Scored a camera dolly.

[Texas Dave]

Pardon the ran-sacked looking studio but I'm pretty happy and my back is going to be pretty happy with the "new"...old camera dolly I bought last week. Has a majestic head on it and all seems to work. I did have to cut about a foot off the pole to get it to fit in the room but everything seems to work. Not pretty but sturdy and steady.

[Manfred M]

Nice monster. Those big rigs are so stable.

I guess you won't need to worry about camera shake in the future...

[IzzieK]

I can just feel your chest beaming with pride at this contraption...happy for you. Congratulations and good luck. That should last you for the rest of your life the way it looks...

[Loose Canon]

Awesome David!

I’ve had the “I want’s” for one of these for a while! I even have some plans drawn for a custom mono stand that I have been threatening to take to one of my fabricator friends to see if he would build it! These things ain’t cheap (for a good one anyway)!

I don’t have a problem with camera shake but I’m tired of hitting my tripod with my foot and knocking it out of whack when I need absolute stationary. I want something that if I whack it I break my stupid toe instead!

I guess with shortening it you were able to keep the counter weight system intact?

[Texas Dave]

Yeah, the counter weight is a pulley on top with what looks to be about 18" of concrete formed to fit inside the upright pipe. If I loosen the set screw on camera arm it will actually start floating up...so far without the weight of the camera and laptop. I was looking into fabricating one but this one came available through a friend and I got it cheap.

The main reason I like it is when shooting multiple brochure samples for my company's portfolio I can now lower, raise or move without having to readjust three tripod legs. It's so smooth and easy to maneuver.

Bad news is, I can feel the vibration of the building's air conditioner in my camera now. If I move around I get no vibration or less to none. I may add some Sims® vibration dampeners if it keeps up. ...always something!

[rpcrowe]

David, Congrats on your new acquisition.

A camera dolly or camera stand is wonderful for studio work.

Here is perhaps a solution or solutions to the vibration problem:

I would expect that the stand is designed for a far heavier camera than your DSLR. Perhaps adding several pounds of weight to the area where the camera/laptop will be mounted might help...

AND/OR

Perhaps shortening the arm on which the camera is to be mounted might also help in reducing vibrations...