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 quite a cool little platform. Existing dolly options were too big, too expensive, or too poorly built. But this one comes 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.
The Pico Dolly is priced at $65 if you pre-order it. The repositionable arms are sold separately for $25 each.