Dolly Ideas...?
 

Anyone have any Dolly recommendations?

HVX-BREVIS-Lenses-Marshall monitor on board so there will be some weight.

Looking for under 1000 bucks, and shots with some hight or hi hat capable so I can go left-right AND north-south.

limited low budget crew, so the ones where you need someone to push isn't my top choice, unless those are superior in your opinion to the likes of the many ladder dollys out there.

My knock on the dollys I've seen thus far is that they don't have a high hat (esp. ladder ones) to get some height above the rig to go north-south shots.

Any ideas? There's so many out there and I've read all the reviews, that I'd rather put it out to you guys now for some feedback.

Thanks much in advance!
Justin

Can you explain what you mean by that? Are you talking about the ability to boom like a jib?

It won't fit your budget (you can rent it instead of purchase) but the CamTram dolly is one of the most versatile I've ever used; it has a built-in Hi-Hat that even allows for under-slung shooting.

Check out http://www.camtramsystem.com; a few of the forum sponsors such as Abel Cine/LA rent this unit.

RE: Anyone have any Dolly recommendations?
 

Go to the Digital Juice website and search through their tutorials. One of them is for an affordable and easy to build track dolly. I downloaded the plans on Wednesday, made some alterations, gave the plans to one of our engineers and he bought supplies on Thursday and had it ready for a shoot on Friday. The thing worked like a $5,000 dolly. I was beyond impressed. Oh, BTW, it cost less than $100 to build, including track. It was also very easy to put together and didn't require too many tools.

Matthews Briefcase Dolly
 

Not sure if this is of interest to you, but I have 2 Matthews Briefcase Dollies. Each fold up into a single briefcase and when opened the solid briefcase locks into place, which in turn becomes the platform. They can fit in airline baggage. Has a set of track wheels as well as a set of hard surface wheels. They can hold up to 500lbs, and though portable, they are professional in quality - unlike some of the lightweight dv stuff. Not trying to knock other gear out there for we all have different needs. I use these dollies for my 35mm cameras down to my HVX's and DVX and always have solid, smooth moves. Here is a link:

http://www.msegrip.com/mse.php?show=...ducts_ID=25526

Had both dollies running tandem on track with HVX's, marshall's, camera operators (one dolly also had the focus puller as well as operator on it) for a series I was shooting and the moves were great - got wide and punched in dolly shots all in one move.

They are rather expensive, but I have been intending to sell one of them (as well as a ton of other great gear), I just haven't gotten around to listing them on ebay. $1000 and it's yours (or who ever might be interested). Apologies if it is inappropriate to post this kind of info in this thread.

thanks y'all....
 

i appreciate the info....

let me think on that briefcase dolly -- it looks nice but might be out of my budget.

cheers and thanks again.
justin

Might wanna check this out.

http://www.omni-tracker.com/

-steev

Dale. . . you have an email.

Stephen

omni tracker looks great
 

Thanks Steev, I will check that out.

Cheers,
Justin

Axis Dolly
 

Here's another option I just learned about today and plan to test: http://www.axisdolly.com .

Think of a melding of the Skater and Omni-Tracker dolly concepts but with a few more tricks up it's sleeve than either. Far less costly than the Skater, but more than the Omni. Check it out.

I can totally recommend the axis dolly. Seth Wise is also very on the ball with questions/support. It's built like a brick sh*thouse, so holds enough weight to do some very smooth trackless pans. I've only used it with a tripod attatched, but great results.

He also provides an excel castor-angle-guage, so while not laser guided like the skator, it's functions are the same.