Cheapest Dolly for DVX

Hi vocare,

I'm personally thinking of making do with a rolling platform. It may not be as smooth as a dolly on tracks but some of these trays with castors may just work well enough if the surface is hard and smooth. Some have mentioned using a wheel chair. Should be easier to transport and setup that dolly with circular tracks too.

Personally I'm trying to see if I can build such a platform and put a little crane on it for my DVX.

Daniel
 
this may sound weird but i use a steadycam for it a poorman's steady cam that is. I get the same exact results. A weelcheair is preety good like metioned above but a steady cam u can build for about 20 bux from homedepot eqipment or by one on ebay for 70 or so bux is way cheaper and easy to transport. I maybee an idiot to metion this but some of my locations i can't get permits too so i basicaly sneak in abandond places and need to be discreet as possible. The steady can is extreemly portable. I can tell u that from my expireiance when ur on the run lol. The quality is the same. I know with a track u can setup a perfect 360. You can acheive the same thing with practice and its way cheaper. When u have the cash to spend on a proffesional rig get it. But for now stick to your budjet and get something that will produce the same results for cheap. The extra cash if you got can be invested in more lights and other equipment. Just my 2 dollars and 24 cents on the matter.
 
homemade steadicams don't work as well as real ones. They don't work as well as dollies either. I think a wheelchair is your best bet.
 
vortex677 said:
this may sound weird but i use a steadycam for it a poorman's steady cam that is. I get the same exact results. A weelcheair is preety good like metioned above but a steady cam u can build for about 20 bux from homedepot eqipment or by one on ebay for 70 or so bux is way cheaper and easy to transport. I maybee an idiot to metion this but some of my locations i can't get permits too so i basicaly sneak in abandond places and need to be discreet as possible. The steady can is extreemly portable. I can tell u that from my expireiance when ur on the run lol. The quality is the same. I know with a track u can setup a perfect 360. You can acheive the same thing with practice and its way cheaper. When u have the cash to spend on a proffesional rig get it. But for now stick to your budjet and get something that will produce the same results for cheap. The extra cash if you got can be invested in more lights and other equipment. Just my 2 dollars and 24 cents on the matter.
Click to expand...

The same exact results as a dolly ? Never.

And definately not with some cheapy homemade pipeweight contraption.
 
well i can tell you that with alot of practice might not be exact but i worked with dollys before and i know cant tell realy much of a difrence between the two. Again it requires alot of practice just shooting around. I saw some footage on a weelchair i much prefer definitly the steady cam over the weelchair method. After im done with my film I'll post it here and you guys tell me if you notice any difrence. I like also the steadycam because you have alot of freedom with it in terms of runing after your talent and so on and so forth. For me it's been a dream cause the running i usualy do is when we have to run away. As getto as that sounds im telling you guys try it, it realy works. I am not saying dont ever by a profesional rig. What i am saying is if you can do without it for now, you can invest in other crucial things ull need. For me the steady cam is a dream. The version i bought is called the machoglide of ebay. I can steer even pan. Again its not a outof the box item just like the dvx it takes alot of practice. It might look like a paperwieght u bought in a weird garage sell but hey if it works utalize it to it's full capability.
 
I'm sorry, i'm not normally one to judge, but. Vortex, your claims are BS.

Steadicam, even the very very very best Steadicam can not match what a Dolly can do in acuracy, reliablity, repeatablity. They do a very good job of stability.

What the machoglide, and other similar rigs do isn't even close to steady - I can do better handheld than half of those rigs - let alone just like a dolly.


To the original poster: You want a dolly? Get a dolly. Period. John's sugestion is a good one.

To anyone else reading: You want a dolly? ... well guess what you need? I'll give you a clue, it runs on pipe, it isn't made of it.

Vortex, you might also want to check the spelling of STEADICAM®.
It's not: "steady cam" "steadycam" "steady can" (That's a new one and made me chuckle.)
You say you've used a dolly and it wasn't any better than hulk-glide? I might sugest you also try a better (real?) dolly.
..You don't make the Macho-glide by any chance do you?

- Mikko
 
Go to Glideshot industries.... Look at the econo dolly.... AND check and see if they have any on Ebay. Sometimes they have awesome deals with free shipping!
 
..of course i would second John Hudsons suggestion. you should check out our feedback site page . it s just a few of the many cine dolly owners responses to the products(im sorry its a lame site right now, we have our hands full with somethng else right now, but it should be updated soon).

feedback page:

http://www.rowecine.com/rowecinefeedback.htm
 
Quick Question. How loud is the rowecine dolly? That's something I'm running into with my home built one.
 
well, ...if you ran it into a wall, it might make some actual noise. it really only makes a quiet whooshing sound if its rushing down the track. at normal slower dolly speeds its really near dead silent . you could potentially make it quieter by baffling the track, or the dolly itself, but the mic is generally not on the camera and the dolly moise would be lees of a worry than the ambient noise in the location. our kits have ridden many a pro metal track without issues., but the only time ive heard of it making noise is on one type of metal track. pending the condition or coating on the surface of the track it could cause some squaking, but generally speaking that would only happen on a near mirror, or very smooth finish metal track that for some reason or other has signifigant "stickyness "to it. some basic non-stick sprays or powders would clear even that up though. and its also worth mentioning that there shouldnt be any "Creaking" or popping from putting weight on .. or shifting weight on the dolly either. none of the ones ive built with our kits have had this, so i can only assume that when others put thier kits together that thiers is just as quiet in construction.
 
There isno doubt that thebest value for the dollar seems to bee the dolly made byrowecine. It is obvious that like all gear youget what you pay for. I built a quick and dirty transportable dolly carriage for my tripod and you can find that in the DIY section. It is what it is for quick and dirty simple dolly shots that are usually cover viz for voice overs. WHich bring me to my point. What do you need it for? if you are just shooting a cover shot here and there or stretching a shotto save time in editing. Go tothe DIY and build anyuoone of a half dozen examples there. If you are doing sometihing that requires elegance and finesse. Buy a good one and take the advice of people here who have used the rowecine, support a "local business"
 
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