12 feet Camera Crane Jib Boom with Crane Stand - No Tripod Necessary

We bought this as a tool for adding crane and pan shots to our corporate videos. The crane works very well. We attached our Panasonic AGHMC40 camera (two pounds) to it and counterweighted it with five, five-pound weights placed in the second hole and achieved an almost perfect balance. The jib/crane comes with three spaced holes at the back end of the crane so that weights can be moved around to balance the camera. There are three or four adjustment holes in the vertical shaft to allow height adjustments. A locking pin keeps the adjustment secure. With the 25 pounds of counterweights on he jib and the resulting balance, movement up and down and side to side is very smooth, creating really professional look to the video (a slow rise or diagonal rise). The jib pivots smoothly, too, with the weight. The included tripod stand is sturdy and adjustable to allow the legs to stand wider or narrower. With the locking pin installed, the camera remains level as the jib rises. With the pin out, a handle allows control of the camera angle, so that the camera can point up or down to follow a subject as the camera rises or lowers. I suppose the $17,000 jibs available elsewhere do more, but it's hard to imagine what. This is a really well made, well functioning product. Corporate types like us, wedding photographers, and even serious amateurs (or well heeled YouTubers) should get one of these. Once you start to look for them, you'll see that crane shots are really common--because you can add movement to immovable objects, such as someone playing a grand piano. (Watch the Miley Cyrus video "When I Look at You.") In a word, I highly recommend this if you're in the market for an affordable camera boom.

This Jib is easily set up and works as described. I gave three stars due to the use of the speaker stand. While it certainly works; it takes away the professional look and feel. The company could have at least retrofitted the top of the stand to avoid it looking like I threw a couple parts together in my back yard. That said however the product overall is a good buy and I would recommend it. For those purchasing this I also bought the Gator Speaker Stand Bag (GPA-SPKSTDBG-58DLX) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002V8R5M/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_53

Holes did not match up to threaded parts. Had to re-drill and add wing nuts bolts to replace connections. Jerky . . maybe need more practice or two people operating. . Fear of the camera falling / took a small light Animal trap to house around the camera to protect it from falling. That require 40 pounds counterweight which causes the boom to bow.

it works good for me...did not have any problems with itrecommend this for anyone who is interested in it.

Wow! Great Jib! I've used others and this one is smooth - easy setup and breakdown, very stable, and LIGHT!...armature makes it easy to rig accessories.

Build quality isn't great. But you get what you pay for it is easy to setup and I don't trust it enough to put my DSLR on it but I put the GoPro on it and I go to town with that thing. Its super fun to dip it under water then up in the air with gopros on it.

I was worried at first on how steady the device would be and if I could get secure stable shots.I have since used this in place of my slider as I can get more versatile shots. Not that it completely replaces it (say for time lapse videos) but for a well made jib such as this, its perfect for the price.

It's a great purchase for the cost. Very easy to assemble. The base is okay, would be better if made more steadier. I will replace the base with a stronger tripod. Great purchase!