Hi, I just bought a 12 foot tommy jib crane, for my cannon x1-h1, I also bought a pan and tilt motor that you put on top of the camera mount at the end of the jib and then add your camera on top of your motor mount. This thing is really heavy now, I have to use 40 lbs for a counter weight. On top of that all the weight is making the jib slanted and shooting crooked. So I took off the motor head and just left the camera on there, and it help a bit, but its still crooked. Is there any fix for this other than buying a more expensive stronger jib crane? It shoots great and I know I can fix the video in post, but it just bothers me. Any help?
When you added the pan/tilt head (and the cable) to the camcorder, you exceeded the supported weight rating of the crane and the crane stage. Then, when you put 40 pounds of counter weights on, you went way over the engineered capacity of the crane arm resulting in the bend.
You have twisted Jib. You could get a helper or friend or two and see if you can bend it back. That's what you get for not reading the manual and seeing what the gross weight you could support with this Jib. If you are not comfortable trying to bend it back, leave it and operate with a bent jib. If you want to support that combination, you are going to need to know the weight of the Camera and motor system so you can get a Jib that can handle that weight.
i don't know what went wrong, but the manufactures recommends using only 15 pounds to counterweight the 12 foot tommy jib. you may have assembled the works improperly. i don't understand why you would be using a motor head, you should set up your shots head-on and use the supplied arm to keep the camera level or on shot. put marks on the floor for the talent if you have too so they can stay in the shot. i have used 10 foot jibs with the Panasonic WV-D5000 which would be at least as heavy as the XL H1 and not used any counterweights, just lockdown the tripod.
