OK, just thought I'd post something here to get the collective thoughts of the forum before I go and do this, in case its just a stupid idea.

I bought a very nice boom arm and stand for lighting (I'm a photographer who has visions of becoming a better videographer).

so my first thought was, "hey, I bet I could use this as a cheap jib...". It has a standard brass nub, to which I am planning on attaching a nice manfrotto umbrella adapter (to allow for proper placement of my camera). Then I can attach a head directly to the 1/4x20 screw on the umbrella adapter and I'm good to go (or so I think).

Obviously it would need tweaking to do pans from higher than ground level, but i'm thinking it would be able to run some pretty sweet ground level pans.

Has anyone else tried this? If not, I'll hook it up and take pictures of the set-up if it ends up working well.

I have not done this but I have thought about it. I am interested in how it turns out.

But it won't stay level when you jib up or down. That's why proper jib arms have two parallel arms connected to always keep the lens axis parallel to the ground. A tilt control is added on with some rigs.

Oh I understand completely. For vertical pans, it would have to be "eyeballed" to keep it level. Doing vertical pans on this would be very difficult.... but for the type of work I'm doing with it right now, I think it will suffice (we shall see).

I'm mostly thinking of using it for doing short horizontal pans, or diagonal pans with a bit more steadiness than handheld (due to the counterweight).

OK.
Look forward to seeing your results.

Regards,

Robin

Could you add another rod and have it connected to a platform that is hinged? I am going to have to dig mine out and see if that looks doable.

I'm not sure how a second rod would work..... I'm trying to visualize how it would connect to the first rod to keep them lined up.

I guess as long as it is mounted correctly to the light stand it would work. Then the trick would be fabricating the plate on the end. Doing it that way would give you the added stability of having a counterweight on each boom arm though.

buy a jib.

The problem with your idea is that your pans and tilts will be executed without a fluid head. Your movement will be jerky, rendering your moves unusable.