Carbon Fiber Portable 4ft. Mini Crane / Jib

• • 42 Comments

Here's a quick look at one of the lightest and most portable jibs on the market. This new Carbon Fiber Telescoping Mini Jib/Crane breaks down to fit a 32" travel bag (less than 3ft.). It's extremely lightweight with a high quality build and finish. Very smooth operation for any lightweight camera setup, and all parts with anodized coating (not cheap paint).

YES I have had this crane for over a month, and have even been flying the BlackMagic Cinema Camera at full extension. This crane works great for DSLR Video shooters on the run. I will try to get a short video out this week.

Carbon Fiber Crane-Mini-Jib
find-price-button Carbon Fiber Telescoping Mini Video Crane/Jib

The Carbon Fiber Telescoping Mini Crane/Jib comes fully assembled except for the rear counterweight rod. Telescoping poles slide out very easily and are locked in place with large metal knurled textured collars. The rear counterweight rod can be adjusted in or outwards to fine tune balance. A sliding ring can be used to hang other types of weight if you don't want to travel with the gym style weights.

The benefit to this crane is it's extended counterweight section that allows you to use 'less weights' than other cranes that have a short rear arm requiring a 3:1 counterweight setup. I'm able to fly my Canon 5D Mark III with just a single 5lb + 2.5lb counterweight. The other cranes i've used required up to 20-25lbs of counterweight.

Carbon Fiber M1 Crane Jib iFootage M1 Cheesycam Mini Carbon Crane JibCarbon Fiber Telescoping MIni Crane/Jib

Other small 4ft cranes which do not telescope use 3ft up front, and 1ft towards the rear. Since these cranes actually telescope, it can extend up to 4ft up front, and 2ft to the rear - thus requiring less counterweight. When this crane is mounted to my Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod (without center column extended), I can reach approx 9ft in height. Since the crane is adjustable, it's not always required to use it at full length when working in smaller spaces.

I have seen, tested, and owned other small portable cranes. This new Carbon Fiber Telescoping Portable Mini Crane / Jib is an amazing portable lightweight tool for DSLR Videographers and can be found under $380 eBay (click here).

Mini Crane M1 Carbon Fiber Jib
find-price-button Carbon Fiber Telescoping MIni Crane/Jib

There is also a (more expensive) aluminum version of this 'Telescoping' Mini Crane/Jib design which can also be found via eBay (Click Here)

Mini Aluminum Video Crane Jib
Aluminim Cheesycam Mini Video Crane Jib Telescoping
Mini Crane Aluminum
find-price-button Aluminum Telescoping Mini Jib / Crane

Live Feed Mini Jibs Available Now - via eBay

42 thoughts on “Carbon Fiber Portable 4ft. Mini Crane / Jib”

  1. Emm

     Post author

    @archie - I use a Manfrotto Carbon Fiber tripod under this crane sometimes. Works well if you respect the weight ratings on each product.

  3. fadhil

    I have this set. but I confused about how much limit/total weight this crane can handle before broken ?!
    no manual on they package. please help :S

  6. Anthony

    Hi there,

    Any idea if the cheaper version of the iFootage crane sold by Photolight is the same/ just as well made? Emm, I'm assuming your gleaming review of this carbon jib is for the iFootage version?
    Thanks

  7. V

    Hey Em,

    How do you feel about this jib having more than one telescoping sections like on the Trapezist & Aviator, do you think it would flex more?

  8. Angelo

    Thanks Emm for this post (and all your work on this website in general) -- I'm definitely in the market for a small 4-foot crane before the summer, and have it narrowed down to this one and the Trapezist. Can you (or anyone else here) confirm whether the Trapezist is built in a 3-to-1 ratio? The benefit of having to lug around less weight is a big plus for me as an event videographer, so the 2-to-1 ratio is a big selling feature.

  10. Emm

     Post author

    @Don - For Carbon fiber many cranes I don't use a fluid head at the end of it I only use it under the crane.

  11. Don

    Do you use the 701HDV fluid head on to the tripod, jib mounted to the fluid head or are you using the fluid head at the end of the jib?

  12. Emm

     Post author

    @pixcanfly - Yes, it's all on how well you balance your jib. Will have some samples soon as i'm working with three different jibs that were recently released.

  13. pixcanfly

    Emm, can the jib come to a stop smoothly. Would love to see your video first before ordering. Thanks!

  15. Dean

    @Ryan - It is a 1/4-20 but it says it comes with a 3/8 adapter, but mine did not. It's a good thing to have a handful of those things anyways

  16.

    Does anyone know what size thread is on the camera mount? It looks like a 1/4-20 but a 3/8s would be ideal to attach my manfrotto 055 ball head to.

  18. Dean

    I got mine in Monday & I placed the order the day of this post. It beat something else I ordered 10 days before this, both coming from China.

    Tonight I had some time to open up the box.

    I have no previous experience with a jib to compare it to but it seems solid. Definitely looks pro. The branding that arrived with mine is more subtle.

    @Emm, any videos to reference to get a creative perspective on using this thing?

  20. Terry

    @Alex - Did you order from the ebay supplier Gearcontact? I'm getting ready to order one. How long did it take to get to you? Thanks.

  21. Pops

    I tried to tell the difference between the two carbon jibs. Is it just weights and brand/marks the only difference? Obviously, the cheaper priced one is appealing.

  23. Alex

    I researched every small jib on the market before I bought this one. This one totally rocks. No comparison to the others. Build quality is great, service great, people are nice, there's no sway in the movements, its so lightweight that I thought they forgot to put the jib in the box when it first arrived. Love it! Alex

  24. robert

    Hey Emm

    Will the camera with the M1 stay still if you want it to (if it's balanced properly)? i.e. can you use it to get static/"locked off" shots at any height/extension?

    Thanks

    Robert

  25. Neil

    @Zeke - I'll happily try out your product if you want to send me one for free too 🙂

    Same goes for you Jim Jennard. Send me a RED Epic to play with? lol

  26.

    I own an Aviator (the aluminum version). And it is an excellent piece of hardware. It's similar to this (and the Trapezist) except for two differences, one of them rather big (IMO). First, the Aviator has bearings at all tilt axes points. Both the Trapezist and this one on ebay use bolts. Those bolts will cause wear over time, especially with heavier loads.

    Second, the Aviator uses bearings in its pan base. Neither the Trapezist nor the ebay one have a pan base, which means you'll need to use your tripod head. That's a pretty big deal because it means extra weight when hiking. With the Aviator you can either leave the head at home or bring it and move the head to the camera end of the jib for panning (you'll need two 2 heads on the other jibs).

    Finally, the ebay carbon fiber jib weighs in at 4lbs. The Aviator aluminum jib is 3.5lbs.

  27. Emm

     Post author

    @Zeke - From the comments about the Aviator, i'm sure i will be impressed. Looking forward to trying it out, thanks.

  29. Emm

     Post author

    @ajay - I have not had the chance to use the Aviator, but it looks like a high quality product. Hopefully they will reach out to me about their product, but I hear they have been busy with orders.

  30. Emm

     Post author

    @jayhas - I have not had the chance to see the Aviator, but it looks like a very well made product. Hopefully they will contact me with a chance to try it out.

  33. Emm

     Post author

    @jonty - This crane is a 2:1 ratio because you have 4ft up front / 2ft Rear. So if you put a 4lbs camera up front, you would use only 8lbs in the rear. Most DSLR cameras with a prime lens may sit under 4lbs.

  34. Emm

     Post author

    @Andy I - As with anything, you should use it for what is was designed to do. This is for DSLR weight cameras, not for a fully built RED EPIC. This is a lightweight crane for lightweight shooting.

  35. getem

    @Emm

    Can you recommend me a good tripod to use with this jib?

    Maybe from low,mid to high end?

    I bought in the past the fancier tripod but after a year of use they have not taken outdoor work abuse to good. The leg spreader on one got damaged and on another one I had one of the legs got bent when the tripod got knocked over and basically is now useless.

    I am possibly looking for a better tripod than the fancier that will hopefully not break the bank. As always thank you for this amazing site and what you have done for the community
    Thanks!

  37. jonty

    how is this compared to the dslr-devices.com mini crane?
    I have their mk1 for close to 8 months now and although reliable, it just doesnt like the weight of a 5dmkIII with 24-70 and i have to counter weight it with about 16.5 pounds of gym weight at full extension. I can tell you lugging +16 pounds around gets extremely tiresome that i dont even want to use that crane at weddings anymore :p

    What is the counterweight total at full extension for this CF crane?

    thanks

  38. Frankie

    Wow that sounds really good. By the way, the aluminum one is not more expensive. The shipping price of the carbon fiber one makes it cost the same as the aluminum one.

  39.

    followed the link and found another listing with a very similar looking jib for an even better price. got the last one! can't wait to see the review.

    used a full crane before, but it'll be nice to have a smaller one for indoor use.

  40.

    Emm, would be interesting if you could compare this to the Aviator. I haven't received my CF Aviator yet but just checked that it is still stuck at customs:)

  41. ajay

    how this compared to aviator and trapezist? can u please do a review for this 3
    love this website =)

  42. Andy I

    Very interesting! How stable/solid would you say this crane is in operation? Does it wobble at all? Is it worth the $380. vs spending a bit more for a Zolinger or Kessler?

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