Matthews Bazooka base for Round-d-Round?

[Stephen Pruitt]

Hi there. . .

I'm curious if the bazooka base is worth buying. How is its stability with a load on it? How easy is it to use?

Thanks much.

Stephen

 

[Michael Lindsay]

We have a GFM round-d-round style dolly (quad dolly)... We bought a gas powered bazooka and can't go back.. We use it for everything not just the dolly... Very useful tool! Don't know if Mathews have a similar thing?

( http://www.g-f-m.net/camera/accessories/bazooka/griptool.html )

I also have some fixed lenght pieces to get the camera up very high.. It gets used on pretty much every studio shoot I do..

Just a thought..

M

 

[Mark Phelan]

Stephen, when I owned a Round-d-Round I had a similar thought, but decided against it. It does seem like it'd be a good idea and very well might be, you should give Tyler Phillips at Matthews a shout and get his thoughts.

But for me it came down to a couple of things. First, the bazooka mounts to the plywood by drilling a few holes. The plywood is pliable and has carpeting on it. So in my mind, it's going to have some flex in it. Even if it's minute, that's going to translate into the shot, or it would seem to, again in my mind. Second is the problem of placement, once it is on there, you're committed to having it right smack in the middle of everything taking up real estate.

Having said all that, they do sell them for a reason and they must work. Surely would be a quicker option than a tripod and give you a lot more room to work around, so I could be all wet with my assessment. Contact Tyler, see what he says. tphillips@msegrip.com

 

[B Kanegson]

Am a bit confused by title of thread; "Bazooka" is a narrow based columnar camera support and "roundy round" is a mode of dolly movement/ four wheel steering wherein the dolly can rotate around its own center. So not sure meaning of "roundy round" here. Perhaps 360 degree pan? If so, Bazooka works for that.

Bazooka is a piece of specialty gear, normally wrangled by grips, for specific applications. Not usually an every day/ go-to tool. No barriers to ownership, of course, but they're heavy.

The Bazooka is not as quickly height adjustable as a set of sticks, nor can it traverse the varieties of terrain that sticks can. However, as a specially piece of gear, it is worth having... when you need one, you really need one. Most applicable on a solid surface where floor space is limited, e.g. between rows of seats in a church or on a bus, or when camera needs to be backed up deep into corner of a room. Also can be strapped down on a process trailer. Another use might be to strap one down in the vee of the bow of a small boat. Bazooka also pretty modular, so you can use pieces like level head and base creatively.

When properly leveled on solid surface decent quality bazooka is quite rigid. It can work with up to a 3' slider on it, though prudent to bag the base in that mode. Bigger than 3' slider, additional support is required. An imaginary scenario where that might work is behind a bar of limited depth or accessibility where bartender needs to wipe or cross in foreground.

Hope this helpful.

 

[B Kanegson]

Now seeing the Matthews gear - doorway dolly with roundy-round steering mode and proprietary attachment point for bazooka column. Ignore everything I just said!!! LOL

Doorway dolly has definite place, but do not see it as a substitute for conventional dollies. Would not expect perfect stabilization when stationary (balloon tires) , or particularly smooth shots in motion with this set up.