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This is the cheapest camera dolly hack you’ll ever see for a smartphone

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October 5, 2018 by John Aldred 3 Comments

The humble pizza cutter. Who knew it could be such a wonderful cinematic tool? Well, it turns out that it might be. For your smartphone, anyway. The folks at COOPH have come up with a great way to get a dolly or slider for your phone without actually buying a dolly or slider. All you need is a pizza cutter.

Literally, all you need is a pizza cutter and a couple of rubber bands. You use the rubber bands to attach your phone to the cutter’s handle, and you’re all set. Load up your app, hit record, and go. You can mount it sideways for a tracking shot, or turn it 90 degrees to push in or pull out. Or even move it in an arc.

When it just runs on a single wheel, you get a lot of freedom that you don’t with a more conventional dolly or slider.

If your phone’s got good optical and electronic stabilisation built in, you’re probably ok to use the footage as it comes. But if not, be sure to run it through Premiere Pro’s warp stabiliser or something.

The cheapest pizza cutter I could find on Amazon was about $5, but you can pick these up at pretty much any dollar store in the USA or pound shop in the UK. I dare you to make a camera dolly for your smartphone that costs less than this.

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Related posts:

How to build your own DIY track dolly for under $50 Repurpose a glass dish as a DIY waterproof housing for your smartphone How to convert a floor dolly into a DIY tripod track dolly Upgrading a simple DIY PVC camera dolly with a motor and big wheels

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: Camera Dolly, COOPH, DIY, DIY Dolly, mobile video, slider, smartphone video

About John Aldred

John Aldred is based in Scotland and photographs animals in the studio and people in the wild.

You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.

« This scene of time passing in a room was shot as a single long take and it’s beautiful
Rahim Mustafa brings movie worlds into life »
  • Mike

    Make a movie and slice your knuckles open at the same time! What’s not to like about this!

  • Troublemann

    This is so simple and great.

  • Claudio Grieco

    And… cut!

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Dunja Djudjic is a writer and photographer from Novi Sad, Serbia. You can see her work on Flickr, Behance and her Facebook page.

John Aldred is based in Scotland and photographs animals in the studio and people in the wild.

You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.

JP Danko is a commercial photographer based in Toronto, Canada. JP
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.

To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.

JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.

Clinton Lofthouse is a Photographer, Retoucher and Digital Artist based in the United Kingdom, who specialises in creative retouching and composites. Proud 80's baby, reader of graphic novels and movie geek!
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page

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