Vimeo member Karen Abad put together this amazing little stop motion story using the Pico Flex Table dolly to move the camera. It's possible to attempt this project with something as small as the new iPhone 4s with the Shark Clip attached too. Awesome work on this project, and another very creative use for the little Pico Flex dolly. [Thanks Karen]
Another fine example (above) is the little dolly being used for Industry Tape, the makers of excellent quality Zero residue tape. Great stuff to use with your camera gear. Vimeo member Gustavo Oliva shares some of the BTS footage. [Thanks Gustavo]
Great job from Vimeo member Oliver for this DIY motorized Pico Flex Table Dolly. It's a direct friction based drive wheel, which doesn't require much torque. The dolly rolls very easily with little effort from a motor. I was testing out something similar several weeks ago using a pulley wheel to a continuous rotating servo found (here). I used the same basic battery box, continuos rotating servo, and speed controllers as in the DIY motorized JuicedLink slider project. You can find a list of those parts (here). I can see that Oliver is using a servo tester, which is a much cheaper solution than the servo controller I was using. [Thanks Oliver]
If i'm correct, that servo tester is just the basic ones found over at eBay (click here).
For the first time, the Pico Flex Dolly is available Internationally. As usual all of this information will be updated at the main product website https://PhotographyAndCinema.com.
The first retailer ePhoto Inc., has decided to carry the Pico Flex Dolly units (dolly only at this time) and is offering the units for sale in both USA and International to some countries. They have only a limited quantity at this time, so if you've been waiting for the opportunity, the time is now (click here).
Pico Flex Skater Dolly - via eBay
For USA customers, the Pico units were also not available on Amazon recently. ePhoto Inc has also added a listing over at Amazon following the link (click here).
It's been just over a month since the Pico Flex Dolly was released, and since then it has not sold internationally (including Canada). Sorry people, it's really much more complicated than it appears. There's been quite a few hurdles in the last few weeks, but this time PhotographyandCinema.com has opened up with retail partners who have the experience and capabilities of shipping internationally.
The deals have already been made and the retail partners are just waiting for the inventory to ship. I know that the retailers are excited about posting the products up as soon as they have it in their hands, and i'll announce where it will be available when that happens. Some retailers will be receiving inventory by tomorrow or Friday, so as soon as I hear the listings are up i'll post that on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/cheesycam
Disclaimer:: The Pico Flex Dolly was not designed to work in this manner. Use in this manner at your own risk.
The Pico Flex Dolly has already been motorized with lasers, so what else can we expect? Here's something quite odd. This is just something I happened upon and although it's not perfect, maybe it will spark some creative ideas for you DIY'ers out there. After removing the sets of wheels, and keeping the two bearings on the axles, there's enough gap to ride on a set of rails. If you need to track a straight line on some 'unforgiving surface', a set of rails will give smooth performance. For a quieter experience, cheap plastic rods would work better. I'm not sure what rail width would be optimal use for something like this and again, this is not what the Pico Flex Dolly was designed for.
Oh and for a solution while keeping the standard skate wheels on the little table dolly, there will be a specially designed roll out mat available soon. Still in the works...
Hopefully people are pretty familiar with the Pico Flex Table Dolly and I don't need to give these little tools an introduction. There were two pre-orders open a few weeks ago which were wiped out very quickly once the item was featured on PetaPixel, Engadget, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, LifeHacker, and practically every other top gadget blog out there (thanks for noticing guys!). It's taken a while to get a few of these back in inventory, since Photography and Cinema is a small outfit.
Without hesitation, here's another opportunity. Small inventories move pretty quickly so consider it while it's available (International not available - just yet, sorry guys). Updates for International will be found at PhotographyAndCinema.com. Or follow me on Twitter when I make that announcement https://twitter.com/#!/cheesycam.
[Update] No longer available via Amazon. You can find more information of where these units will be available at https://PhotographyandCinema.com or at this time the package is available via eBay (click here).
I was testing this about a week ago, but finally published it to the public. Taking all the same little electronics from the JuicedLink DIY slider project (continuous servo, servo driver, and battery case) the little Pico Flex dolly is moving on it's own. The speed is variable and with the size of the pulley. It can go really slow, but what you see is the fastest setting it will go. A piece of scrap acrylic plastic and double sided tape was all that was used to mount it temporarily while I try to figure out the cheapest and best way to drive this thing.
A rubber band pulley system didn't do so well. The band would stretch and when there was enough tension built up, it would snap back causing a jerking motion. The direct drive was the simplest way to turn the Pico wheels and was much more consistent. Using this technique could apply to all existing Pico Flex Dollies without replacing any existing parts. The servo is extremely strong and since the Pico moves with little effort, it can move quite a bit of weight.
Another Clever Pico Flex Dolly Modification - Motorized + Lasers
YouTube Member dim3m has motorized the Pico Flex, and has also added lasers for an easy way to identify the rotating axis. This is a common practice used in those high end three wheel skater type dollies. By aligning the axles with the lasers, the cross path will be the center of rotation. This is where you need to focus your camera. Right now the lasers are just temporarily being held on with Friction arms as a proof of concept. [Thanks dim3m] You can find pen lasers fairly cheap these days in just about any store, but if you're lazy they can be found online for about $1.49 (click here)
YouTube member dim3m has got the right idea on using the Pico Flex Table Dolly. And on that note, keep watch on this blog. Orders should begin opening up again in anytime now..... [Thanks dim3m]
A few people have already left links in the comments area that they have received their Pico Flex Dollies. They were supposed to begin shipping at a later date, and hopefully it was a surprise that many went out sooner. If you have one on order and haven't received it yet, be patient as they are still in the process of shipping. Above is a video review from Vimeo member Just Basl productions. [Thanks Jarrod].
Here's a simple unboxing (below) from Vimeo member Omar Torres to show what's included. The interior pouch of the bag is meant to hold the (optional) friction arm if you ordered one with.
His follow up video with a few tests. I have tons of fun with simple point and shoot cameras, but here Omar threw one of the largest DSLRs (Canon 5D Mark II), and one the heaviest lenses (Canon 24-70mm F/2.8L) onto the little Pico.
Right now PhotographyandCinema.com is awaiting the next inventory, so orders will re-open very soon. If you want to get notified when the pre-orders are open, you should subscribe to the form on the website (click here).
Pico Flex Table Dolly
