that jimmy jib looks great but way overkill for what i do.

i have the skycrane jr. and i get some very smooth shots.

i is a really simple design. kind of elegant without being too complicated.

most of the ones i looked like were built like toys, or they were super heavy and complicated looking, plus awfully expensive.

matthew

Yeah, thats whats holding me back. I use the one we have at the station alot, but whats keeping me back from buying one is that after you use a Jimmy Jib with a full Varizoom Pan\Tilt head, you'll use nothing less. I'd really love to have the chance to have a very large jib, and shoot a concert with it (Achieving the shots that you see on MTV's "Hard Rock Live")

Ahhh....Keep dreaming ;)

Rob. What do you mean by a "Jimmy Jib with a full Varizoom Pan\Tilt head"? All Jimmy Jib kits come with a Stanton head and electronics.

DIY
 

Has any one built their own jib??

Im planing to build one this spring..

Martin,

You sould look to Charles King's site http://www.homebuiltstabilizers.com

I have found here a great source of inspiration to build my Steadicam-like stabilizer, and I am sure that the jibs and cranes section will do the same for you

James, that's a great looking rig, are you making some money with it? Look like it'd be tough to build barring the electronics?

Michael. The Jib Lite is very well built and I think very much worth the investment with the range of cameras that it can fly and the precision of the electronics and gears. Without the dolly, it's just a thousand more than an XL-2 camera and can perform all the moves as it's big brother, the Triangle, that costs about $15K-$20K fully loaded.

Quote: Rob. What do you mean by a "Jimmy Jib with a full Varizoom Pan\Tilt head"? All Jimmy Jib kits come with a Stanton head and electronics.

HaHa, My mistake James. At the time I was looking around at the EZFX Jib Arm, which as you know can be paired with the optional Varizoom head, I just got the two mixed up.

General Question, How much money do you think it costs Jimmy Jib to make, lets say, a Jimmy Jib 'Giant' Triangle Arm. ($9,435.00 List at their site) I could be wrong but I have a feeling its not a whole lot at all, compared to the list price.

I know, I'm scouting some 4" extruded aluminum, got a friend that's an engineering genius. Not meant to be offensive to your investment, and I know it's more than worth it, but my curiousity is killing me, even if it can be done close to $3k - I want to get my hands dirty.

Well, it's not the length as much as it is material cost (aluminum), R&D testing/certification, extruding and painting, etc.. I was told that the di to extrude the tubes were expensive to make and that adds to the cost of a custom extrusion. How many times have you seen a product that is just so simple looking but costs quite a bit, like a car part, but you can't get what you need done without it, as simple as it is? Well, when you see how durable and precise these tube segments are, then you can appreciate them more. He told me that an engineer tests all of his products to make them safe and, of course, functional. They are all publicly under rated, spec wise, because they know there are those knuckleheads out there that are going to put more stress than it is officially rated for on the head so they have to cover themselves for liability. Who knows what the margin is for his cost to profit? I just know that I don't find myself having to constantly use workarounds to get the thing to perform because it's built so well. I do know that the bulk of the cost of the system is the electronics which is 5000.00 alone and the head is another 1000.00 without the gears I believe.

My jib will build to 6', 12' and 18' lengths. I tried to get Jim Stanton (the owner) to make me cables for 9' and 15' lengths but he wouldn't do it because there just wasn't enough demand for it and all of the necessary additional testing wouldn't be cost effective. At least he developed a larger head (not shown in my images) that I now have which allows for the larger cameras to be used. That new head will also facilitate a new dutch attachment that he now offers as well.

Just like a car, it's much cheaper to by the whole system at once than to piece it out over time because there is a considerable discount for the entire system purchase. I know, because I went round and round with them about that when I wanted to upgrade with some controls that I didn't initially get.

There are plenty of jib makers out there with great products, but I think that this is the best system for cost and performance.

Well put and I have to agree. I would imagine the mere time input alone to research, find the materials, tools, etc would be daunting, frustrating, and probably never be done right. If time is
money I would guess the labor alone would be enough to buy
one and maybe a couple dv tapes. Happy Holidays.

Wow.....!
 

I just spent 6 hours looking at EVERYTHING on the http://www.homebuiltstabilizers.com/ web site... and i mean Everything...


I ate it all up. Love all the home made (Steadycam) rigs....
i've bean dreamin of building one for years.. but alwase thought it was to complicated....
now i see that i was on the right track all along!!

well my jib plans are complete... on paper... it will be very imposing... actualy better looking than a real jimmy jib...( my opinion)

ill try to ccan a few pages ...and post them...here.


Martin

That would be awesome. I'll build one if it looks good ;) Im all about the looks of the jib to back up the performance. Thanks!