Cinetics CineSkates Pro Tripod Camera Dolly

high priced for a dolly that barely holds up my dslr. Next time I will shop around.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  This is a pretty fantastic tool that does a few things very well, and would add something valuable to an independent filmmaker's bag of tricks. It's a portable and lightweight dolly, that you can use to mount a camera or camcorder, and the wheels are adjustable so that you can travel in a straight line, an arc, or a circle. It allows you to get smooth traveling shots -- at least on pavement or a smooth floor. It would be ideal, especially, for adding traveling shots to a stop motion movie, something I'd never been able to do smoothly.It's got skate board wheels, and they roll smoothly. To make it work, you've got to mount either a tripod head or a small tripod on top. It's designed for use with the  GorillaPod Focus tripod . You can also take the wheels and mounts off, and they hook up directly to a Gorillapod Focus, but the stability and the control come from the dolly mount. I don't have a Focus, but I do own a  Benro tripod , which (as you can see in the video) works great on there if you adjust the legs to fit, and it adds some much needed height. Without it you can only really shoot from a very low position, but with it, you can go up about 3 feet (more than that requires extending the legs, and then it becomes fairly unstable).You can adjust the angle of the wheels so that they roll, as mentioned, in a straight line, an arc, or a cicle, and the angle positions are marked with letters so you can return to a position you've used before easily. The wheels, also, have gradations marked on them, so that you can move a very precise distance, which would be essential for stop-motion animation.This is a very different tool than the much less expensive "dollies" that you can buy for bigger tripods. I've got  this  one, and it's really only suitable for moving equipment from shot to shot, and doesn't help me get usable video shots like this one can. It's still true that the ground you're rolling on has to be very smooth if you want smooth video. A tennis court, a basketball court, a hardwood floor, even a smooth walkway, would all work, but don't even think of getting a smooth shot on pavement. For that you'd need a heavier dolly, with bigger wheels - or a car with a sturdy suction mount, perhaps. The attached video here was shot on a concrete walkway, and I get a pretty smooth shot, but - as you can see - there is a little bit of jiggle. I tried shooting on my concrete driveway which is a bit rougher, and I got a lot more jiggle.A very well-designed product for a number of uses, whose usefulness can be increased if, like me, you have tripod that fits it securely and that can add more height than you can get from the Gorillapod. I would love to see them design one of these, perhaps with bigger, double wheels, and with longer, adjustable, arms and an even more stable body that could fit a wide range of tripods. It might even need some kind of shock mount above the wheels, but I think a company like Cineskate has the potential to put out some really revolutionary products. I really like this one, and I can't wait to see what else they come up with.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  I love shooting low-angle shots in my videos, and this dolly allows my camera to move smoothly across surfaces while being very low to the ground. And it's a good thing, because you're not into low-angle shots, then there's not much use for this dolly (unless you place it on a raised surface). This dolly is made for a specific purpose and it's very good at what it is supposed to do; but as with most equipment, it is not ideal for every type of shot you'd want to get.The main feature of any dolly is obviously the wheels - and these are very high quality and allow the unit to glide effortlessly. The unit has many wheel configurations (labeled as different letters), which allow you to easily adjust the wheels to achieve whatever movement you're looking for - whether you want the camera to move straight, curved, or in a complete circle.Your camera can be screwed directly onto the dolly plate, but if you do that you won't have many options when it comes to panning/tilting (or otherwise moving) the camera while on the dolly. So you'll probably need to invest in additional equipment if you want to achieve more dynamic shots:- Above each wheel, there are cup attachments which will hold certain small tripods such as the  GorillaPod Focus  (normal-size tripods will be too top-heavy and won't be safe to use with this dolly).- Or you can simply mount a head unit onto the center plate of the dolly. The optimal unit seems to be something like this  Joby BH1 Ball Head with Bubble Level for Joby GP3 SLR-Zoom Gorillapods , but if you already have any tripod head then it will probably work just fine.Also with your purchase, you will receive a small instruction paper and a nice storage bag for the dolly when its not in use. The dolly folds up nicely, making it very economical when it comes to storage.** The slideshow I have included in this review shows my Canon DSLR camera on the dolly. Note that I am using my own tripod head to mount the camera on the dolly, that is NOT included with your purchase of the dolly. If you want to pan or tilt the camera while it is on the dolly, then you are going to need to invest in additional equipment.