If you've been shooting stills or video for any length of time, chances are you've often thought about making a product that could make your life a bit easier. Cinetics designer Justin Jensen's own idea was to make a simple dolly system for DSLR cameras that was also portable. He designed and launched his CineSkates on Kickstarter and the response has been huge. So far Justin has raised more than 6x his initial goal of $20,000 so it looks like this production version will soon be in photographers' bags world wide. The system basically adds skateboard wheels to the versatile Joby Gorilla Pods and creates a system that gives your video footage high production movement. You can also the CineSkates for timelapse photography. Check out the video below to see exactly how the system works.
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I hate myself for not thinking of these!!
That's so legit. Love this!
BAD ASS!!!! Affordable little tools like that will help novice HDSLR users get the look we want!
dang it. i had an idea that was very similar to that. sad day :(
You'll see those will be quite expensive for what they are....
all photo equipment is expensive for what it is. Thats the beauty of being the one that creates the products.
I think he should lower the price, it would sell like water in the dessert.
Waste of money, stupid idea. They can probably get quality as good with a GoPro and rollerskate.
I invested very early on and I can't wait for it!
You rock, Chris! Thanks for making CineSkates happen! - Justin
Thanks for the feedback everyone! We've done our absolute best to design a quality, portable and versatile product, and we hope you like it. We're already hard at work developing new stuff to add to the product line, and we would love to know what functionality you guys would like to see. Thanks again and drop us a note at info at cinetics dot com anytime, Justin
I can't wait to get mine! Awesome product!
i've got a little 'skater dolly' thing from focus 35, which i like a lot, but don't get a whole lot of use out of it. its basically the same type of thing as this, but a little less versatile. this one looks slightly better, but i can do most of the same shots with what i have, and it only cost about $120. the reason i don't use it a lot is it has to be a totally smooth surface for it to work-- most floors aren't smooth enough but some tabletops work. i have, however, used it for some product shots and its a nice little tool on occasion. this one looks nice, but everyone should realize it needs to be used on a perfectly smooth surface to get a good shot
Hey David, thanks for sharing your advice about smooth surfaces. It is certainly true that CineSkates shine when using a smooth surface. One major advantage is that they are small and portable so that it is not a problem for filmmakers to have them on hand when they have a good surface. Another point worth making is that there are no limits to what you can use them on... tables, counters, floors, walls, cars... there really are a ton of surfaces that work excellent. Also, we're working on a roll up portable surface that people can add as an optional accessory, and also on a set of pneumatic wheels that will enable fluid movement on less smooth terrain -- these will be compatible with the current CineSkates. Thanks again for the feedback and please join our newsletter if you are interested in new product updates... http://cinetics.com/contact Regards, Justin
good to hear from the inventor.. this does look like a great product, and if i hadn't already bought a cheapo 'skater dolly' then i'd definitely go for this model. this one looks a good bit more versatile than what i have, and they are great when you have a totally smooth surface. i just wanted to emphasize that (with my model) the surface has to be TOTALLY smooth in order to get a good shot, as the dSLRs I use to shoot video don't have image stabilization like normal video cameras (and none of my wide lenses do either), so you frequently get those annoying 'micro-jiggles' if there is the slightest imperfection on your surface. i'm assuming most people who buy these will be using dSLRS with them, so you're really limited to very smooth surfaces. it sounds like you have some good ideas to help with this, so i wish you the best of luck. this will be a great tool. you could always put gyro-stabilizers on it for an extra couple grand
Thanks, David. We think CineSkates do a great job with stability, but it is certainly the case that they work best on a smooth surface. Completely agree with you, and I'm drooling at the idea of a gyro stabilized version!