The Axis Dolly (with the standard casters) weighs about 30 pounds in its full configuration (for use with a tripod), and about 14 pounds in it’s mini configuration (for use with a fluid head or tilt plate).
The Axis Dolly in full mode:
When folded for travel is 18×27-3/4 inches.
When open in standard mode, from the Axis Dolly’s center point it is 19-5/8 inches to the center point of the casters, 21-5/8 inches to the outer most point of the legs, and 17 inches to the outermost point of the inside of the spreader cups.
When open in wide mode, dimensions increase 2 inches. From the Axis Dolly’s center point it is 21-5/8 inches to the center point of the casters, 23-5/8 inches to the outer most point of the legs, and 19 inches to the outermost point of the inside of the spreader cups.
The Axis Dolly in mini mode:
Sitting dimensions are 18×16-1/8 inches.
From center point to caster center is 8-1/8 inches, and to outer most edge of body is 10-1/8 inches.
From center point of any caster to center point of any caster is 14 inches.
The Axis Dolly has been tested with 250 pounds of weight on it. It is capable of far more than that, but when we tested it, we ran out of weight. We will soon be testing the full work load of the dolly, and will be posting it here when we do. But if you need to support more than 250 pounds until then, I want to know what kind fo camera you are using!
The Axis Dolly is both dollies in one. It is a fill size dolly that can be used with a tripod. The mini dolly is actually the body of the full size dolly. By removing the casters from the full size dolly, removing the arms of the dolly, then reattaching the casters to the Axis Dolly body, you now have the mini dolly.
The standard casters work best on smooth surfaces. They also work well on tight woven carpet that is all one length. On surfaces that aren’t smooth, I suggest using the Track Casters on PVC pipe or professional track, or use the Pneumatic Casters which smooth out bumps in the rolling surface very well.
If on the off chance you receive your Axis Dolly and it is missing a part, please let us know and I’ll get it out to you ASAP. While I am confident this won’t happen, we understand that sometimes mistakes are made and we’ll do our best to remedy the situation immediately. Your satisfaction with our product and service is immensely important to us!
I am sorry, but no. The Axis Dolly is already discounted as much as I can.
Bottom line… I want to keep the price down and within reach of as many people as possible. I’ve had several offers to buy me out, but the cost of the dolly would be about $1000 more than I am selling it for as they would be marking it up a lot. Distributers that have shown interest loose interest when they find that the profit margin isn’t what they want and that they aren’t going to make much money on the product. That isn’t the goal I have for this product. I want to put a great tool into as many hands as I can, and not limit the purchase of this product to people that have a lot of money to throw around.
All Axis Dolly casters are interchangable and secure to the dolly via a single knob each. Just remove the Standard Casters and attach the Track Casters.
That is a possibility, but please call and find out as it won’t always be possible. All orders usually ship out 24-48 hours from order completion. We do not ship same day. That being said, I do whatever I can do accommodate the needs of all my customers, and if it is circumstantially possible to get a package to you the following day, I am more than happy to help.
You have most likely attached the Axis Dolly Legs the wrong way. They need to be attached in an ABC counter clockwise orientation. If you are getting erratic results, you have probably attached the legs in a clockwise orientation. If you are unsure at any time, just follow the orientation of the Axis Dolly Body degree plate labels.
You are correct. As long as the legs are in ABC counter clockwise orientation, the Axis Dolly will always roll true.
If you are rolling the Axis Dolly on a surface that is almost smooth enough, adding weight to the dolly (via sand bags, weights, etc.) may solve your problem. Essentially what you are doing is maximizing the surface area of the wheels touching the ground. The more weight, the more area of contact. The more area of contact, the more you’ll smooth out your shot. The easier solution is to use the Track Casters and PVC pipe, or the Pneumatic Casters in some situations.
I do have one Axis Dolly I rent out once in a while, but the Axis Dolly is inexpensive enough that it is more practical to purchase one. The two people I’ve rented the Axis Dolly out to decided to purchase it after they received it.
Less than perfect with the Standard Casters, but that isn’t what they were designed for. For uneven surfaces use the Track Casters and PVC pipe, or the Pneumatic Casters.
I’m sorry to say I do not have any other models of the dolly that are less durable. A dolly made from thinner material wouldn’t be significantly less expensive anyway as the manufacturing process wouldn’t be much different. Also, thinner material wouldn’t hold up in its full configuration.
Great question, and the answer is no. However, it makes sense to me that we should have product PDFs, and I’ll be making some ASAP.
Nope. The Axis Dolly will support whatever you can throw at it. We’ve tested the Axis Dolly with 250 pounds and it worked flawlessly. We’ll soon be testing the full capacity of the dolly, and we’ll be posting our results as soon as we have them.
The Track Casters are compatible with 1.5 and 2 inch diameter PVC pipe. PVC pipe I believe comes in two wall thicknesses. I suggest getting the thicker wall as it will obviously be stronger.
The spreader cups have a 3 inch inner diameter.
Yes there are. We have a list of accessories that we are currently designing. The next to be released is the T-Bar. After that we are planning on building a Ride On Seat and Camera Support, a Mini Boom, and a Carrying Case.
We have in the past a couple of times, but be forewarned that custom parts fabrication isn’t inexpensive.
Unfortunately… no.
Split Leg tripods work best as they secure to the Axis Dolly the best. Straight leg tripods work well, too, but you need an under hook on the base of the tripod head, or something else to wrap your securing bungee around.
Not at all! The purpose of the small ball bungee cords is only to keep the legs of your tripod secure to the outside of the spreader cups, NOT to secure your tripod to the Axis Dolly. Always use bungee cords to secure your Tripod to the Axis Dolly as shown in the Secure Your Tripod section of the Resources page.
All tripods are different sizes and different bungee cords have different stretch strengths. I’d say 95 percent of the time will call for 48 inch bungee cords, but please see what size works best for your application.
They are very easy to understand. The fields that you put your info into are clearly labeled, as are the calculated fields.
We are in the process of producing an instructional DVD and new example files which will be viewable at half resolution and downloadable at full resolution.
Yes. The Axis Dolly Mini is all you would need if you do not want to use the Axis Dolly with a tripod. If at any time in the future you decide that you would want that feature, you can purchase the Axis Dolly Legs and Spreader separately. Purchasing the whole package at once is significantly less expensive, though.
Both of the fluid heads you mention have a standard 3/8-16 thread, and will attach to the Axis Dolly using the included knob, or via any standard 3/8-16 bolt of the proper length.
The advantages of the tilt plate over a fluid head are:
It keeps the camera closer to the rolling surface than a tripod head.
It keeps the center of gravity of the camera over the center of the dolly when tilted for increased stability
The advantages of a fluid head over the tilt plate are:
You can pan and tilt the camera while filming
You probably already own one that will work with the dolly
The Pneumatic Wheels are 14 inches in diameter, and the dolly sits about 2 inches above the wheel.
Any fluid head with a flat base. Many ball fluid heads are actually flat base fluid heads with a ball attached. Just remove the ball and attach the flat base fluid head. If you want to use a ball fluid head you will need to use a high hat adapter.
This is probably the most frequently asked for part, and so we’ve chosen to accommodate. We’ve designed a PVC connecting system that we will begin manufacturing soon, which will allow you to carry around segments of track instead of full length track.
I have three of these left for sale. I am not selling these on the web site, though. If you are interested, please call for details.
Axis Dolly 101: bring it on! The Axis Dolly will support over 250 pounds.
They are not, which is why we offer Track Casters for use with track. Though you may be able to use it that way, I can in no way guarantee it’s stability. Also, the pressure on the bearings would be of a non-linear nature and that is not how bearings are designed to work. It’s best to use the products for the purpose they were designed.
The prices reflected on the purchase pages are already discounted prices.
This is called “drift”. Though drift will be minimal, this may happen as it is unavoidable for anything with wheels, and usually happens with repeated movement. The best way to orient your dolly is to put a piece of tape on the rolling surface centered along two of the wheels. If drift occurs, reorient the dolly by aligning the wheels center to the tape.
Rarely do we run the same special pricing 2 months in a row. When we have a big event, such as the release of a new accessory, we will offer a special for a couple months, but the special the first month will offer more savings than the following month.
I am sorry, but we do not accept returns for any reason. We do offer a lifetime warranty on body, leg, and caster parts (only the parts made from alluminum). Other parts, such as wheels and bearings may need to be replaced at some point because of normal wear and tear. If something is wrong with your dolly, or there is some defect, please let us know so we can replace whatever part is defective. In this case, return the part, or the whole dolly, and we will replace the part after determining the part defect. We do pride ourselves on a great product, however, and this is a rare occurrence. We’ve only had one dolly returned because the user thought something was wrong with it. It turned out that they had just not assembled it correctly.
Woops! Please let me know so I can correct it.
Email your question to me at seth@axisdolly.com and I’ll do my best to answer it thoroughly. I’ll probably also post the question and answer here in the FAQ section.