Jason Adams
Section Moderator
I just received my Vance Jib and have been shooting with it all week.
Here are some of my experiences. (I am just a customer and I have no affiliation with cineventions.)
Pre Order:
I traveled to NAB to evaluate a jib purchase for this year. I got to test drive several of them. There is no perfect piece of equipment. Just one that is perfect for YOUR needs. My needs were simple. I wanted a Jib I could take out as a one-man-crew. I wanted the option for a jib shot as easy as I wanted a dolly shot.
I was mainly interested in portable manual jibs that DID NOT USE THE TRIPOD HEAD as a tilt mechanism. I am not a fan of this design. Many medium tripod heads are rated for 15-30 pounds. I don't like the idea of a a heavy load on the tripod head. YES I know its a balanced load, but it makes me nervous.
So, I was really in to the EZFX jib and the VanceJib. This saga continued for months. I called and talked to both companies several times, and exchanged emails. I am sure both companies were tired of my many calls and questions. Both were very gracious and very responsive, but Dan Vance impressed me by often returning calls after hours and always was prompting me for ideas on what I would want in a Jib. He was very accessible and extremely customer focused. I don't mean to imply that EZFX was not. I was just more impressed with Vance.
Pulling The Trigger:
A client of mine called and gave me about 72 hours notice for a shoot that called for a jib. I called Dan and he immediately shipped out my jib. The jib traveled from Arizona to West Virginia in less than 18 hours. Rock On FedEX. Dan called with updates, emailed tracking numbers and even followed up the next day to make sure everything was good.
Christmas Time:
My first impression of the jib box was" is that it" It was neatly packed in a box that seemed to small for a jib.
I opened the box and sure enough the jib was nicely packed with custom bracing foam, and a set of full color instructions in a plastic sealed bag.
Building The Jib:
I did not know how much counter weight to get so I set the thing up for the first time in the Walmart parking lot to get a feel for how many wights to buy. If you want to get some strange looks just build a jib in a parking lot.
The Jib went together in about 4 minutes. It was not until after I had the jib rigged that I realized that I never opened the directions. The set up was very intuitive and my directions are still neatly sealed in their shipping bag. It was really simple to set up.
Impressions:
The attention to detail isgreat. The Jib is color coordinated with the Logo Plate and the Jib is almost too pretty. You are afraid to scratch it or toss it around a bit. There are a few Red pieces of metal, like the Zacutto stuff. All the hardware stays mounted to the jib. The handle release s are even set up so that you can not unscrew them all the way and loose a part. It looks great and very professional. Each time I have used it this week it has drawn a crowd.
Flexability:
I put my DVX 100B on the jib and then my DVX with Letus Extreme, Rails, Follow Focus and 50mm lens. A few more counter weights on the back and the jib did well with the lighter load and the heavy load. There is not a lot of bounce and that end of moves like I have experienced with some other lighter duty jibs. It has a pan and tile brake on the jib and the moves really smooth. One really cool feature of this jib is that it telescopes in and out. So you can make the jib smaller if you are in a tighter shooting space.
I am very pleased with my purchase and I would recommend it especially to small crews or one-man shooters.
Here are some of my experiences. (I am just a customer and I have no affiliation with cineventions.)
Pre Order:
I traveled to NAB to evaluate a jib purchase for this year. I got to test drive several of them. There is no perfect piece of equipment. Just one that is perfect for YOUR needs. My needs were simple. I wanted a Jib I could take out as a one-man-crew. I wanted the option for a jib shot as easy as I wanted a dolly shot.
I was mainly interested in portable manual jibs that DID NOT USE THE TRIPOD HEAD as a tilt mechanism. I am not a fan of this design. Many medium tripod heads are rated for 15-30 pounds. I don't like the idea of a a heavy load on the tripod head. YES I know its a balanced load, but it makes me nervous.
So, I was really in to the EZFX jib and the VanceJib. This saga continued for months. I called and talked to both companies several times, and exchanged emails. I am sure both companies were tired of my many calls and questions. Both were very gracious and very responsive, but Dan Vance impressed me by often returning calls after hours and always was prompting me for ideas on what I would want in a Jib. He was very accessible and extremely customer focused. I don't mean to imply that EZFX was not. I was just more impressed with Vance.
Pulling The Trigger:
A client of mine called and gave me about 72 hours notice for a shoot that called for a jib. I called Dan and he immediately shipped out my jib. The jib traveled from Arizona to West Virginia in less than 18 hours. Rock On FedEX. Dan called with updates, emailed tracking numbers and even followed up the next day to make sure everything was good.
Christmas Time:
My first impression of the jib box was" is that it" It was neatly packed in a box that seemed to small for a jib.
I opened the box and sure enough the jib was nicely packed with custom bracing foam, and a set of full color instructions in a plastic sealed bag.
Building The Jib:
I did not know how much counter weight to get so I set the thing up for the first time in the Walmart parking lot to get a feel for how many wights to buy. If you want to get some strange looks just build a jib in a parking lot.
The Jib went together in about 4 minutes. It was not until after I had the jib rigged that I realized that I never opened the directions. The set up was very intuitive and my directions are still neatly sealed in their shipping bag. It was really simple to set up.
Impressions:
The attention to detail isgreat. The Jib is color coordinated with the Logo Plate and the Jib is almost too pretty. You are afraid to scratch it or toss it around a bit. There are a few Red pieces of metal, like the Zacutto stuff. All the hardware stays mounted to the jib. The handle release s are even set up so that you can not unscrew them all the way and loose a part. It looks great and very professional. Each time I have used it this week it has drawn a crowd.
Flexability:
I put my DVX 100B on the jib and then my DVX with Letus Extreme, Rails, Follow Focus and 50mm lens. A few more counter weights on the back and the jib did well with the lighter load and the heavy load. There is not a lot of bounce and that end of moves like I have experienced with some other lighter duty jibs. It has a pan and tile brake on the jib and the moves really smooth. One really cool feature of this jib is that it telescopes in and out. So you can make the jib smaller if you are in a tighter shooting space.
I am very pleased with my purchase and I would recommend it especially to small crews or one-man shooters.