Davis & Sanford W3 Universal Folding Dolly with Handle

I have spent a lot of time looking for a simple and easily portable dolly. Tiffen, Opteka, and Ravelli all make affordable dollies but they all lacked one option any camera operator needs for a dolly, pneumatic wheels. I was impressed by a product called the "Orbit Dolly" but the price is ridiculously high (starting at $1700). The "Orbit Dolly" is the only dolly I found that had a pneumatic wheel option, and it's an extra $300 option at that. That is way to expensive for such a cheap to manufacture part. So I set out to buy an affordable dolly and add my own pneumatic wheels.There are two main differences between this dolly and the "Orbit Dolly". First, the "Orbit Dolly" has interchangeable wheels. You can switch the wheels from a hard acyclic to a soft pneumatic rubber for use on both hard and Carpeted surfaces. Second, the "Orbit Dolly" can be calibrated to move in a circle or arc around the subject your are shooting. Those are both nice features but hardly with the $2000 proce tag.The Tiffen dolly is easily capable of mimicking the "Orbit Dolly" (minus the adjustable arc setting) with one do-it-yourself upgrade. I didn't want to or really have $2000 to spend on what to me is a very simple piece of equipment. So I ordered this dolly with the intention of adding pneumatic wheels. I began to hunt the internet for a company that sold pneumatic casters that would be compatible with this dolly. I found "Caster City" located in California. Now the casters cost $100 dollars more then the dolly for a combined price of $200. But it's worth the difference in price between this and the "Orbit Dolly".After I ordered the wheels I went to the hardware store and purchased three 1/2 chrome plated nuts, three locking washers and three regular 1/2 inch washers along with a 1/2 inch drill bit for drilling metal.I removed the original wheels, pushed the tripod leg locking brackets back about an inch and drilled out a 1/2 inch whole where the original wheels used to be mounted. Then I placed the locking washer on the new casters, ran the 1/2 by 1 and 1/2 inch threaded bolts of the new casters through the whole and placed the regular washer on threaded bolt and tightened the 1/2 inch nut onto the bolt. It works perfectly and now I can use the tripod on both hard and soft surfaces with out having to worry about the dolly bouncing or hopping on different surfaces.The dolly is light weight and made mostly of aluminum and some plastic. The legs expand and lock into place with a spring mounted pin for two of the legs, the other leg is permanently locked into place. The legs easily collapse back in to place by releasing the locking pins. The center of the unit has a handle for easy portability and storage.I highly recommend purchasing this dolly as well as adding the pneumatic wheels. I do not regret it, and I will be purchasing at least one more of these dollies which I will also upgrade.

Has a strong build, but is it sensitive. Don't get me wrong, it does the job, and long as you're not trying to move too fast with it, you should be fine. As most other reviews say, only good for smooth, even surfaces. I used it in my kitchen with linoleum flooring, ever so slightly raised simple square pattern design, and yes, you could notice how this made the video playback jump or seem bumpy. On second thought, when testing this again, same flooring and moving a little slower with it, was much less noticeable. I think the camera stability control took care of any uneven bumpiness. Using a canon vixia hf s10; not revered for it's image stability control, but at a slower pace it works.This thing is great on tiled wood flooring and carpet. For carpet, I tried two different kinds, one very smooth, short haired - worked great; and the other, little thicker and more coarse (plus the dogs tore it up so there's some scratched up fibers, rough patches, etc) - worked very well. Granted some of the thicker rough patches gave it some tiny trouble, but not much.Bottom line, you get what you pay for. Don't expect miracles to be made with this thing, but it's good for small productions and/or student work, long as it's all on smooth surfaces. If your camera has stability image control, slow down the speed of your tracking shots a little, and the stability control should take care of the rest.

This is terrific for holding your tripod stable, and allowing you to move it easily. Here are my pros and cons for this product:Pros:SturdySteelEasy to lock tripod legs inFolds and easy to storeMake moving tripod around a breezeGreat for panning shots over super-smooth surfacesCons:Don't try moving shots over anything bumpier than smooth glassWish wheels had a little more give so that every bump isn't transferred to the camera; maybe something like urethaneThe price changes are all over the map!That's about it for the cons, but not being able to do panning shots is a big disappointment. However, the portability *almost* makes up for it.In summary, get it for its construction, but be careful about the surfaces you want to roll over while shooting. Your videos will look like you're nervous.

So you say you want to get those follow shots, trucking shots without zooming, or Hitchcock zooms but simply do not have the money for a professional dolly? This is your solution! It's cheap, fits almost any tripod (excluding tripods with really large footprints unless you don't fully open the legs), rolls easily over hard surfaces and carpet alike, and even has brakes on the wheels for steady shots. I think this is such a cool little setup, and the shot options it can give your video for such a low price really makes it worth while. I personally have one large heavy tripod for still shots and a medium lighter tripod that I leave attached to the dolly (the dolly will add stability to a less well built tripod), and I find it really gives me lots of possible options. If you are even considering dolly shots in your pictures at some point and time but wrote them off as impossible or simply decided to freehand them, buy this and you'll find a cheap option to make those shots professionally and easily!

This is a light weight, but sturdy dolly. It is perfect for light studio use on boom stands and tripods. It Can support 30-40 lbs with no problems. The large soft wheels provide for smooth movement over cracks and crevices. Be care when rolling over cables. Most of my boom stands and all of my tripods open wider than the dolly stand, which introduces some instability for top heavy loads. Also the foot operated wheel locks are a bit awkward, but more than serviceable and nowhere near a deal breaker.Overall, the quality of the build is consistent for the price. I do not recommend this dolly for video use although it would work well on a smooth surface.

Does the job shame It doesn't come with a protective bag