Got my eye on this crane - any good? NO!

Soliton

Soliton

Well-known member
DVC200 MiniDV Camera Crane
crane_8lb_1.jpg


I am seriously looking at this crane and wondering if anyone here has experience with it.
It mounts on your own tripod and, as you can see, uses no cable/pulley system. I would need a heavier pod for this one.
$289 seems a bit high to me.

Check it here ..
http://www.bargain-camera.com/productionequipment/cranes2.html

Any thoughts about this or links to another thread already covering it are welcome - thanks!
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

you could probably build that very same thing for $60 ;)

I'd try to build it first. Save yourself some cash.
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

looks really good, let us know how it performs. Im interested
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Shaw, I'd love to build this and a lot of other things I've read about here. But the cash I was goin' to spend on tools went for a DVX, NLE, mic, pod, lights, filters and all that. At least I think I got good deals on most of it...
Unless I see a big negative on this one in the next couple days I'll probably pop for it. Thanks!
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

uhm..yeah... Man, I'm still trying to convince myself that a sewing machine is not a power tool.... ;D Looks great, though!
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

We honestly built that in a few hours.
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Well, you would be AWESOME on a show like Junkyard Wars or Monster Garage a la moviemaking! heh! 8)
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Damnit, Rikki, you are a man of many talents. I'm impressed.
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

DVXFilmMaker,
Wow! That's a great looking piece of work. Seems heavy enough I could mount my Camry on the darn thing and do a tire rotation  ;D
One problem though. One can't see how I would tilt the camera while booming unless someone (probably me) was out there holding on with the ballhead unlocked  ???
I guess i could build this in a day if I already had all the materials and that drillpress I passed up for 6 filters from B&H. I wasn't thinking too straight that day - probably not enough caffiene, ...oh, ..no, now I remember, that was the day all 9 cats were hacking up hairballs in a contest to see who could make me ralph first. A bad day that was, indeed - whew!
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good?

Hey Guys,
The crane has arrived. I'll make this short - take heed.

Avoid this one.

Why?
it wobbles, mostly due to poor tolerences and cheap parts.
The cheap black paint is on everything, even in threaded bolt holes. But this is improving because the paint is coming off, all by itself, on my hands, cameras and floors.
The counterweight support bolt is too short and should have an 'eye' to hang a sandbag for fine tuning.

I should have popped for the drill press instead ;)
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good? NO!

[quote author=Slimothy link=board=Links;num=1100285184;start=0#11 date=11/20/04 at 21:56:13]How much was it?
[/quote]

$289 but shipping bumped it up to $310.
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good? NO!

There is a guy on the marketplace/buying gear section selling his Cobra Crane 1 for $300. Might've been a better buy. Thanks for the heads up though.
 
Re: Got my eye on this crane - any good? NO!

Slimothy -
Thanks for the info, but I will first try to rework this one into something I can use for a while. Its late autum here and the money tree has lost most of its leaves :-/
 
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