best "travel" style jib

B

BrettR.

Active member
Hey,

I'm looking for a good, lower priced, smaller jib. So far the Aviator, Trapezist and KC-lite seem like the front runners, but i don't know how to pick from them. IF there is another great option I'm overlooking, please inform me. IF you have a personal experience with any of them, please share. Thanks! I'll be flying a 7d with a 24-70 most likely or a Panasonic HPX-170, if that isnt over the weight limit.
 
Just got an Aviator. 6.5 load capacity (camera end, with another 8lbs on counterweight end). Almost 6 foot reach from bottom to top. No pan/tilt head of course, but I've heard some noise about people working on some kind of a manual head solution that's lightweight.

Attaching counterweight is the hard part, because you don't really want a weight that sways. I've been looking for some kind of large container that I can fill with water, so I can empty my resevoir when hiking and use that as a counterweight, and then pour the water back for drinking. The weight bag (a small sandbag) is a little too small IMO, but it still works. I saw an unboxing video here if that's any help: https://timelapse.org/forums/threads/aviator-jib.225/
 
I have a Trapezist, and absolutely love it. Use it for a GH2 with a heavy zoom. It is fast to assemble so I never hesitate to use it. Mine is the newest version with a very easy to balance sliding weight.
 
troelskirk said:
I have a Trapezist, and absolutely love it. Use it for a GH2 with a heavy zoom. It is fast to assemble so I never hesitate to use it. Mine is the newest version with a very easy to balance sliding weight.
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Wow. I'm wondering who ripped of who (or is it whom?) Did Trapezist rip off Aviator or was it the other way around? Aviator is new, but was first announced maybe 7 months ago. When did you buy your Trapezist? And what's the price like?
 
We own a Trapezist, great little tool, it's amazingly light. We use it with a regular barbell plate with their newer counterweight mount. You can see our review here (click CC for English subtitles):

 
I use the 4 foot Glideshot http://glideshot.com/products_camerajib.html with my HPX 170. It's cheap but with practice I have been able to get some pretty good results. The jib is just part of the cost. You may need a suitable tripod to carry the extra weight of the jib/camera/counterweights, a quick release mount, panning base and a suitable camera mount. With my HPX it comes out to about 14 lbs. of counter weight needed. The quick release clamp on rear of the jib bar can be positioned to fine tune balance.

Keylight, I do most of my filming in the woods. If it is a short distance I will carry my weights. If not I strap two empty one gallon plastic jugs to my pack which weight about nothing and fill them up at a creek. I use the camera remote to start/stop to avoid any vibration and can move the jib with one finger when properly balanced.
 

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Mark Williams said:
Keylight, I do most of my filming in the woods. If it is a short distance I will carry my weights. If not I strap two empty one gallon plastic antifreeze jugs to my pack which weight about nothing and fill them up at a creek. I use the camera remote to start/stop to avoid any vibration and can move the jib with one finger when properly balanced.
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Thanks! That's a good idea.

eiker_ir said:
We own a Trapezist, great little tool, it's amazingly light. We use it with a regular barbell plate with their newer counterweight mount. You can see our review here (click CC for English subtitles)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the video. Seeing it up close like that is really helpful. Is the tilt axis point a simple bolt, or does it have bearings?

The Aviator has bearings for the tilt, and I'd think that would be an advantage. Also, looks like the Trapezist needs a head to work (so you can pan) whereas the Aviator has a built in pan base. So for hiking, I can leave the head at home, or just take one and put it on the camera end of the jib.

Found this review of Aviator online.

 
keylight said:
Thanks for the video. Seeing it up close like that is really helpful. Is the tilt axis point a simple bolt, or does it have bearings?

The Aviator has bearings for the tilt, and I'd think that would be an advantage. Also, looks like the Trapezist needs a head to work (so you can pan) whereas the Aviator has a built in pan base. So for hiking, I can leave the head at home, or just take one and put it on the camera end of the jib.
Click to expand...

It's a bolt but it has worked fine so far.

It does need to be mounted on a head.
 
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