Cinevate Atlas 10 or Kessler Crane Stealth?

traviswears

traviswears

Well-known member
Have found some reviews on both but nothing directly comparing the two. From what I can tell, the Stealth (PB Pocket Dolly w/out the crank) wins the noise and drag control (given the Atlas 10 doesn't have drag control) battle while the Atlas 10 wins on price (significantly).

Anyone have personal experience with either or both who would weigh in on this to help me choose?

The Atlas is priced right and seems to be the more financially-wise choice but I want to make sure the movements are going to be as smooth as the Stealth. Plus, it's a little disappointing that a soft case for the Stealth comes in at $90 and a soft case for the Atlas 10 is nearly $200.

As always, thanks for the feedback.
 
I've only used the Atlas but I've bought 2 and rent them out all the time for fairly large productions. I love the build quality and they seem to have just the right amount of resistance.
 
thekreative said:
I've only used the Atlas but I've bought 2 and rent them out all the time for fairly large productions. I love the build quality and they seem to have just the right amount of resistance.
Click to expand...

That's reassuring. The build quality of the Atlas 10 does seem super solid. Which size do you find most useful?

Thanks for the reply.
 
I have the stealth but have not used the atlas. The drag control is nice, as switching between a DSLR or the Af100 requires different resistance to get smooth moves. But honestly I don't get how people get really smooth moves on any of these sliders by hand. Maybe I just need more practice, but I find using the motor system to be far superior. The moves are always perfect, and you can get extremely slow moves as well as moving timelapse. The option for the motor puts the stealth as the winner for me, but that adds a lot to the cost.
 
EidolonFilms said:
The option for the motor puts the stealth as the winner for me, but that adds a lot to the cost.
Click to expand...

Would love a motor/controller but not sure I can afford it. Mind telling how much your total investment was with the motor and all? Which controller are you using?
 
I think the total cost was around $1700. This was for the stealth with all-terrain legs, case and the elektraDrive kit with Basic controller. You'll also need a quick release adapter for mounting a camera flat, or a flat mount tripod head, or a ball head to attach the camera. The basic controller has worked great so far for me. For real-time moves it allows me to get perfectly smooth, repeatable shots, and you can easily dampen the start and stop for a smooth start and finish. I haven't tried any complicated time-lapse moves yet, and I don't think I ever will, so I can't comment on how good it is for that. Obviously they built the Oracle for a reason, but for me, I just need it for basic moving time-lapse shots, like crowds, traffic, and occasionally some nature stuff. The Oracle adds a pretty big cost as well. The only issue with the motor (at least the 200 series) is that it sounds like a hair dryer as it moves. So you can't use sound from the same time as the shot, or in a place that needs absolute silence like an interview. I think either the higher or lower series motors would be silent, can't remember which.
 
Im getting ready to order this same setup myself, except I think Im going to go with the 500 motor as I will be using this for time-lapsed as well. That being said, have you tried maybe wrapping the motor in foam or something to deaden the sound a bit? Did it help?
 
I have the atlas 10. It's really nice and it's built very well. My only complaint is the leg design is now different than what they show on the website. Now you need to take the bolt all the way out to adjust the all terrain legs. The bolts Cinevate gives you are way too long and stick out past the bracket they screw into. I've talked to customer service about this and they said they might machine some more of the "old" style legs. No time frame was given...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top