Jump to content

Jib Arm Recommendations


Connor Thorpe

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

I'm a key grip based in Vancouver, BC looking to expand my kit. At the moment I'm thinking about adding a jib arm and would love some suggestions. It would need to be able to comfortably fly a remote head and Alexa SXT/Mini/Sony Venice camera packages.

So far, I've looked into the Intel-a-Jib, the GFM jibs, and the Jimmy Jib. 

Cheers!

Connor

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

I always thought Jimmy Jibs had a pretty spectacular price-to-performance ratio. Put it on a track and you have 75-80% of the capability of a Technocrane for about a quarter the price, given a suitably capable operator. 

That said, I'm just enthusing about a bit of gear I happen to like. I hesitate to make any real recommendation as it'll depend vastly on what sort of market you're in. In the UK, my impression is that Jimmy Jib is very much a broadcast TV thing; they're used extensively on things like property renovation shows. A proportion of their work (and this goes for a lot of cranes) has been supplanted by drones. The regulatory situation in the UK, and I suspect much of the world, conspires to make drones a lot less useful, and therefore a lot less of a threat to cranes, than perhaps they could have been.

I don't know enough about the GFM stuff to comment very sensibly but it seems to me that the Jimmy Jib is typically used in rather larger configurations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've used the Intel-a-jib with a Sony F55 and primes. We were doing simple moves, using a fluid head. It seemed to cope pretty well with the weight, but i have no idea if the added weight of a remote head would be a problem for it.

As Phil says, Jimmy-Jibs are very useful, but a good operator is essential. Without one, I find a lot of Jimmy-Jib work ends up being done on a super wide lens, and just looks like nasty daytime television tv.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...