Wheelchair vs Dolly setup

[Eugene Hughes]

I would love to hear any feedback on what works better a wheelchair vs dolly on track setup. I see the stability of a dolly being a plus but the versatility of a wheelchair being helpful as well.

 

I fully understand the most important thing is to master the tool and you will get the best results. The mastery is more important that the tool itself but I am looking at what tool I want to invest my time and money in first.

 

I am thinking of making a "wheeled tripod" setup that has soft tires but I would love some feedback from those who have tried different setups.

 

best

Eugene

[Michael Nash]

A wheelchair and a dolly are two completely different things. A dolly can be any rig that will support some kind of camera mount. A wheelchair is really only good for a handheld operator in a seated position, which limits the lens height. Any attempts to kneel or stand on a wheelchair are completely unstable and useless.

 

Soft tires usually aren't such a great idea unless you have an absolutely smooth floor, or a really heavy dolly (or both). Anything lightweight will bounce unless the surface or track is absolutely smooth.

 

Check around used equipment dealers for a "Spyder dolly," it's essentially a three-spoke platform with casters that you can mount a tripod onto. Then of course there are all the various skate wheel designs for rolling platforms.

 

There's really no end to the types of dollies you could make, as long as it isolates the camera from bounce in some way. I've used just about everything with wheels at one time or another, including skateboards and library carts. You can go hand-held on something as low-tech as a shopping cart and get a smooth hand-held looking shot; kind of a poor-man's steadicam.

[Bob Hayes]

I always carry a wheel chair on the camera truck for those quick flexible moving shots. It?s a great way to keep you camera moving smoothly and yet feel hand held. If I need to get higher I sit on an apple box. It?s a good idea to always have a grip keep a hand on the chair for safety

[Guest Tony Roderick]

I would love to hear any feedback on what works better a wheelchair vs dolly on track setup. I see the stability of a dolly being a plus but the versatility of a wheelchair being helpful as well.

 

I fully understand the most important thing is to master the tool and you will get the best results. The mastery is more important that the tool itself but I am looking at what tool I want to invest my time and money in first.

 

I am thinking of making a "wheeled tripod" setup that has soft tires but I would love some feedback from those who have tried different setups.

 

best

Eugene

 

 

The best set up I have seen is the camera dolly on a track with the soft wheels that do not take a compression set from a company back east.