I'm looking to make a purchase in the next week of a quality crane to use for my political media business. We love those nice dramatic shots, dutch angles, flyovers, etc.

Does anyone own a Cobra? (http://www.cobracrane.com)

Any brands to avoid?

I was surprised that Cobra did not have a demo video of their crane in action (if I am missing something please let me know). I have been considering the Kessler Crane; they have multiple demo's of assembly, operation, and footage shot with the crane on their website. Their prices begin sub $400 range.

Ooops... duplicate post.

I really like my EZ FX Jib crane with the A1. It is a heavy set up, but gives glass smooth shots.

there are demo videos of the cobra crane on their site... I watched them along with the steady tracker videos. I did purchase a cobra crane 2+ for my A1 for work and for the money, it's a great little crane. I have a bogen 501 / 756 combo tripod / head and it the cobra came with the correct quick release plate to mount right up to the head. The crane works surprisingly well, with no flex and the tripod doesn't flinch even with 40-50 lbs of balace weight... not sure whether you wanted all this info... but I was sold on it after seeing the demo videos.