Jibs are usually a pain in the butt, far to cumbersome and take up half your boot space, not to mention the weights needed to balance them, until now…enter the Aviator Carbon Fibre Travel Jib.
I used this mini jib on a job recently filming a 4 year old child pretending to be ill as an insert for my type one diabetes DVD.
It was great for getting close to the child without freeking her out and the Sony NX-30 was just the job, using a Manfrotto quick release camera plate.
Adjusting the counter balance could not be easier, unscrew the nut as shown above and with the camera on the jib you can balance the camera via the length of the back pole, either up or down.
In a professional environment you certainly need a quick release plate like the Manfrotto as seen above.
The jib comes with a small red bag that you fill with stones, I use black Chinese polished stones bought from B&Q that are a lot more dense and better for weight than red chuckie stones.
Performance…The pros and cons
Pros…
1. The sheer weight and size of this jib, it fits into this wee bag, less tripod.
2. You can use it with your DSLR or a small camcorder like the Sony NX-30.
3. The cost of the carbon fibre version is £750.
Cons…
1. Can be a wee bit fiddley to attach the Manfrotto quick release plate.
2. Because it weighs next to nothing you tend to over compensate the tilt causing a few re-takes.
Conclusion… I really like the Aviator Carbon fibre jib, it’s well made and easy to use. This jib will find its way into many a wedding kit, especially if your using camcorders like the Sony MC50, NX-30, NX-70, JVC GY HM-150, Canon XA20/25 or the Panasonic AC90.
My thanks as always to John Preston from H Preston Media for sending this up to me.
I have this crane from ifootage and is fab – carbon fibre too and half the price
http://www.ifootagegear.com/en/
Seems like a very nice Jib ! Can you post a couple of videos you made with it?
Cool blog, by the way 😉
You would be better of with proper weights on the backend, the bag must be swaying and making closeups hard to control.
Is the camera plate threaded so you can put a pan tilt head on it?
Does the aviator have a threaded end to hold weights in place, it’s hard to tell from the pictures?
Cheers.