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6/20/2013

Product Review: The Aviator Travel Jib - Video Production in San Antonio

The Aviator Travel Jib - Product Review

By: Ruben F. Garcia, Owner of Media Bar Productions

We recently used The Aviator Travel Jib by Nice Industries. We did a shoot for a commercial in San Antonio that required us to have a lightweight jib that would allow us to easily move it from location to location on a golf course. This jib was perfect for this project. It was so easy to put together, but at the same time it is so light that you don't have to take it apart to move it to another spot. In the instances that we did have to take it apart it took minutes, and we strapped it to the back of our golf carts...yes, we got golf carts :). Below are a list of some of my pros and cons for this jib:

Pros:

1. Super light weight - The jib is made of carbon fiber, and weighs less than 2.75 pounds. For this shoot we also used the Manfrotto 055CX3 Carbon Fiber Tripod, which made it very easy to move the whole thing as one piece.

2. Carries a camera that is up to 7.5 pounds. We used the Canon 5D, and had no problems with bending of the carbon fiber rods. We didn't test any heavier cameras on the jib.

3. When you close up the jib, it closes down to around 24 inches, which makes it easy to take almost anywhere.

4. The jib extends to about 6 feet. We extended it all the way and had no problems...no bending.

5. Took about 3 minutes to set up. Very quick, very easy.

6. Moving the jib up and down was extremely smooth. We were able to move the jib with fluid motions, no hiccups or dragging.

Cons:

There were a couple things we noticed that could be better with the Aviator Travel Jib.

1. At times when we panned (horizontal movement) it wasn't as smooth as it was when we moved it up and down. There were times where it wasn't as fluid. Not sure if it had something to do with the counterbalance bag, but we would occasionally have to reshoot something because it jerked.

2. With all the movement going from location to location without tearing the jib down we found that the lock on arms tended to come lose after a while. We had to keep checking them.

Overall, I loved this jib. It was lightweight, sturdy, and easy to assemble. We got some amazing shots that we probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise. This is a great piece to add to your collection, and the production quality you add to your video is well worth the small investment.

Check them out: http://www.aviatorcameragear.com/

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