Microdolly gear?

[Danny Grizzle]

Both. You can mount a fluid head on the Microdolly jib. That’s the way I shoot interviews, because you can drift the shot a bit during the take and add some lovely 3D perspective & planes of motion, enhanced by using a 2/3″ camera and large aperture for narrow depth of field.

I also do long jib work where I need to get up with, say, a carpenter high on a log home wall. In that case, you must operate from the back, in which case you better consider how you will monitor.

These variables account for differences in rigging time. The interview scenario is simple on a short jib, and sets up in minutes. The high rise jib work is much more involved at every turn, weights for counter balancing, wiring, and monitoring. Thus more time required for setup and strike. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes. Maybe more, because you will need to re-evaluate lighting once you change perspective radically.

Sometimes, shooting home interiors, I prefer to work with a true CRT production monitor. Even on dolly work. Outdoors, you better include accessories like a Hoodman for your monitoring, if you care to see what you are doing.

[Jason Jenkins]

While I have you and Todd here, I need some advice on a tripod. It seems like it might be a good idea to find one that could do double duty and support a jib as well as just a camera. Anything decent that will support a jib and an HVX-200 for around 1k?

[Todd Terry]

There might be tripods out there under the $1K mark that would work, but none immediately come to mind.

I personally would hit eBay… you can find surprisingly good tripod bargains there.

We have three Oconnor sticks/heads sets… one particular set cost as much as my first car… the other IDENTICAL set we snagged on eBay in unbelievable like-new condition for $800 (although I will admit that was a super steal). I’ve seen comparable bargains for tripods there, though… and there are usually quite a few good spider dollys up for auction as well.

I personally would only buy a tripod that could pull double duty… use for jib mounting and for reagular fluid head mounting. Look for something with a 100mm bowl or larger. I don’t think I’d consider sticks that would mount the jib only. But hey, that seems to work for Danny and I will not argue one bit with something that works well for someone.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Jason Jenkins]

Thanks Todd,

Since I need to buy a good tripod anyway, it only makes sense to find one that will work with a jib as well for standard use. Off to eBay…

[Todd Terry]

Cool, Jason…

For best flexibility, get a tripod and jib that have the same bowl size. I.e, if your jib has a 100mm bowl (or 120mm, or whatever), look for a tripd with a 100mm bowl. That way swapping the jib in and out is easy breezy… take the head off the sticks, mount the jib, put the same head on the jib. Some jibs come with the option of different bowl sizes (or interchangable bowls) so you can order it with the size that you need to match your tripod and head.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Danny Grizzle]

A single tripod for both general use and jib support will work to a point. It depends on how you configure your jib. If you plan to buy the Microdolly extension kit, like I did, then weight becomes a factor. I shoot with carbon fiber Gitzo legs under my DSR-500. There is no way these sticks would work for a jib.

Anyplace you have seen any difference of opinion between myself and Todd in this thread can almost certainly be explained by the difference in approach you must take between working with jibs of different sizes (lengths) and cameras of different weights (prosumer like my PD-150, or shoulder mount like my DSR-500).

My advice on a dual use tripod: forget about carbon fiber. They are great, but simply not as rugged and reliable when operated outside their official load ratings. Collets will slip and joints collapse, etc.

I think you are looking for aluminum legs, or maybe even wood. Go beefy. This may be a bit difficult on the used market, because you will tend to get a matching beefy fluid head, and that should be avoided. Make sure your fluid head is exactly sized and configured for your camera. Many fluid heads have internal balancing springs. So even within a particular make and model, you need to get the exact spring installed that best suits your camera.

War story: I once had to work with an O’Connor that was configured to carry a giagantic CRT teleprompter plus camera. This tripod was huge. It weighed a ton, but performed great under load. The only problem was the teleprompter was used only about 1% of the time. 99% of the time, shooting with this thing with only an Ikegami mounted was like being in an all-day arm wrestling match.

You can suffer through a mismatch on tripod weight so long as you don’t mind the compromise on weight, and the hassle of hauling the thing. But if you mismatch the head, you will compromise your work.

These negatives are probably minimized by the fact that you are proposing use with a lightweight camera. Bigger cameras mean bigger loads, and magnify all the problems.

[Jason Jenkins]

Thanks Danny,

I had come to the same conclusion regarding carbon fiber, although there were some on B&H that were rated for over 100 lbs. I found a Cartoni for under a grand that is rated for 132 lbs.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=188658&is=REG

Would that be beefy enough for a portable jib and small camera?

[Jason Jenkins]

I heard back from Doug at Long Valley.

“The Seven has no drag or friction controls. In fact, it was built to have no drag or friction so that the movement is super smooth, especially the starts and stops. The inertia of the camera/fluid head and counterweight provides this. It does have a tilt lock, which is near the bowl/camera end of the jib.”

Doug

I won’t be getting the Seven Jib. I definitely want the option of drag.

[Danny Grizzle]

> Would that be beefy enough for a portable jib and small camera?

I’d only be guessing. And long after you calculate all this, a situation will arise someday when somebody will need to do something you did not anticipate or plan for.

I’m just repeating what I’ve been told — carbon fiber tripods are great, but be careful how you use them. They won’t take abuse like aluminum or wood legs.

[Jason Jenkins]

I wasn’t very clear in my post…
The Cartoni I linked to is aluminum and its rated for 136 lbs.