Anyone know about this? (low cost dolly question)

Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
Hahaha, what?!

I think that reflects more upon their (the indy crew's) responsibility and ability to organize then it does on rental houses.
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Ryan, I agree that it reflects on lack of proper organization but most small indie/videographers rely on volunteered crew/actors and that sometimes can be very unreliable. I have personally had situations where actors/crew didn't show up on the day of the shoot. Free stuff can sometimes be very expensive. Now, just imagine if I had rented most of the equipment. Bear in mind that sometimes I personally like to do small non-paying projects just to horn up my skills and expand my portifolio which can be costly if I rely on rented equipment. There are times when renting is absolutely the best route but it's just not applicable all the time.

Update: I called Blackbear Studios and spoke to John who seems like a nice guy and has so far answered all my questions. I might be the guinea pig for most users here and take on this dolly and give a review of my findings. I will keep you ya'll posted.
 
Blackbear dolly looks really good. complete set of dolly, 16 foot track, and track wheels is $2300.00. and is industry standard specs. add and 8 foot curved track peice and u have $2800...and remember its still a doorway dolly...so pop that off the track. seems like a very good deal. and looks pretty strong.

John how does the track wheels attach to the doorway dolly?

looking out for your crane also.
 
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Huy Vu said:
I would love to rent, seriously I would. But the cost of rental insurance drives the prices up to the point where I can no longer afford it. When I have to shell out $500 per day for even a basic shoot just to get the insurance to rent gear, that's when the cost/benefit equation goes screwy.

I wish there are more places like Wooden Nickel where they can just add you to their insurance policy for an upfront fee, that would make it a lot easier for me to rent stuff.
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If you were to acquire insurance on your gear (let say for 50K gear at $800 a year) you could tag on liabilty for rental for $900 for 100K worth of gear. And of course that would be for the entire year.
 
you have to thank god that you have equipment insurance at all! in my country, lithuania, you cannot insure such things at all! people simply would insure the equipment, then crash it on purpose and claim money!

sorry for offtopic, but i'm sad.. i have 100$k of equipment, which can't be insured ...doh...
 
jambredz said:
Blackbear dolly looks really good. complete set of dolly, 16 foot track, and track wheels is $2300.00. and is industry standard specs. add and 8 foot curved track peice and u have $2800...and remember its still a doorway dolly...so pop that off the track. seems like a very good deal. and looks pretty strong.

John how does the track wheels attach to the doorway dolly?

looking out for your crane also.
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Thanks for the complimentary words, Jambredz.

The track wheels pop directly onto the underside of the frame.

It is designed so that you can actually leave the pneumatic floor wheels on the dolly while functioning on track and vice versa. Installing the track wheels onto the dolly takes, maybe, a minute, as they screw right up into the frame. And once they're on, you can leave them on while you're functioning on floor and leave the pneumatic wheels on while you're functioning on track. So you have both your pneumatic floor wheels and track wheels on the dolly at the same time while functioning in either mode.

Also worth mentioning: The dolly comes standard with front wheel steer but you can convert it to a Four Wheel Steer Dolly by attaching a Four Wheel Steer Module onto the back (again, takes about a minute to convert).

You can also convert it to a Zero Point Steer Dolly with a Rear Module (about a minute to install). The Zero Point Steer allows the dolly to turn on its own axis (zero degree turns) so you can move the dolly in really unique ways.

Thanks for the question. And thanks to all for the warm welcome on dvxuser.

-John
www.blackbearstudiosystems.com
 
jinks said:
Thanks Ted, that dolly looks nice and portable. How much weight can it carry and how smooth is it? I saw three models on their site, which one do you have?
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It appears to be able to carry weight quite well. Not sure of the limits, but I've ridden on it with a pretty loaded camera/tripod/Letus/lens/rails/FF/MB/Marshall etc. and it seems to take it in stride. The rails are impressively strong and flex-free. They also fit together almost seamlessly, so the dolly rolls over the joints like they're not even there.

The kit I have is the basic dolly including seat and pushbar (but no accessory trays or motorized camera riser), one set of straight track (four 3' sections) and one set of curved track (four sections totaling a quarter of a 20' diameter circle). At current prices all that costs about $2400 including three very nice quality cases for the dolly and each of the track sets.

The only downsides are that it takes a little while to set up (like most track-based systems), and the seat is a bit wobbly. The latter is manageable if slightly annoying...

Overall I think it's a very fine product at a great price.

I should add that although I've never used one, Black Bear Studio's system looks quite nice too.
 
Thanks again Ted. I think I'm gonna settle for the Black bear dolly plus the track wheels.
 
Letter from a Customer

Letter from a Customer

Update:
Hi Guys,
We got the following review from one of our customers recently and I wanted to post it up here for those of you who were expressing an interest in knowing more about what customers were saying about our dollies. --John

-----

Customer Review: Rick Johnson, Rick Johnson Films

Having once owned a Matthews, I've always valued the versatility and convenience of the "doorway dolly" configuration. So, when I was looking to buy a new dolly I began comparing prices and value when I came across the new Black Bear Studio Systems dolly.

It's always a leap of faith to try a new manufacturer, but I've been completely satisfied with the advantages of the Bear dolly.

Several things are outstanding in my view:

1) The affordable round-n-round configuration (which they call "4-Wheel Steering Rear Converter Module") allows for a tighter turning radius, makes it much easier to repeat dolly moves with the same "arc," and is simply easier to move around the set, in and out of elevators, and around hallway corners. It also works much better as a "push" configured dolly than the conventional 2-wheel configuration.
2) The all-aluminum construction cuts down on weight, and the additional positions for mounting the operator seat is also a great convenience.
3) When I noticed that two wheels were used on each side of the rear axel, I added two more to each of the front axels as well (an up-charge of only $64.50) to make the ride even smoother on slightly irregular surfaces.

The price and value sold me, but the performance, manufacturing quality and very responsive customer service convinced me this was the right dolly for today. You can find some that are cheaper, but nothing comes close to the engineering, quality and great value of Black Bear Studio System's product.

Rick Johnson
Rick Johnson Films
www.rickjohnson.us
 
hey John..just popped over here again after the recent contact we made. Loving the look of ur dolly... looks pretty sturdy,glass smoothe and looks so pro. I've never had the previlage to use a professional dolly so can't compare...but it looks pretty good to me. Sure beats my DIY lol. looking forward to the rest of the videos.

Hows the crane coming along?
 
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Hey there--
Crane is coming along great! Thanks for asking about it. I don't believe the team has a release date yet but I believe it's nearing the final stages. I'll definitely keep you updated. I think people are going to nearly have a stroke when they see it. I can't talk details yet but it's unlike anything out there. I'm psyched for the release.
About the video series--that I think is debuting in March. It's been a long time coming but you'll see why when it's up. Pretty extensive.
Thanks for the kind words re: our dolly as well.
Be in touch.
-John
 
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