Everyone’s a filmmaker these days, what with the widespread availability of fairly high-quality HD video and the tools to edit and distribute it. But the camera isn’t the only thing you need to make movies. Without a tripod and some kind of motion control system, you’re limited to shaky hand-holding and standing the thing up on tables and chairs. A baby tripod and hacked-together stabilizer are easy enough, but what about a dolly?
The Pico Dolly addresses this need with a simple, affordable, and really quite cool little platform. CheesyCam, the creators, were concerned that existing dolly options were either too big, too expensive, or too poorly built. So they’ve made this one with serious bearings, all-metal construction, and room for three screw-mount arms — all while taking up as little space as possible. The wheels can be adjusted so the camera describes a small circle, or straightened out to make a straight line. Check out the video to see how it works:
It’s not heavy enough to swing a DSLR out over the edge too far, but you can counterbalance it with a weight or an accessory so it doesn’t flip over, as you can see here:
The best part? This little item will only set you back $65 if you pre-order it (they’re shipping in two weeks). That’s peanuts for anyone interested in spicing up their amateur cinematography. The repositionable arms are sold separately for $25 each, or you can rig up your own solution.
Yeah, in a way it’s just a bit of metal with some skate wheels on it — the way a tripod is just three metal bars stuck together at the top. I could really see myself using one of these.