Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Cheap 33 ft. crane for the RED Epic

Nils Ruinet said:
Just got an answer from them, they confirmed the free shipping to France. Pretty crazy for such a heavy item !
Click to expand...

That is impressive indeed, too bad that in Europe you still pay 30%+ of taxes and import duties, pretty ridiculous if you ask me, 33% in Italy!!

Have it declared as scrap metal for 200 euros ha ha.
 
KETCH ROSSi said:
That is impressive indeed, too bad that in Europe you still pay 30%+ of taxes and import duties, pretty ridiculous if you ask me, 33% in Italy!!

Have it declared as scrap metal for 200 euros ha ha.
Click to expand...
I was wondering about import duties for this type of gear, I'll have to check.
But in the end, you still get a decent 10m crane for less than 2000 €, including taxes. Not so bad ;-)
 
Nils Ruinet said:
I was wondering about import duties for this type of gear, I'll have to check.
But in the end, you still get a decent 10m crane for less than 2000 €, including taxes. Not so bad ;-)
Click to expand...

The gimbal is shipping soon! Will update this post with another video showing how it fares on the crane.
 
The pan tilt head - seems very similar to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL_V2xjMzrQ

Does it have a better damper then what is illustrated in this video.

Do you have any footage of the head in action? Do you find awkward counter moves in the pan or tilt if not timed perfectly. Definitely a 2 person job. What are your thoughts Luke?
 
The shoots look great but be very careful around people! I bought the $1200 USD jib from Came.

The bad

Dolly. On our first shoot day the center casting of the dolly snapped, the entire rig pancaked to the ground. My AC saved the camera but hurt himself. We were running a very light setup, Scarlet, Canon 24-70, Dionic battery.


Spreader. The tripod spreader is not safe, brittle plastic with very thin pins at the joints. It broke on the first test assembly.

Tripod, tubes too thin and locking collars not strong enough. The legs slip under light load, the tripod is only safe and stable at the lowest position.


The good.
The boom arm is great, no flex, think wall metal, joints with very little play. The boom arm is a clone of a Libec design.


I spent $1,200 for the jib and need to spent another $1000-1200 on a better caster dolly and proper tripod. At which point I'm $2,000+ into another project. I wish I had bought the $2500 Porta-Job Traveller. http://www.porta-jib.com/traveller.htm
 
david_winters said:
The shoots look great but be very careful around people! I bought the $1200 USD jib from Came.

The bad

Dolly. On our first shoot day the center casting of the dolly snapped, the entire rig pancaked to the ground. My AC saved the camera but hurt himself. We were running a very light setup, Scarlet, Canon 24-70, Dionic battery.


Spreader. The tripod spreader is not safe, brittle plastic with very thin pins at the joints. It broke on the first test assembly.

Tripod, tubes too thin and locking collars not strong enough. The legs slip under light load, the tripod is only safe and stable at the lowest position.


The good.
The boom arm is great, no flex, think wall metal, joints with very little play. The boom arm is a clone of a Libec design.


I spent $1,200 for the jib and need to spent another $1000-1200 on a better caster dolly and proper tripod. At which point I'm $2,000+ into another project. I wish I had bought the $2500 Porta-Job Traveller. http://www.porta-jib.com/traveller.htm
Click to expand...

That doesn't sound like fun! I haven't had any of those experiences with the bigger model. Wonder if they are made differently?
 
Porta-jib

Good: Sturdy, folds up

Bad: Short reach, heavy, no axis-locking, expensive relative to others of same length


At the length of the Losmandy, I'd go with the Seven jib, EZFx, or Varizoom Quickjib instead... all of which are plenty sturdy and cost less.
 
david_winters said:
The shoots look great but be very careful around people! I bought the $1200 USD jib from Came.

The bad

Dolly. On our first shoot day the center casting of the dolly snapped, the entire rig pancaked to the ground. My AC saved the camera but hurt himself. We were running a very light setup, Scarlet, Canon 24-70, Dionic battery.


Spreader. The tripod spreader is not safe, brittle plastic with very thin pins at the joints. It broke on the first test assembly.

Tripod, tubes too thin and locking collars not strong enough. The legs slip under light load, the tripod is only safe and stable at the lowest position.


The good.
The boom arm is great, no flex, think wall metal, joints with very little play. The boom arm is a clone of a Libec design.


I spent $1,200 for the jib and need to spent another $1000-1200 on a better caster dolly and proper tripod. At which point I'm $2,000+ into another project. I wish I had bought the $2500 Porta-Job Traveller. http://www.porta-jib.com/traveller.htm
Click to expand...

That's why I'd rather buy Kessler, Made in the U.S.A. (I'm Canadian by the way, but same difference) and not worry. Cheap matte box? Fine. Worst that could happen is you break a filter, and even that is unlikely. But- Worst that could happen with a jib is that someone gets badly hurt, which is unacceptable.

Old timers always tell me, "never trust a jib you don't know" and "If it wobbles, it could break". I trust my old timer friends.
 
Robert Ruffo New said:
That's why I'd rather buy Kessler, Made in the U.S.A. (I'm Canadian by the way, but same difference) and not worry. Cheap matte box? Fine. Worst that could happen is you break a filter, and even that is unlikely. But- Worst that could happen with a jib is that someone gets badly hurt, which is unacceptable.

Old timers always tell me, "never trust a jib you don't know" and "If it wobbles, it could break". I trust my old timer friends.
Click to expand...


Kessler cranes have failed people. It just takes a bit of common sense. Don't get this one if you're going to be flying over crowds at concerts. Move it slowly, make sure it's set up right, and use it with caution. This thing should be treated with the same amount of caution as you would an octocopter (which EVERYONE is using now). Don't get too close to people because you never know what could happen.

I wouldn't be one of those guys that would fly my octocopter over a crowd just to get a cool shot. No matter how good of a pilot I was and how high end of a machine I had, nope. Wouldn't do it. Same goes for this. If you just practice common sense you will be just as fine with a 33ft crane made in China as you would be a 6ft jib made in the US.
 
Agree that Kessler Crane as well as any other Crane can also fail, however I must say that the Kessler Crane Pocket Jib Pro we got is a SOLID piece of gear, and the only thing I found out it can brake, are the plastic filling on the screw in foot of the K-Pod, but this only broke because we placed under the plane on a soft bag, and again I take this opportunity to say it again...

ALWAYS ship or travel with your gear that goes under a plane on hard cases, NO soft bags, as they'll toss them around with NO care!!

Back at the Kessler Crane, I love it, a truly solid piece of gear and great performer, a video review coming soon on it too.


As far as Chinese Cranes such as this one here reviewed by Luke, I'll say that any one with common sense should understand that you need to analyze and "CAREFULLY" test all gear, especially that which comes at an incredible low price, form a country such as China known for their cheap manufacturing practices, yet I have seen and extremely happy about a lot of stuff coming out of China this days.

I guess it always comes back to common sense, and a bit of ingenuity in making sure reinforcements are done before use, if needed, at the end as I said it before, I would not mind using this 33ft crane, but I would perform and overall reinforcing tasks, with stronger cables and replacing all Screws and Bolts were needed.

This as many others still remain a great deal for many, and when you think about it, look at the absurd price difference form known US manufacturers and you'll deal with having to spend additional money to make it stronger no problem.
 
KETCH ROSSi said:
Agree that Kessler Crane as well as any other Crane can also fail, however I must say that the Kessler Crane Pocket Jib Pro we got (disclaimer I am Sponsored by Kessler) is a SOLID piece of gear, and the only thing I found out it can brake, are the plastic filling on the screw in foot of the K-Pod, but this only broke because we placed under the plane on a soft bag, and again I take this opportunity to say it again...

ALWAYS ship or travel with your gear that goes under a plane on hard cases, NO soft bags, as they'll toss them around with NO care!!

Back at the Kessler Crane, I love it, a truly solid piece of gear and great performer, a video review coming soon on it too.


As far as Chinese Cranes such as this one here reviewed by Luke, I'll say that any one with common sense should understand that you need to analyze and "CAREFULLY" test all gear, especially that which comes at an incredible low price, form a country such as China known for their cheap manufacturing practices, yet I have seen and extremely happy about a lot of stuff coming out of China this days.

I guess it always comes back to common sense, and a bit of ingenuity in making sure reinforcements are done before use, if needed, at the end as I said it before, I would not mind using this 33ft crane, but I would perform and overall reinforcing tasks, with stronger cables and replacing all Screws and Bolts were needed.

This as many others still remain a great deal for many, and when you think about it, look at the absurd price difference form known US manufacturers and you'll deal with having to spend additional money to make it stronger no problem.
Click to expand...

100% agree. I've yet to see our Kessler fail when used within specs and instruction followed properly.

"Chinese" products like this (by that I mean cheap ebay stuff, I'm not dissing China as a whole) have unknown QC (usually very sketchy QC). You could just get unlucky.

I don't get it - you want to fly $30 000 (or more) of camera and lens high above the ground, and you risk that $30 000 by trying to save $400 by buying a cheaper jib that may or may not be trustworthy - let alone the risk you pose to actors, valuable objects in the room, etc.

Then you have to think: How would a client react to a jib that visibly wobbles (even if you can maybe fix some wobble in post)? How about an actor's agent?

We've filmed major stars in priceless historic locations with our 12 foot Kessler - no problems - even with a Red one MX - you just have to set it up properly. With this thing people would have been freaking out, and I'd say perhaps rightfully so.

Again, I'm all for trying out cheap matteboxes, but...
 
Robert Ruffo New said:
100% agree. I've yet to see our Kessler fail when used within specs and instruction followed properly.

"Chinese" products like this (by that I mean cheap ebay stuff, I'm not dissing China as a whole) have unknown QC (usually very sketchy QC). You could just get unlucky.

I don't get it - you want to fly $30 000 (or more) of camera and lens high above the ground, and you risk that $30 000 by trying to save $400 by buying a cheaper jib that may or may not be trustworthy - let alone the risk you pose to actors, valuable objects in the room, etc.

Then you have to think: How would a client react to a jib that visibly wobbles (even if you can maybe fix some wobble in post)? How about an actor's agent?

We've filmed major stars in priceless historic locations with our 12 foot Kessler - no problems - even with a Red one MX - you just have to set it up properly. With this thing people would have been freaking out, and I'd say perhaps rightfully so.

Again, I'm all for trying out cheap matteboxes, but...
Click to expand...

$400 difference? We are talking minimum $12,000 to get a similar crane somewhere else. Like Ketch said, if you're really worried, put some time/resources into reinforcing this one and you're STILL saving thousands. Invest in some solid business insurance, be smart, use common sense, and you can get some truly epic shots. Or you can spend just as much for a 12 foot jib with no pan/tilt head that could arguably be just as dangerous/risky. Seems like a no brainer to me. Again, if all you have to do is cut out the shots where you get REALLY close to the talent, you make that cut. If you absolutely need to get close, use your 12 foot "safe" jib.
 
I'm not sure why everyone thinks the Came is so much cheaper, when you can get an 18' Kessler Crane w tripod and head, and a bunch of accessories for under 2995.
 
David Didato said:
I'm not sure why everyone thinks the Came is so much cheaper, when you can get an 18' Kessler Crane w tripod and head, and a bunch of accessories for under 2995.
Click to expand...


It's definitely cheaper when you consider it has a pan/tilt head and it's almost double that length. But, it's still $2,000+. So, it's not like it's "cheap", it's just "cheaper". It's a steal in my mind. I think there's a fine line between being cheap and being inexpensive/not gouging prices to make a ridiculous profit. They have told me a few times it would be very hard to give out one of their HMI lights because they almost produce those at a loss...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top