Glide Gear JB4 Portable 4 Ft Jib Crane w/ Carry Case 0-6 lbs Cameras

After reading some of the reviews for this product I almost didn’t purchase it but the price was right and i figured if it was really bad I would just return it. I am glad I pulled the trigger and purchased it. First off, when I received it I was surprised at how small the box was. I immediately thought the unit was going to be in a million pieces and no assembly instructions as per the assertions of a couple of the reviews. I opened the box to find a real nice carry bag. I unzipped the bag and pulled out the unit. It comes fully assembled but in “Knock down transport mode” meaning all of the intelligent assembly work is done, all you need to do is slip the front section (where the camera mounts) to the rear section (where the jib mounts to the tripod) and slip the handle/counter balance arm into the back section. There is a full assembly manual and instruction book that comes with the unit and it is stored in one of the two pockets with in the carry bag. There is also a second camera/accessory mounting bracket included along with hardware and Allen wrenches to mount it. It is so obvious where it goes and how to mount it, you don’t need the assembly instructions to figure it out. I went ahead and set it up on my tripod and then set about learning to balance it and personalize it so it worked for me. The first thing That I did was add a ball mount to the camera platform. You don’t have to do this to use it but I had one on the shelf and it affords more camera set up options. The platform comes with a standard 1/4-20 mounting stud with a 3/8-16 adapter threaded over it. My ball mount was 3/8-16 so it screwed right on. If I was to mount the camera directly I would simply have to remove the 3/8-16 adapter (merely a 1/4-20 female to 3/8-16 male threaded insert). The next thing I did was go to the store and pickup a couple of 2.5 and 5 lb. weight plates and a spring collar (standard 1″ hole). I deviated from the instruction manual and put my weights directly onto the counter balance arm. I first put one of the spring collars over the arm and then loaded the weight plates on. I secured the end with the supplied handle by screwing it in place. I have balanced loads before so I knew that the further the weight is from the fulcrum, the more leverage it will have. I played wit the order I loaded the plates and found that loading two 2.5 lb, plates inboard and one 5 lb. last, I achieved perfect balance with my Nikon D800 and the 24-70 zoom lens. I don’t care what jib or crane you buy, with will have to learn to balance it with the weight of the gear you mount. If I add a monitor to the back of the arm, I will need to re-balance for that camera set up. One other area that I personalized things was in the mount to the tripod. The gib has three threaded mounting holes (2) 1/4-20 and (1) 3/8-16. I decided to use an extra quick release plate from my tripod and mount that to the jib. I went to the hardware store and bought a 3/8-16 x 3/4″ Button head Allen and used that along with the 1/4-20 mounting hole to attach the quick plate. It is very robust and it allows me to pan the fluid head out at the end of the jib arm with our fear that I will loosen up the mount. The only other adjustment I made to the unit from how it came was to tighten up the cross screws that mount the tubular arms to camera and tripod mounting brackets. I noted a little bit of side to side rocking and figured that if I took out any unneeded motion the jib would be more stable. You will need to pop the plastic caps off of the nuts to do this (use the blade of a knife). Set up the jib on your tripod and with your camera mounted and balanced and using the supplied Allen wrench and a wrench or socket, tighten each screw (there are four) just a little bit and try the jig. I tighten the nuts up just to the point that all of the side to side rock was gone but the jib still functioned smoothly. The nuts are lock nuts so you shouldn’t have to do this again. For the money I would say that this an awesome product and I gave it five stars because it is a very good value.

Very prompt delivery, product meets all my expectations.

I’m not hugely experienced, but I’ve been making music videos for a few years now and wanted an affordable jib for swooping crane-like shots. I did a bit of research and found a number of recommendations for this unit and it seemed very affordable, so I bit the bullet and bought it. It turned up quickly and I put it together, it worked great! I’ve used it on a number of shoots now, I find it portable and easy to set up, plus it moves very smoothly and is highly adjustable. I actually brought it into a camera store so I could upgrade my tripod to carry the weight of it (my old tripod was a cheap piece of plastic crap from Officeworks that wasn’t really up to the task) The staff at the camera store were quite intrigued by the jib, remarking that it was really good and asked where I got it and they were shocked when I told them how cheap it was. i ended up sending them both a link to it. Great piece of kit for a great price, highly recommended.