VariZoom New Crane

Tom McKay said:
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The SnapCrane is super quick to assemble and includes wheel dolly, tripod, zoom control and remote head. It can be configured to make elevations of approximate 6', 8', 13', 17.5'

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Tom McKay said:
(...)

I just don't know that it is cheaper because I don't know what is included with others..

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Yes, I would like to understand the price list differences between them. It does seem that the Jimmy Jib can be more expensive than this one if we'll add the remote head... Or am I missing something here?

http://www.jimmyjib.com/pricelist.html
 
The Jimmy lite is 6k with a remote head. It's 2.5k for the jib with a cable pan tilt head. so that makes the boom it self about a grand,but they don't sell it separatly I asked.
 
i have worked with the jimmy jib and it's solid. not cheap gear for sure. i am interested to know why the varizoom one is more money. why is it better exactly? you can't really imply that the jimmy jib poses a danger because of poor design or build. it's proven in performance and safety.
 
VariZoom

VariZoom

Cheezweezl,

I don't think anybody implied a danger with the Jimmy Jib and I don't see in this thread anybody claiming it to be inferior or cheap. I am not familar with a Jimmy crane package but since you are maybe you can tell us what it comes with and what it costs?

I can tell you that my crane, the Snapcrane, requires mega hours to machine mostly because it is a true no tools assembly. No wrenches, screwdrivers. Other expenses associated with the VariZoom Snapcrane are redundant safety features aircraft pins and other marine grade stainless steel parts. It also includes a very robust tripod and dolly.

My general manager just had a non video professional assemble our crane without any assistance using our newly written instructions. He put it together by himself in just under 30 minutes and that included the remote head.

I think the no tools assembly/disassembly is a significant advantage over rigs that require alot of wrenching for set up and tear down. Again I am not implying that any other brands do require tools because I do not know the competition.

We actually just sold a unit to a local rental house this last week so I think we will hear some comparison input soon.

Tom





cheezweezl said:
i have worked with the jimmy jib and it's solid. not cheap gear for sure. i am interested to know why the varizoom one is more money. why is it better exactly? you can't really imply that the jimmy jib poses a danger because of poor design or build. it's proven in performance and safety.
Click to expand...
 
tom,

your response to andrew regarding his question as to why your jib is more expensive than the jimmy jib....

"Andrew if you want an inexpensive jib just remember if it fails it could kill someone. It has to be sound and well made if you are going to swing overhead. Our new SnapCrane is super tough and I did not know what it cost to make until I was done making 20 of them. I spared no expense and cut no corners for the concern I mentioned above."

so that's why i wrote what i did. here is the price list from the jimmy jb website.

http://www.jimmyjib.com/pricelist.html

$8335 for the 13' model.

$9535 for the 19' model.

price includes jib arm, hot head, battery and charger, controller for head, zoom, focus, iris control, etc.

i don't know if it includes a tripod but they offer one for $695.

i have not had to build or break down one of these. there is a studio i shoot at sometimes that has one built all the time. i have only just operated it so i don't know what sort of build time is involved. one thing that i think saves some time is that until you get into the super long ones, there is no cable rigging required. the triangle design makes it super strong.

i don't doubt that your jib is great quality. it's just that personally if i decided to drop 10k on a jib, i would go with the industry standard. the only thing that might sway me is if another brand offered better quality and more features at a lower price.
 
"i don't doubt that your jib is great quality. it's just that personally if i decided to drop 10k on a jib, i would go with the industry standard. the only thing that might sway me is if another brand offered better quality and more features at a lower price."

Exactly.

18ft Jimmy jib LITE is 6,350 no tripod , but only 15 pound cameras
And 18 Jony jib is 5,500 with tripod. They both include everything. JJ requires no tools, don't know about jony. Both can be setup in under 45 min. both are eight feet longer than varizoom, and they can be upgraded to get even bigger.

Don't get me wrong the MC 100 has legendary performance. I was gona try to by a Jimmy Jib body and put the MC 100 on it to save some cash, but Jimmy Jib won't sell cranes with out a head.

Listen, Varizoom I am sorry I am railing you guys so hard. I guess we have allways expected great products from you guys at great prices. May you should have rented a jimmy jib before you tried to make your own.

Once agian not trying to be a jerk. just looking for a good jib
 
that's where i'm at with this. maybe i'm wrong and the varizoom jib will take the market by storm but i don't think so. i'm sure it's a solid piece of gear but it's too expensive for what it is. i would head back to the drawing board and figure out a way to build it for less money while keeping it safe and solid and price it right.

as a sidenote, the triangle/truss design of the jimmy jib smokes the suspension cable design. less stuff to deal with and strong like bull.
 
SnapCrane

SnapCrane

Okay I see, Thanks. I was making reference to "inexpensive" not the Jimmy product.

I have seen some really bad cranes particularly out of China. They look good from 10' feet away but they are very scary. I had a knob crumble in my hands when I went to make an adjustment and a few months later I heard about the exact same thing happening to someone else with the same product.

It is just like the ratchet set that looks great but breaks when you use it. These guys will use sintered parts which are basically powder metal compressed and formed and then baked for about 5 hours. Looks great, looks strong but is actually a very weak construction. I have also seen the same failure in the Chinese gears that were also apart of the remote heads. Gears failed after very little use.

Definitely not a crane part. Thanks for the pricing it sounds like we are close on price anyway.

I just had a company buy a VariZoom Snapcrane that already owns both a Jimmy and a Cammate. They are renting it out and the response so far has been excellent and I believe they said our no tools assembly was very important to them.

So that feature may be a difference I don't know. Also we just sold another to a University.

The buyers so far have all said they shopped and compared before they made the investment so I think we did a good job and have it priced right. Our heads are everywhere and have an extremely good and long history.

It won't be long we will have some testimonials and references;

Thanks again for the thoughtful input.

Tom



cheezweezl said:
tom,

your response to andrew regarding his question as to why your jib is more expensive than the jimmy jib....

"Andrew if you want an inexpensive jib just remember if it fails it could kill someone. It has to be sound and well made if you are going to swing overhead. Our new SnapCrane is super tough and I did not know what it cost to make until I was done making 20 of them. I spared no expense and cut no corners for the concern I mentioned above."

so that's why i wrote what i did. here is the price list from the jimmy jb website.

http://www.jimmyjib.com/pricelist.html

$8335 for the 13' model.

$9535 for the 19' model.

price includes jib arm, hot head, battery and charger, controller for head, zoom, focus, iris control, etc.

i don't know if it includes a tripod but they offer one for $695.

i have not had to build or break down one of these. there is a studio i shoot at sometimes that has one built all the time. i have only just operated it so i don't know what sort of build time is involved. one thing that i think saves some time is that until you get into the super long ones, there is no cable rigging required. the triangle design makes it super strong.

i don't doubt that your jib is great quality. it's just that personally if i decided to drop 10k on a jib, i would go with the industry standard. the only thing that might sway me is if another brand offered better quality and more features at a lower price.
Click to expand...
 
VariZoom SnapCrane

VariZoom SnapCrane

Hey Andrew no problem at all. Like I said before I built these things without concern for a budget. I am not trying to beat price I am trying to beat quality and these things cost like crazy with the use of stainless, aircraft pins and marine grade parts.

I think I have the best boom for the buck simply because of how it is built. I hope you guys get a chance to compare. That's really the test for me anyway and people are buying after shopping around and that was the goal.


Thanks for sharing.

Tom


Andrew McMillan said:
"i don't doubt that your jib is great quality. it's just that personally if i decided to drop 10k on a jib, i would go with the industry standard. the only thing that might sway me is if another brand offered better quality and more features at a lower price."

Exactly.

18ft Jimmy jib LITE is 6,350 no tripod , but only 15 pound cameras
And 18 Jony jib is 5,500 with tripod. They both include everything. JJ requires no tools, don't know about jony. Both can be setup in under 45 min. both are eight feet longer than varizoom, and they can be upgraded to get even bigger.

Don't get me wrong the MC 100 has legendary performance. I was gona try to by a Jimmy Jib body and put the MC 100 on it to save some cash, but Jimmy Jib won't sell cranes with out a head.

Listen, Varizoom I am sorry I am railing you guys so hard. I guess we have allways expected great products from you guys at great prices. May you should have rented a jimmy jib before you tried to make your own.

Once agian not trying to be a jerk. just looking for a good jib
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Jason Ramsey said:
For that kind of money, surely those folks could afford a website that doesn't make me go blind trying to read it :evil:
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LOL... Not only that, but the HOME link at the bottom of the page is broken...

A few months ago I tried contacting seven or so owner/ops from their list http://www.jimmyjib.com/owner_op.html for a shoot. Six of the numbers were disconnected/bad.. I finally called Jimmy Jib directly asking if they had an updated list... They said their website was up to date. Being a nice guy I figured I would let them know about the "disconnected/bad" numbers, so they could clean things up and possibly save someone else the same frustration. Their response was "We don't remove a phone number unless the owner/op specifically asks us to do so..." Ok, but these numbers no longer work....! The conversation went around in circles for the next 10 minutes with no progress. I seriously thought I was on some "prank show." I can't remember the last time I hung up on someone, but the conversation was so ridiculous I finally did.

Isolated case... perhaps?
 
The CamMate is a popular option in professional circles. Their gear is industry standard and the support for operators a bit more robust than Stanton's. For a company that was, at one time, the only jib game in town, Jimmy Jib has done a really poor job of marketing and supporting their otherwise terrific products. And that makes me concerned about the underlying product.

Unfortunate.

e
 
SnapCrane FreshDV

SnapCrane FreshDV

Actually they stopped in the booth at NAB and looked it over and shot video so they may generate something. They do a great job checking out and reporting on the products.



Andrew McMillan said:
May you should send a crane to the guys at freshdv. I know a lot of people listen to what they say (me included)
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The guys at Varizoom aren't shifty salesmen or in this industry to make a quick buck. Their products are very professional. My uncle once told me the two things you should never try to make yourself are Cranes and Airplanes.

Just remember, at the end of the day your camera is on the end of that thing. I've seen an HVX totalled after a 2 ft drop.

If you're doing run and shoot type of productions with a small crew http://www.vimeo.com/user364128 might be the type of device that you might be interested in.

This is a type of device that will probably last for 10-20 years, which i think most independent production companies and commercial companies will really enjoy having.
Thanks for posting Tom.
 
dasher said:
If you're doing run and shoot type of productions with a small crew http://www.vimeo.com/user364128 might be the type of device that you might be interested in.
Click to expand...

they should remove those videos if they expect to sell their product. either the head is jerky or the operator is...

i get 100% smoother shots on my glidecam jib with a fluidhead operated by hand.

i know the varizoom heads are the jam. and i'm sure the new crane is too. i wish now they would make a "lite" model. something made for small rigs like most of us here would be flying. something that would complement the smooth moves that the head is capable of without breaking the bank.
 
its the operator.... that was just a random example. There's the Jimmy Jib Lite, but as mentioned... I think Varizoom's market probably doesn't mesh with a lot of helmers looking to shoot stuff in their free time.

They do a lot of business with companies that I know, and I'm sure once they begin to profit in that sector we'll see some cool prosumer products come along for people like you and me.
 
18 Jib

18 Jib

how do you guys find this for 3999$
1. 18 feet height.
2. Remote Pan tilt head 360 degrees.
3. Auto pan tilt mode.
4. Pan tilt movement Recordable ( 4 block shots ).
5. Inbuilt LANC Controls
6. LCD Display.
 

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