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  • 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 :)

Portable dolly

Luis Ismael

Luis Ismael

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Hi

I´m looking for a portable dolly and tracks.
Fast to mount and with a nice price.
Working with red and miller tripods.

Any sugestion?
 
We use the CamTram. A bit more expensive than some of the others but it's amazingly light and easy to transport. Super quick to setup and easy to use.

http://www.camtramsystem.com/

Noah
 
MicroDolly

MicroDolly

For carrying in a backpack distances, and use with REd on Miller sticks and Arrow head, even loaded, the MicroDolly Hollywood system is unbeatable -- super lightweight, works very well. You have to carefully deal with supporting the pretty thing rails, but when you do, it does the trick for like 6 pounds! We can carry dolly system, support and well equipped red rig in 2 backpacks easily.

When working out of a truck or in a studio close to home, heavier tracks or better.
 
Losmandy Spider Dolly and Porta-Jib

Losmandy Spider Dolly and Porta-Jib

Luis Ismael said:
Hi

I´m looking for a portable dolly and tracks.
Fast to mount and with a nice price.
Working with red and miller tripods.

Any sugestion?
Click to expand...

Luis,

You might want to check out the Spider Dolly from Losmandy .... inexpensive and incredibly flexible - the hard rubber tracks can bend round obstacles and don't need wedges/boxes to level them:

http://www.porta-jib.com/index.html

We used their dolly and jib on our RED/Canon Intercut Reel shoot and were very impressed .... in the 'power house' scene which was shot inside an old 1930 power generator we had to weave the dolly passed three generators in a tight space .... worked great with the RED and the Canons .... Rodney Charters, ASC, who has probably used more dollies than any other DP on the planet was also very happy with their smoothness and flexibility.

If you check out the BTS photos in the RAWworks website you'll see the Losmandy dolly and jib in action in a several places .... well engineered and sturdy equipment.

http://hdirawworks.com/page1/page1.html

Also, the guys who run the company are really cool and very solid ... give them a call and say Neil sent you .... they'll look after you.

Cheers,

Neil

P.S .... here's few example shots pulled from the 1500 BTS photos:

http://hdirawworks.com/page1/files/page1-1682-full.html
http://hdirawworks.com/page1/files/page1-1685-full.html
http://hdirawworks.com/page1/files/page1-1730-full.html
http://hdirawworks.com/page1/files/page1-1765-full.html
http://hdirawworks.com/page1/files/page1-1794-full.html
http://hdirawworks.com/page1/files/page1-1857-full.html
http://hdirawworks.com/page1/files/page1-1860-full.html
http://hdirawworks.com/page1/files/page1-1892-full.html
 
Great stuff over here.
Thanks

Keep on coming.
 
Neil_Hdi said:
Luis,

You might want to check out the Spider Dolly from Losmandy ....
P.S .... here's few example shots pulled from the 1500 BTS photos:
Click to expand...

Looking at those photos, the track sort of wobbles on it's own, is it smoothing out while you're crossing over it? Doesn't that make for some unusual resistace during your shot?
 
Locsmandy Dolly

Locsmandy Dolly

Mark Allen said:
Looking at those photos, the track sort of wobbles on it's own, is it smoothing out while you're crossing over it? Doesn't that make for some unusual resistace during your shot?
Click to expand...

That's what I originally thought .... however, in practice it really works well .... one pair of wheels is rigid and the other fluid .... you just have to make sure the rigid pair are on the same track .... as the rubber track bends the fluid wheels follow the curves .... produces a remarkably smooth dolly movement and the rubber hose tracks smooth out the bumps in an uneven floor.

Neil
 
Any other Red users try the Spider dolly? I'm really considering this and want to make sure before I buy it. What's the price tag for dolly and tracks - everything you need?
 
I have a Digidolly for quick setups and it is rock solid. Built in low-mount and stand-on plate with a handle is great. I weigh 100kg and had a rigged up RED at 20kg all on board and it easily handled the weight. It's silk smooth and very very quick to set up. Price starts at about AUD$2500.

http://digidolly.com.au/
 
For the ultimate in portability, and versatility, get a set of wheels such as these

http://www.willyswidgets.com/pr_wheels.html

16 wheel set. Bolt them on a piece of 3/4 plywood, with a piece of speed rail (light) or square stock steel bolted down the center underside for rigidity. Run on speed rail, track, steel pipe, or pvc. When traveling, ship the wheels, buy the rest of the stuff wherever you go. They have steel pipe everywhere in the world, although plywood is very hard to find in parts of the middle east.

Add a piece of carpet and your normal high hat/babys/standards, and you are good to go. Also, you can cut a piece of plywod 12"s square, and strap the camera on a cine saddle and you have a little dolly that can run through windows, over tables etc.

Nick
 
I have a skater dolly, 2 Matthews Briefcase dollies for regular track, and 2 Hollywood Micro dollies (each with 26' of track) and by far the most used are the Hollywood Micro dollies - perfect for smaller units, doc work, or independents. They are insanely fast to set up and wrap out. Anyone who uses them or sees them on set is blown away. One I used for a year straight on a very demanding doc and is still as good as new. Another is currently shooting in remote jungles in Africa on a series. Expensive for what you see at first glance, but very worth it.
 
Hi there, Jamison. . .

I used to own the Axis Dolly. Let me tell you about that thing. It is BIG and HEAVY, built like a brick-you-know-what, and impossible to use on a table. The pneumatic tires he sells for it are utterly worthless, as they are not sufficiently round and it just wobbled from side-to-side. I sold it right away.

What we have now, and absolutely LOVE is the Omni-tracker. It's just an amazing piece of kit and gets the best shots. All you need is a smooth table, or, if readily available, an 8x4 sheet of MDF. Throw that down on a surface and away you go. It works PERFECTLY with the RED. I also have the Manfrotto hi-hat that allows me to use my O'Connor fluid head with the Omni-tracker.

I'd give this my highest possible recommendation. And the laser pointer that comes with it is just da bomb. It's amazing. Just plop it on, point the laser, and away you go. Perfect tracking every time. Attention guys: This is my wife's favorite piece of gear we own.

Stephen
 
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