New Skycrane Review
 

I wanted to pass along my initial review of my new Skycrane Premier. I finally had a chance to get it setup this past weekend, since I've got a shoot coming up soon where it will be used.

First of all, it was a breeze to setup. The video that comes with it explains everything very logically. I watched it once and went ahead and set the whole thing up in less than 30 minutes. The build quality is wonderful. The aluminum is beautifully machined and everything fits together very well.

I bought a Bogen 3051 for it and it works great. After attaching my camera and a monitor, I started playing around... BTW, I'm using a TRV-900 for now... My Panasonic DVC200 stays on the ground. Ultimately I will upgrade my TRV-900 to a PD170 or something similar... On the other hand my TRV-900 has given me years of very reliable service. I think mine got one of the upper percentile lenses, since the image quality has always been better than I expected. I'm also using a Studio1 Productions control L controller which has been great.

At the risk of sounding like a paid endorser - which I am not - this thing is incredible. At least for me, there was no learning curve on getting amazing shots and wonderful angles. It's like I always knew how to operate this unit. Movements were very smooth and easy with no strain on my arms. Even my wife was amazed. I have NO REGRETS whatsoever about the money I spent. I will be using this on 4 shoots I have planned in the next 2-3 months. My clients will be blown away! I can't wait to get this on location!

I'll even use it on my own personal nature documentaries. I won't get any money for those, but I'll love the shots I get.

I rarely rave about a new "toy". They're usually just another tool. But this deserves all the praise I can give it. The owner of Skycrane, Bob Jones, is EXTREMELY helpful and loaded with suggestions on ways to use the unit.

I hope this helps anyone looking for information on cranes/jibs...

Stuart