Comparing Dolly Systems

A

armadillo

Well-known member
Hi,

I am looking at dolly systems and I was wondering if anyone had any comparisons or experiences they were willing to share with respect to the various options out there.

Cinevate, Wally Dolly, etc, etc...

It's kind of like adapters where it's difficult to get out there and test each one...
 
I have a Cinevate dolly (am selling it in the Marketplace, in fact) and my previous dolly was the Indie Snap! Flex Track

They're on very different ends of the spectrum. The Indie Snap! is meant for quick setup, high portability and when you're either working by yourself or with a small crew. The Cinevate is really meant for a larger productions: it's a lot heavier (46 lbs), require breakdown for transport (unless you have a van or a truck) and require you to bring along longer tracks.

Both are pretty smooth, with both advantage and disadvantages. The Cinevate has two articulating arms which makes it harder for the dolly to derail. Once you got the PVC tracks all ready then just mount the dolly and you're good to go. It takes a little bit more time to do this with the Indie Snap! Flex Track, although the whole system (dolly and track) fit nicely into a duffle bag.

Depends on what the shooting style and budget is: if you can get a decent number of crew members to carry and operate, have the means to transport the dolly and time to assemble it then the Cinevate is a better long term choice. If it's strictly run and gun shooting then a system like Indie Snap! is better.
 
armadillo said:
if you are selling the cinevate, are you upgrading to something else?
Click to expand...

I'm actually going back to either the Indie Snap! or something along that vein. I work with a very small crew usually and it's just too hard for me to carry the Cinevate around. Portability is more important to me at this point.
 
Huy Vu said:
I'm actually going back to either the Indie Snap! or something along that vein. I work with a very small crew usually and it's just too hard for me to carry the Cinevate around. Portability is more important to me at this point.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Thanks for the guidance.

Did you use the Indie Snap for shots in your linked demos / shorts?

Do you have any complaints about the motion of the Indie Snap?
 
armadillo said:
Did you use the Indie Snap for shots in your linked demos / shorts?

Do you have any complaints about the motion of the Indie Snap?
Click to expand...

Yes, all the shots in there were done with the Indie Snap

I don't have any complaint except that it's impossible to operate the camera while pushing the dolly, but that's true of any dolly without a seat. With an upgrade option the Cinevate can do this and that's the main reason why I bought it. But now that I weight the trade-off the Cinevate isn't right for my style of shooting.
 
Nice information.

Does anyone else have any advice, or Huy, do you have other similar alternatives in mind to the Indie Snap?

I saw a thread on here where several people called the company a sham and said they never got their product. Glad this was not an issue for you.
 
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