Another fantastic quality was the stability of the tripod. This thing is a ROCK! I had no problems putting my $3,500 camera on the end of this and walking away. This tripod can hold up anything.
In addition, I never felt like my camera was “too heavy” for the crane itself. I could have had a camera weighing 30+ pounds and I still believe it would have performed just as well.
I did find that the pin to lock the tripod head into place was somewhat difficult to remove. It took some playing around with to get it in/out of place, but this may just be due to the newness of the crane. Overtime, it probably would be easier to get in/out. Also, the vertical brake seemed to fit into place somewhat awkwardly. It worked fine, but it just looked like it bowed out rather strange. I still would recommend having it, but over time it may become slightly warped. Kessler sells a Lighting Stand Clamp Mount that most users would probably find easy to use.
When I first started looking for cranes I was hoping to find something under $1000. While I did find cranes that were priced under $1,000, I would not have felt comfortable putting my camera on them. Just looking at the pictures of these other cranes, I could tell they didn’t even compete with Kessler’s quality. This crane was made with a nice lightweight aluminum alloy that will last for years.
If you want to take your films to the next level, a crane is a MUST. If you want a solid, easy-to-use crane at a great value, definitely look at the Kessler KC-8 Complete.
