Pillar Style Dollies

[Thomas Troloope]

Hello, I have been looking at getting a dolly for my company and have been on a deep dive trying to understand the upsides and downfalls of all the dollies that you might typically see on the market. 

I am most familiar with fisher/chapman as I feel most dolly grips in the states do. And as most understand, getting my hands on one isnt a simple endeavor. Leasing wait lists are either closed or years out. 

I have been looking a lot into pillar style dollies. I have a bead on a super panther III and a Movietech Magnum. both around the same price, similar accessories. I really like these platforms just based on the stats and feature set, but I fear I would not be able to try one out before I buy. The size is very attractive, both being about 25"x25". Location shooting happens a lot so being mobile is important. Weight is not my biggest concern as me and the grips I work with are very used to getting a Fisher 10 in hard spots. 

I can see some potential issues with tipping over, but proper counter balance should help prevent that I feel. I see this being a issue mostly with the snake bracket/ low mode. Thoughts on the system and how hard it is to work with? how does the operator seating set up work with low mode and going all the way up?

to get to the reason I am posting, I am trying to understand these systems better. I have seen a lot of "I would not touch that with a ten foot pole" and the like. As much as I can I want to hear real drawbacks and advantages to the system, not just that it sucks and its for real professionals. 

 

[Felix Kastl]

Hi Thomas, 

Thank you for initiating this discussion...  I have a bias, given that I work for MovieTech ? but it goes without saying that I´ll try to give you my honest opinion. 

Both kinds of systems come with their advantages and disadvantages. 

Biggest plus on a fisher/chapman kind of Dolly is certainly the lower starting position. The arm also moves very fast and direct  and the steering modes and selection works very nice and handy. 

With most center-column dollies, both the operator and assistant´s seats elevate along with the dolly; the operators sit closer and have generally a better position to the camera. The seat arms of the new Magnum are also adjustable - so you should always find the ideal position for you.   
The electro-mechanical mechanism has several advantages over a hydralic system. Fully charged batteries allow for 2-3 days on set, whereas the hydraulic system needs to be pumped up frequently. Also temperature differences are less of a problem and you wont expereience any oil leakages. The systems are programmable and offer you various functions like selecting speed, start-stop ramps, target positions etc.. You can also limit the lift range via the electronics and record and replay the dolly movement. Payloads are approx. 300kg/660lbs but you should always load it with some 80kg.

A big advantage of the Magnum Dolly is that you can seperate the column from its base dolly. Thats a huge plus, especially in narrow locations. Also you can use the base dolly as a seperate dolly (e.g. with a small turntile) in case you dont need the column. 

In general, tipping over is no issue at all - obviously only if someone completely misbalances the dolly with a big jib of crane.. but that is kind of obvious. The system low rig is widelely used. You just have to use the counter-balance rod, some counter weights and thats it.  

To increase the lift range of the Dolly, you can also use a smaller Jib. with  most center column dollies you can connect the jib with a connection rod/bar to the column and thus increase the lift range. The column has a precise 360° ball bearing, so pan movements are super smooth. 

You already said it - leasing waiting lists are long or closed, however you can purchase a center column dolly. 

Please let me know if you need any further information. Do not hesitate to contact me. ou are also welcome to visit our factory in Munich and try out a Magnum Dolly in person. 

All the best, Felix