Kessler Shuttle Pod - Starter Kit Review
Better together
A basketball team is like the five fingers on your hand.If you can get them all together, you have a fist. That's how I want you to play. -Mike Krzyzewski
Working in a team is easier than working alone. Is it right? Yes. Working alone is hard and lonely. If you work alone you will do everything but if you work in a group the work will be divided. So your load is lighter and simpler.
Who wants to be alone anyway? No one likes to be alone. You need somebody to work with or something that will help you lighten up your load. A team does not only limit in human form. Do you think having a set of equipment makes you a team? Yes. And that is the common team member a solo photographer has.
A photographer who does not have assistant collects a group of dependable photo and video equipments to support him in his job. Most likely, solo photographers bring a bunch of equipments especially when they do outdoor shooting. These equipments are the member of his team. The team is not complete if one member is missing.
The secret of a team lies on the individual ability of the members. If your team is compose of people like basketball players then each of their abilities makes the team. That same idea applies if your team is composed of equipments. There different functions makes the team complete.
Both beginner and professional photographers have their own team whether it is compose of people or equipments. The point is you have to identify what ability you need from them to deliver the purpose of making the team. For instance, if you plan to make a basketball team then you need to find a point guard, a center, a shooting forward, a small forward and a power forward. If you collect all these five powerful perfect players, then you have a member of a team. You must remember that bearing their qualities alone does not make a team. These qualities must be put together to hit a goal. Once they work together as one to reach a goal then they have formed a team.
This is the same if you are working as a solo photographer. Being a solo photographer has disadvantage and advantage at the same time. The disadvantage here is that you will be the only one who will do all the work you need. And the advantage is you can save for employee salary.
But if photography is your business, you really need people who can work with you because once you begin accepting business, you will deal on time at the same time the quality of your output. So, if you already establish your business, you need to hire people to be part of your team.
However, since you are still a beginner, what you need is to practice working with your equipments first. Working with your equipments means you must have a good quality of different equipments.
In this Kessler Shuttle Pod - Starter Kit Review you will learn a simple type of equipment that can partner you as a solo photographer. This is a type of slider from Kessler Company. It is called Starter Kit because it is a combination of a shuttle pod cart and the shuttle pod rails.
What is Kessler Shuttle Pod - Starter Kit?
The Kessler Shuttle Pod - Starter Kit is a starter kit combination of a shuttle pod cart and shuttle pod rails. It has a lot of mounting options that are very helpful to you. These camera dolly systems are made to have a multiple mounting tasks.
The first part of the Kessler Shuttle Pod is the shuttle pod railing. It might be similar to the shuttle pod mini but they are quite different equipments. The Kessler Shuttle Pod Mini is smaller than the Kessler Shuttle Pod. There will be another product review for the shuttle pod mini, let’s focus first on the shuttle pod alone.
This Kessler dolly system is actually a very unique type of Kessler dolly system because it can utilize your standard 11.5” width Kessler Crane or you can use the extension rail system as the rail track system for the camera dolly. However, the original length of the shuttle pod rail is only four feet. But if you want to shoot longer and farther, you can use the Kessler Crane because it has longer rails.
You can buy the Kessler Shuttle Pod - Starter Kit for $1,209.80 from the Kessler Company. The biggest advantage of this shuttle pod is the fact that using this Kessler shuttle pod system gives you an all-in-one production tool in making your videos. However, the disadvantage of this product aside from the price is the size which is bulky but not too heavy. It is advisable to bring one assistant if you do outdoor shooting because you need to bring the whole members of the team.
You can maximize the use of this Kessler shuttle pod if you partner it with another motion controller system like Cinedrive or Elektradrive. You just have to work with the wires and the cables if you use the motion control system. Aside from that, you will deal with two different controllers or oracles, one for the shuttle pod cart and one for motion controller. The most distracting part about this set-up is the wires which are scattered anywhere in the scene. They sometimes look messy and tangled.
Kessler Shuttle Pod - Starter Kit Specifications
Cart Weight (no insert): 5.7 lbs. Cart Weight (cheese plate): 6.2 lbs. Cart Weight (100mm bowl): 7 lbs. Weight Capacity: 35 lbs. Cart Dimensions: 14"x13"x3.75" Cart Dimensions (w/ knobs): 14"x14.75"x3.75"
Rail length: 4ft
Given the whole set-up, this product is really a big help for your business. You can do a lot of tricks with this shuttle pod. You can use it both indoor and outdoor. You can mount any type of heads and camera which you desire. You can be sure that the cart will secure your camera and the head because as you can see all the screws are made of steel and they all have fix support locks.
You can’t hear any noise in every movement of the shuttle pod. It is very smooth as it is made of aluminum. And the cart goes all the way your control. The smoothness of the movement of the carriage results to a quality video output.
For further clarification, read the following additional information about this product.
Modular and Portable The Shuttle Pod system is expandable to indefinite lengths, providing users with excellent versatility depending on the requirements of their shoot. Travel is easy with the Shuttle Pod as set-up and tear down are extremely simple allowing users to focus on their shoot, not the gear used for it.
Motion Control The Shuttle Pod is compatible for use with elektraDrive™, CineDrive™, and/or Second Shooter™ motion control systems. Adding a motion control system to your slider will increase precision in movement and provide a platform to capture professional time-lapse, stop-motion and live camera movement.
Dynamic Shots With the addition of Shuttle Pod Keeper Grabber Wheels, users can shoot vertical, inverted and incline shots.
Lifetime Warranty Backed by our manufacturer's Lifetime Warranty, we guarantee that it is free from defects in material and workmanship, otherwise we'll fix it.
Upon your purchase, you expect to receive the following items below. In the box you will find the original rail which is only four feet and all the necessary accessories and parts for the shuttle pod.
In the box
(1) Shuttle Pod Cart (1) Shuttle Pod 4ft Rail Kit (1) Select-able End Support Option (1) [Optional] Mounting Insert
The design of the cart is really one of a kind. It is very different from other normal carriages. What makes it more amazing is that it can carry heavy weight revolutionary head or your heavy duty camera.
The shuttle pod is really safe. That is one of the good points about this product. Every point has a lock-in screw. You have all the options of the types of mounts you like. That is another good point. What is another good offer of this shuttle pod is you can add extension rails like 4 feet or 8 ft or even 12 ft to the shuttle pod. This shuttle pod is supported with a good pair of outrigger feet with sturdy aluminum bearing.
You see, the whole set-up about this Kessler shuttle pod is really great. Its purpose is really one of a kind and it can really help you when you do outdoor shooting. The only thing that can contribute to its negative aspect is the price. It is very expensive and hopefully in the coming days, Kessler can design a controller or an oracle that can manipulate both the slider carriage and the motion control system of the camera. That will save a lot of time.
http://www.kesslershuttlepod.com