camera turret crane
 

hi,
i'm looking into buying a crane with remote head. nothing big, just a short crane with full remote control and price range of about $4k. camera turret was on my piority list but someone told me its not a good choice. i need more feedback before i commit to order one. any comment on this one?

ed

Can you link to the item you are referring to? Turret?

heres the link - http://www.cameraturret.com/
i'm looking at the PT20 Digital Pan/Tilt Head with the 300 Series Jib. i was told this "...the controls looked like something that was home made. The zoom and focus controls are two seperate units that look like old studio controls. The arm weighs a lot and the sections looked like they are long".
with money that i have to spend, there is not much of a choice out there. jimmy jib lite is a good one but its just out of my budget.

ed

I've had a design in my head for a fully mechanical crane (i.e. no electronics) that allows for near 180 degrees of tilt and about 300 degrees of pan, fully controllable from the back end. No cables or pulleys involved. I have a lot of hesitation about getting into the DV-oriented manufacturing market, but maybe there would be need for such a thing. It could be made to any given length (within reason) and would probably cost around $2000 with integral monitor. The only catch is that it would take a bit of a learning curve to operate, considering that one would be controlling the boom and swing of the arm as well as pan and tilt all at once via two handgrips. Sound interesting?

hi charles,
very interesting indeed. certainly would be interesting to know how this is possible without the use of cable and pulley. do you have a working set now?
i've tried the jimmy jib and panther version of cable remote head during the broadcast show here and you are right about the controlling part. need a lot of practice and your mind need to be very focus too.
anyway, maybe you can provide me with more detail on the set. i can be reach at edliew@tm.net.my.
thanks again.

ed