ProAm USA DVC210 Orion DSLR Video Camera Jib Crane Tilt - Aircraft Aluminum Camera Crane with Top-Mounting Bracket - Extendable Filmmaking Camera Stand with Auto-Tilt - 8 ft

This is a great unit. It is very well built. Has no twisting motion. Is very lightweight, and sets up very fast. However be aware that if you use this on a Fluid Head Tripod, the plate gets in the way of full tilt. If you have a lightweight tripod with weak tilt locks, the total weight will force the head forward throwing the unit out of balance. We use either a top of the line Manfrotto Flat Fluid Head or an old Jib with the adapters for mounting with the Ball Bearing Plate.

This crane is awesome. There's only 1 thing that bothers me about the design and that's the way that the two crane arm pieces connect to each other. They are only secured by two screws which don't even screw into the corresponding arm, rather they just kinda press into it.... With that being said/typed, it still appears rather sturdy however I did make a minor modification. A quick trip to hardware store to get a bracket, a few screws and that's all it took. Just had to drill and tap. Regardless, awesome crane for an awesome price. Will definitely buy another one if I need a second unit.

In this price class, the ProAm is really the only choice. I tried one of the cheaper carbon-fiber extendable jibs and it was ok, but doesn't allow you to get high enough for the big swooping shots. It also had lots of problems with bounce and wobble. Not so with the ProAm. It's very stable and solid and I've gotten some terrific super-smooth crane shots with it. As with any kind of camera gear, some practice is required to get professional results. The secret to the ProAm is that it must be properly balanced. You must have the right amount of weight on it so that the jib arm stops when you let go of it, otherwise you will get some "bounce" in your shot. I found that I had to use a little weight bag with some tiny weights in it in addition to the bigger weights to get proper balance. My only complaint is that at this price it really should come with a carrying bag. ProAm sells one separately, but it's pricey at $60. Since the jib comes apart into multiple large pieces, it's pretty unwieldy to carry it and not fun to lug to a shoot without a cart or something. Also, it's fairly heavy (which is a good thing because heavy = stable) so unless you have a beefy tripod and a pro head that you can really lock down on the vertical axis, you must buy their tripod and bearings. This thing will crush a flimsy tripod. So the price can easily double when you add all that in. Overall though, this is a great choice for crane shots on a budget.

We just got back from a shoot. The crane works magnificently. Very smooth. You just have to add things like a crane jib stand. Having read the reviews the stand doesn't pan and the panning bearing sold by proam doesn't fit the stand that they sell. My plan is to use my heavy Ravelli tripod with a manfrotto half 75mm bowl and mount the panning bearing and then mount the crane to the panning bearing. For this shoot I mounted the crane to a heavy duty tripod and head. But the issue with this, is the plate... in my opinion, the tilt doesn't lock because the crane is too heavy for it to hold.

This jib is a wobble looking for a place to happen but does have some redeemable features. The good: Once you figure out the counterbalancing the jib does move super easy and quite smoothly in vertical directions. Packaging was excellent with the major components all bubble wrapped. Box was undamaged The not so good: Construction seems cheap and looks like it definitely came from China but could not find a country of origin mark anywhere The ugly: WOBBLE WOBBLE WOBBLE. Camera won't even sit straight on the mounting plate since the jib wants to cock to the right. The only way to adjust is by adding more weight to the left bar. When panning, there's two inches of free play slop at the camera before the jib catches up to itself. I knew we weren't buying a high end unit but thought based on the reviews it would be better than it is. We're waiting to receive their heavy duty tripod, bearing plate and cable system. I don't think these items are going to address the wobble. UPDATE: SAVE YOUR MONEY!

It's my first Camera crane and I love it! I am a beginner. You can get incredible effects with this crane. It is well built has good balance and is smooth. You can put it together very quick. I do wish it came with a carrying case. I did purchased the camera stand for it and I would recommend doing that, that to is well built. I would certainly by another ProAm product! I have 4 crane movements in the video.

It's a pretty God jib but it's always tilting the camera. The adjustable tilt is not that useful. The jib does it says it does though. I would recommend buying the stand for it as well

Very satisfied. The jib is stronger and heavier than I expected. I probably went too big when purchased for my canon S100 and SX40HS but will be great fo the future when I get a heavier DSLR camera. Very well built. The carry bag is strong but could use some support inside such as light weight foam to keep jib from sliding around, but that I can add later. Plenty of room inside for monitor and other accessiries as long as they are in protective cases also.