strong, it's so strong I put all my weight on the legs and it didn't budge. Great. Then the dolly. It's built really well with very large rubber wheels (shopping trolley sized, but soft and with cable guards). It's under £200 and well worth the cash.

So the new set up can have the full jib with camera and the legs raised while on the dolly to wheel around the location.

I've had the jib well over a year and operate it from the camera end, which allows me to get the camera well into the air. The next step is to get a Varizoom remote head.

Enough ramling off to bed, good luck.

Had to dig up this old thread as I'm having the same problem now.. Hi Duncan, I m looking at the 12Ft kessler crane now n I have the Pro 6. Just to confirm that u upgraded to the Pro 10, while keeping the same Pozi Loc tripod right?

In my case, I just need to upgrade the pan head to the Pro 10 probably to handle the weight..

you guys check out the Manfrotto 528XB tripod for crane use. It's designed with that in mind, built like a tank, has leg pins which means you don't have to rely on the friction from the leg release to keep it up and the spreader is built likewise. Can go to full height with 50 kilos (100 plus pounds) on top and keep it there without a murmur.


Magic. Just don't try to backpack it anywhere - it's sodding heavy.


CS

oops i cant get the pro 10 head alone here.. the only choice is the Manfrotto 503HDV or 516 which i think would be a much better choice but this addition just busted my budget so... looks like I will have to wait out for the moment