Dana Dolly support system

Eric Coughlin said:
I'm looking for a support setup for the Dana Dolly. I was wondering if anyone has opinions on the Kessler Kwik Rail Leg System?

https://www.adorama.com/kecs1120.ht...AeIsDoO7ElBoCe8MQAvD_BwE&utm_source=adl-gbase

I have a couple Matthew's lowboy stands which I can get cheap speed rail for at Home Depot, I'm told. Dana Dolly also sells a set with a bag which can screw together for $600.
Click to expand...

I haven't used the kwik rail system - it looks like you have more fine tune control over height adjustments and it may be better for extremely awkward set ups. I personally use low boy combos and apple boxes. For speed, I'd rather make height adjustments with a single knob than have to adjust two. Plus you at least have the option to use the stands for lights if the slider isn't being used.

There's the matthews slider stand too which you've probably seen.

Screwing the track is an annoying step, though unavoidable for people who don't have the space. I'd definitely try speed rail first, get it cut to one or two lengths you think you'll use. For example, I have 1.2m, 2m and 3m lengths with the 2m being the most frequently used by a big margin then the 1.2m for smaller spaces. 2m is an unofficial max length before adding a centre support (doesn't have to be as heavy duty as the low boys). Six years ago I asked Mike Hall, the Dana Dolly inventor himself (extremely nice guy) about centre supports and this was his repsonse:

"With 18 feet of regular schedule 40 pipe, I think you would need the two track ends and two center supports in the middle. We did a 60 foot move on pipe, staggered the seams of the pipe, with a Red camera and Cambrio lens on Sachtler 18, and we had center supports every eight to ten feet, and it worked really well".

This is just something to think about if you're scaling up and the only way is to add multiple sets of joining pipe. At that point though I would be pushing for professionals to lay track for a dolly you can operate from.

Another quote about DD's diamond track if anyone is interested:

"We really made the track for people who travel a lot and don't want to go out and get pipe when they travel, or don't use grip trucks. Mainly the networks and some sports places. 99% of our customers never use the diamond track. It was just one of those things customers were asking for so we made it."

I'd like to add two sets of wheels like these at some point - https://modernstudio.com/products/ez-roller-combo-wheel-set-of-3?_pos=9&_sid=15a1f1e41&_ss=r.
 
Sometimes I think Kessler drop the ball. I think this might be an example of that.

Of course with enough setup these may shine on very rough surfaces.

Personally I have 100mm bowls on my pipe ends and use 2 satchler tripods - I feel this works better on rough ground steps, whatever than lowboys.

slider01.jpg
http://framedogs.com/rental/
 
morgan_moore said:
Sometimes I think Kessler drop the ball. I think this might be an example of that.

Of course with enough setup these may shine on very rough surfaces.

Personally I have 100mm bowls on my pipe ends and use 2 satchler tripods - I feel this works better on rough ground steps, whatever than lowboys.

View attachment 140693
http://framedogs.com/rental/
Click to expand...

I have a similar set-up with my MYT Works slider. 100mm half-ball adapter on each end and two sets of Sachtler 100mm Speedlocks. I also have 1 1/8" studs so that I can put it on the low rolling stands I pictured above, if need be.
 
How do you like the MYT setup? I have a Hollywood Microdolly 13 ft dolly, which works okay as a quick to setup dolly, but lacks some of the design and versatility of a slider or Dana setup, and I have a Trost slider which is beefy (rated for 500 lbs) but it has bumps in it so I'm looking for a replacement. Dana Dolly is king in terms of rental brand name and rental requests, so I'm leaning towards getting that.

I was also looking at the Proaim Flyking slider (https://www.proaim.com/products/proaim-flyking-precision-camera-slider-100mm-bowl), which is a heavy duty slider that looks well designed but is a lot cheaper than the Trost or MYT slider. There are some review type videos but not a lot of user information about them so I'm not fully sure of the quality, while MYT has more positive mentions from users over the years. Ideally I'd like to have both a beefy slider and a Dana dolly type. The Matthew's Dutti dolly is another consideration, but Dana does win in terms of brand recognition.

Another issue I have with sliders is that just about every slider I've owned (around eight now) has gotten bumps in it at some point. Dana is made such that bumps won't come since the slider track is cheap and easily replaceable, as well as the wheels being big making bumps in the rails less prominent.


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I have two of the Matthews slider stands currently, and three full Apples, but I might go ahead and buy a fourth.

One of my friends said he got steel speed rail instead of aluminum, which is heavier and more durable so it doesn't flex as much.
 
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The MYT Works is actually a really nice slider, if you need a fixed length, fixed assembly system. Very smooth, very well built, if not a little on the pricey side. I bought my first one, because I wanted something quick that didn't require any assembly(besides throwing your head on it) and you could just throw down on the ground or wherever and grab your shots quickly(I already had a large, heavy duty system that required assembly and "track").

I bought the Large 4' version. It can handle a payload of 150lbs. And I went with the four footer, because it's the longest one that can still fit inside a Pelican case for transport/shipping. I would have liked to have had 5' or 6' for a little extra room to move for interviews, but I kind of never really intended to use it for that purpose, even though that's the only time it usually comes out, now.

Now, if you noticed I said I "bought my first one" in the previous paragraph. I broke that one packing up after a shoot in Atlanta last year(I have bad luck with gear when I come down there...). I had it standing up vertically taking the half-balls off of it and i let go of it to put them up and it fell over onto the carriage which was at the highest vertical point, onto a concrete floor at Phillips Arena. It jammed it onto the track and it wouldn't budge. I figured it was going to be a few hundred bucks to get it repaired. Wrong. It was going to be probably 1/2 to 2/3 of the cost of a new one for the repair. They offered me, I think, 15% off of a new one to trade the damaged one, so that's the route I went.

I'm actually glad I did get the new one(besides spending the money on something I rarely use), because they made a great upgrade over the original design that is very simple, yet VERY nice and effective. The carriage and end stops have (very strong) same pole magnets built-in that allow you to softly stop without hitting the ends of the slider, resulting in hard, abrupt stops that would normally ruin a shot or at the least make the end unusable. It's almost impossible to hit the ends with this new dampening system. And I've tried...

https://www.mytworks.com/camera-sliders/#1575387577353-9d172d12-caf9

Dana Dolly's are sorta "the standard" and very versatile, but for smaller set-ups, I wanted something quicker and easier to set-up.
 
With the Dana Dolly, I have the Norms Studio Equipment combo Low Boy stands, with wheels added. I initially used hardware store electrical pipe for the rails, but it is slightly smaller that the rail bracket openings, so the dolly sled only ran on two sets of wheels...the others were in the air. "Speed Rail" pipes are a perfect fit.

I only use 5 foot runs, but if you want to go longer, Dana provides some under rail supports that can be used with a reasonably beefy light stand in the middle, but I'm not sure if you would see any sag with the speed rails, even out to a 10 foot run. YMMV.

Other than the wheels, a must have accessory can also be found at Norms...it's a set of arms that lowers the rail assembly much nearer the ground. The problem with the low boy combo stands is that by the time you mount the rails, the tripod head and then the camera, you are often well above the eyeline of a subject sitting in a normal chair. The arms fix that problem, and in their lowest configuration, give you some interesting lower angles for dollying. The arms also have two rods that deploy out to the ground and stabilize the whole system. Not recommended for wooden floors, though, unless you put a pad down first.
 
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