The footage I posted yesterday came from our new Indie-Dolly. We’ve been in the market for a portable, affordable dolly for quite a while, and finally settled on the Indie-Dolly.

There are a number of choices in this part of the market, including the Indie-Dolly, the Microdolly and the Losmany Spider Dolly. There are pros and cons to each. The Microdolly is definitely hte most portable, with its tent-pole style track. However, I wasn’t convinced it would hold up to student use. The Losmany dolly uses flexible track, which is very cool in concept, but which I haven’t been happy with in reality. It seems like there’s always just enough movement in the track so as to be noticeable. The Indie-Dolly uses a collapsable track system which is significantly more robust than the Microdolly, but which is still reasonably portable.

The pricing for the Indie-Dolly system is pretty straightforward. You purchase the dolly itself, for around $1000, and then buy sections of track as desired. So far, we’ve got one straight track kit ($500, 12 feet) and have ordered a curved track kit ($600, 13 feet).

Everything comes in very nicely constructed bags. The bag for the dolly has wheels and a handle, similar to many luggage bags. It’s a good thing the wheels are there, as the bag weighs nearly 50lbs. The track bag is slightly lighter, though much larger.

Assembling the dolly is relatively straightforward, but it’s not an instant task by any means. It took me about half an hour the first time, though I imagine future setups will go much quicker.

Though the kit includes a seat, I think most operators will chose to just walk with the dolly. There is also a push bar included.

Unfolding the track is rather analogous to collapsing a flexfill. Even after watching the demo video a few times, it was still a bit confusing. I suppose it just takes practice.

Once you’ve got it all assembled, the movement of the dolly is very smooth. There’s no jitter when moving between pieces of track, and the individual trucks don’t seem to be shifting on the track at all. I’m looking forward to getting the curved track to do some longer moves.

In the end, I think the Indie-Dolly is a great option for those seeking an affordable, portable dolly. I believe other folks have come to this conclusion as well, as it took nearly a month for our order to arrive.