It turns out the iStabilizer was one of those things I could buy locally cheaper than online. It seems the price is set on these wherever you go, and most eBay sellers and websites added shipping to that. So, since I was at the camera shop anyway buying an HDMI cable for my GoPro I decided to pick one of these up as well.
It seems really well made for what it is- just as good, if not better than the other, similar type dollies that cost about twice as much,
plus this comes with a spring loaded smartphone clamp that screws on to any tripod, so you are actually getting more with this thing than you are with the other ones costing twice as much.
I haven't played with it too much yet, but it seems to roll along the floor smoothly with a very minimal amount of sound. You can hear it, but that probably has more to do with the hardwood floors than any sound the rollerblade type rubber wheels make.
There are three separate bolts in the steel body of this for attaching several cameras or for idea camera placement on it. The 8.5 inch arm has four knuckles, each one jointed at both ends with a ball joint allowing for almost infinite angle possibilities. Also, since the arm screws into the standard camera base, you can use the arm on any standard camera tripod or mount- such as the Gerber Steady!
The clamp might be the weak spot in this one, but just barely. There's a little rubber tab hanging off the top of the clamp that you are theoretically supposed to use to pull the clam open to put the smartphone in or take it out. Honestly I'd suggest not using it as it feels like you are going to rip it off each time you use it, and as it's a single piece with the rubber pad that holds the phone, you could end up ripping the whole thing out. I'll show you what I mean in a photo later on. This is just a minor thing though, as the clamp will still hold the phone well enough without the rubber pad, but even so I'll probably just cut the tab off so I won't have to be paranoid about it.
One more thing- the base has a small protractor printed on it front and back, and a small arrow printed on the axles so you'll be able to gauge how much they are turning if you want the dolly to rotate around something.
All in all, if you have a need for something like this I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better one, especially when you factor in the low price of this unit. Most of the ones I've seen cost this much for just the body, and when you add in an articulating arm the price just about doubles.
Then add in another $10-20 for a clamping smartphone mount!
We'll have to see how well this one actually works. I'm happy with the initial look at the mechanics of it, I suppose now I'll have to try some actual videos to see how it works in practice!
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