Earlier this month Joby introduced a compact lightweight hand held Jib for action cameras. This sub $100 unit will come in two versions and will even allow for the attachment of a smartphone for remote controlling the camera.
Jibs are powerful tools which are usually only used by professionals. They allow you to make crane-like shots, tracking shots, high and low angle shots, spin shots and many more things which are all but impossible otherwise. The problem is that most Jibs are large, expensive and very heavy. Joby wanted to create a Jib that almost anybody can use and so it recently introduced the Action Jib Kit.
Low angle shot with the Joby Action Jib
There are 2 versions of the kit – one with 3 20 inch poles that you can connect to create the base for the Jib and a second version without any pole (you can use a monopod or possibly even a painters pole – although we are not 100% sure about the second option).
A quick test video with the new Jib KitÂ
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4zhj2jZDrc[/youtube]
The Jib has a pulley and cord as well as a camera mount which you can control. The main downside seems to be that you are going to need to hand hold the Jib which makes it hard to get steady shots. What we would like to see is a version with an option for connecting the unit to a tripod (this isn’t impossible –Â using a grip swivel holder bracket and a heavy tripod maybe you can do it). What is nice is that you can connect an arm that will gold your smartphone and track what the camera is seeing in real time – (although you will need to purchase this separately).
Top down shot
As for pricing – the version without the pole will run you down about $80 and the version with the 3 pole parts will cost you just under $100 (see B&H for prices and Joby’s website for more info).
The new Jib with the extra arm and a smartphone
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