Back at NAB 2012, I stopped by the Cinevate booth to check out some of their newest products, and one that many around the booth seemed most excited about was the Axis Jib. The heavy-duty jib, which has gone through a number of iterations to satisfy the needs of shooters, has finally been released by Cinevate. Many people might be familiar with newer and lighter jibs that have been designed smaller and more compact for DSLRs, but this is a real, professional jib for heavy cameras. Check out the introduction video:

A rundown of the features of the jib:

The unique (and patent-pending!) design of this jib contains all of the mechanical components inside of a single tube, giving it a sleek look while being incredibly easy to setup. The Axis features a 4 foot reach, a 7 foot vertical arc and effortlessly supports up to 50 lbs (22.7 kg). The Axis was designed and stress tested using 3D modelling software to ensure industry defying stiffness. You can also achieve repeatable pan and tilt movements when indexing the magnetic dry-erase marker rings located on each side of the jib...an industry first. Construction of this jib is 100% CNC machined 6061 aluminum, which is fully anodized in our typical flat black, non-reflective lifetime finish.

The Axis Jib comes with a fixed 100mm half ball and will drop into 100mm bowl tripods. At the end of the jib is a 100mm bowl mount which will accept any 100mm video tripod head. The 100mm bowl at the jib head can be oriented in 3 positions to achieve low angle "ground scraping" shots. 75mm heads can be mounted as well using a 75mm-to-100mm bowl adapter.

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Here is my video with Dennis from Cinevate, if you skip to 3:24 you can check out the Axis:

There is certainly a time and place for heavy-duty gear, and if you're operating on a bigger budget than DSLRs, this is going to give you the performance to match. When I used it at NAB it felt smooth and precise, and I have to imagine that if you have the proper counterweights, it will still be just as smooth with heavier cameras. One of the interesting things that I haven't really seen in another jib in this price range is the marking rings on the body. If you want to repeat a move it's going to be much easier when you can see your goalposts and where you're supposed to be.

At $2,300, it's definitely not going to be the cheapest jib out there, but if you're doing a lot of work that requires movement, you want something that is quick to set up and easy to break down, and you're flying a rig that's 15-20 pounds or more, it might just be the ticket.

What do you think? Keeping in mind the budgets that you're working with, is this a product you could see yourself using?

Links:

Disclosure: Cinevate is a No Film School advertiser.

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Cinematography & Cameras