Thinking of Buying a Dolly System

TimothyJinx

TimothyJinx

Well-known member
Right now the choices I am considering are:

GlideShot Industries. I don't know much about this one.
http://www.glideshot.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=55

LongValley Equipment. This one looks pretty cool and not too expensive.
http://www.longvalleyequip.com/dolly.php

IndieDolly. My favorite at this point. Can't find anything negative about it.
http://www.indiedolly.com

Anyone out there with experience with one or more of these products? Any other products in the same price ballpark? I'm not a DIY kind of guy, sadly.

I am ready to purchase right now.

Thanks!
 
I really don't like the style of the IndieDolly. If you want low shots on a high hat lets say, its not easy to mount to - also then that seat is useless and you now have to awkwardly walk along the dolly with your eye in the viewfinder. I guess if you have an onboard monitor, it aint so bad, but still not prefered. Also, where's your first AC going to go? If you want to mount a light, where are you going to put it? There are many benefits to a platform-style dolly that I would urge you to consider. I've used Long Valley Equipment before and its top notch stuff. If you don't need the ability to go on curved track then go with the Rowe Cine Dolly, if you need this capability, go with the Long Valley.
 
Noah, thanks for the comments.

I requested the demo video offered on the Long Valley site. I'll take a look at it before making my decision.
 
Go for the glideshot econo dolly... I just bought one, and they are great. But do yourself a favor and check ebay. They have a store and you can find some awesome deals. I got one minus shipping costs through Ebay.
 
I bought the bare bones kit from Long Valley and had a buddy build the dolly for me.
It works pretty good.
If you have QuickTime you can check out a little short I did using the dolly on quite a few shots here

There's even a couple jib/dolly shots using the Long Valley track and wheels.

I do need a really small dolly for a specialized shot I want to do so that ultra compact dolly from Glideshot may do the trick. Course, I need to figure out how to put a tripod a jib on it. :)
The dolly needs to be less than 12 inches wide so it's going to be a challenge. :)
 
n8ture, with a dolly being 12" wide, there's really no possibility of putting any tripod on it. I'd probably bolt down a high hat, put a riser on, and then put your jib arm on top of that, but I'm not really sure how high you need it to be, what the requirements of the shot are, etc. There's no doubt you're going to run into some serious balance issues. Not to mention, standard track is much wider than 1 ft.

As for a compact dolly, the long valley stuff is great because you can attach it to any board of any size you want.
 
pto2212, I have yet to see any easy way to make a great DIY dolly that runs on curved track.
 
Hey Noah,
Yeah, it's going to be tough as I need to get the camera over 8 feet high but run in a space less than 12 inches wide.
But, if I can pull the shot off, it'll be one killer shot. :)

Track isn't a big deal if I run PVC.

I've got the Long Valley wheels on a doorway dolly now and I hate to have to take them off just for this one shot.
No matter what I figure out, it still can't be more than 12 inches wide.
 
And what kind of jib arm do you need? Explain the location in more detail, maybe I can help.
 
I'll just be using a Cobra crane with the extension to give me the height
More than likely, I'll spread the tripod legs out a little bungee the hell out of it say a prayer to the film gods and let her roll. :)

That ultra compact dolly won't break the bank so even if I can't manage to get it to work, I can always use it for some low angle work. It'll also be easier to lug that around for my low angle shots instead of my heavy doorway dolly.
 
Wait, so are you just using the jib arm to give you the height? Or do you need a jib movement during the shot? If its just to get it up to that height, I wouldn't recomend using a jib arm. I'd actually suspend the track and have a small dolly on that. Check out dvcamerarigs.com Dan has a setup there that would suit your needs (that is, if you don't need a jib movement mid shot).
 
No, I'll need movement.
But, I just found out, I may be able to get away with the 16" dolly instead of the 12". That'll give me a little more room. :)


Sorry to have hijacked this thread. :)
 
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