The title says it all - sorry if this has been asked before but I'd like to know...

The way I use it, and the way I hear it used, the distinction being that a 'jib' is for the camera only, while a 'crane' usually includes a seat for the operator, and quite possibly the AC. or Director.

So a 'jib' is a small 'crane' that can be mounted atop a tripod or other device, and the operator stands on the ground, controlling the camera as it moves up and down.

A 'crane' is typically a larger device, might or might not be self-propelled and powered, that can lift a full sized camera and operator.

The confusion can come in because a 'crane shot' might be performed with a jib. Much like a 'dolly shot' might NOT be performed specifically on a dolly.

Yeah, the term "Crane" & "Jib" are used so loosely because most people don't really know what they are. Crane sounds a little bigger. We own a 50' Cammate Series 2000 Camera Crane, which is what Cammate calls it, but really it is in fact a Jib. There is no rider on it, just a camera that is remotely operated from the base of the unit. Richard had a pretty good explanation of it, in his last line about the dolly.

Well I suppose one might say "all jibs are cranes, but not all cranes are jibs" if that helps any.

Probably not though....

Outside of the photographic realm, a jib crane is one that has an arm (the jib) that can rotate, raise or lower a load. The Pylon is what the jib rotates ON - for our purposes, the tripod or stand you mount a jib arm on would be the "pylon".

Away from photography again, there are several other types of cranes used for lifting -

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9830

In my "other" job, we usually refer to a "jib hoist" - this consists of a center pylon, usually fastened to a heavy plate which is in turn lag bolted to a heavy concrete floor - at the top of the pylon, there's a bearing that holds a horizontal "H" beam (the jib) on which rolls a trolley that has a small electric winch hanging from it - so you can lift a heavy object, swing it around and/or push it along the jib's length, and set it down in another location.

In photographic terms, I get the impression that the terms are more or less interchangeable by most - but any crane I've seen used for photography would be called a jib crane in the industrial community... Steve

I would stipulate that a crane can be either manned or remotely operated from a distance from the crane, whereas a jib is manually operated, or if remotely, from the end of the arm.

It is a somewhat technical distinction though. In most cases a jib is a short crane.