Scarlet jibs, dollies and other movables

[James B]

While I quietly wait for the scarlet to arrive, I am wondering what to get to support this light weight camera to get smooth movement.
There has been interesting talk here about hand held rigs and thats great for many shots, but I mainly do dialog and I want rock steady smooth movement with no wobble.
As I am a new scarlet user and not big budget, what is the best bang for the dollar gear to get these movements ?
For example, my poor brain is thinking I need a very good small fluid head ( if there is such a thing ) for this light weight camera and/or a very small gear head, an inside light jib with a dolly and optionally trackable ( preferable front controllable and with a column instead of three protruding legs ).
Buying this stuff without trying it out myself is obviously a worry ( except for the scarlet of course ) so I appreciate the views of those who have actually tried out this stuff with a light camera and small crew. Thank you.

 

[Tim Bradley]

Hi James,

I use and would recommend a Wally Dolly. THe Wally Dolly is Aussie designed and built. It light weight, fast and easy to setup. Also it packs away to a nice small bag.

 

[Phil Holland]

Well, I'll toss out a recommendation towards Kessler Crane products. I have been using the Cineslider for a while now and have had loads of up to 80lbs on there and as light as HDSLRs. Not the cheapest slider, but certainly one of the better made ones.

Their jibs are very nice too.

There are a bazillion fluid heads out there and everybody will have their own preferences. I'd look at Manfrotto on the inexpensive, light weight, and portable side of things. OConner and Vinten if you are looking for heavier and more stable control. Depends a lot on total package load. I'd say above 25lbs with lens and you'll be looking at more $$$$ gear.

For my personal gear I try to maximize portability and weight. But one of the motion picture industry's dirty little secrets is that if you want really steady movement and control, heavy gear is usually your best bet.

 

[Tyler Bourns]

I second the Kessler Crane Recommendation. I have been using their products for almost four years and the build quality and customer support is fantastic. Been quite happy with the 5.5/8/12 ft Crane as well as a Pocket Dolly. They also offer a number of accessories that compliment their gear such as flex track and dolly trucks for their K-Pod.

 

[Matt Gottshalk]

http://danadolly.com/

Love mine.

 

[David Didato]

+1 for my Dana Dolly.

Anyone have experience with either DitoGear, or Advanta-Jib?

 

[Eric J Kosinski]

Have to promote myself here. www.cinezenusa.com for sliders. I hope you enjoy and if you mention you are a Reduser I'll be sure to give you a great deal.

 

[Eric J Kosinski]

http://danadolly.com/

Love mine.

I have to also recommend danadolly.com as I actually have used one and our mitchell mount bowls for ball heads 75mm and 100mm are completely interchangeable with their dolly plates and our sliders. very cool and convenient.

 

[Ryan Emanuel]

Is it ok if we add steadicams in the mix? Any advice? Scarlet's a 5 pound body, she's got some meat!

 

[Ben Jackson]

For fluid heads, I ordered a Sachtler 7 + 7 because it has some boost button on it that allows it to be used for really lightweight rigs (down to 2kg) and then switch over to heavier rigs up to almost 50 pounds. (22kg)

I kept asking for an Oconnor but my supplier in Melbourne kept saying I'd find it hard to use if my Scarlet rig was lightweight at the time. But I needed weight capacity for a jib I have and the cineslider (also recommend kessler obviously).

http://www.sachtler.com/en/fluid-head-cine-7-7-hd.html

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

Everyone is making great recommendations ... but its just a camera.

You don't need special gear for Scarlet.

For example, the heaviest two things I put on any dolly are me and my 1st AC. I'm kind of giant, but she's tiny, and either one of us seriously outweigh most camera rigs. (Not the ones NASA uses for tracking launches of course! lol)

What I mean to say is that with almost all of this gear, its not Scarlet/Epic that will determine your requirements - but everything else about your shoot. I mean, a DanaDolly is nice kit, but its useless if what you need is a Fisher 11.

Generally speaking I recommend 100mm head systems for Epic and Scarlet. I like the Sachtler video 15 and Video 20 heads ... they support my DSLR alone with no rig up to a fairly well loaded Red One ... Scarlet and Epic are in the middle of that range.

As far as the rest of your platforms ... if they support 100mm heads its a fair bet they'll support just about any Scarlet Rig. If the gear can optionally also support 150mm or mitchell, you are gravy. The DanaDolly is a great example of what I am talking about.