Kessler Crane makes great products, and their innovation keeps the new products coming. Love seeing a US-based manufacturer, making things in the heartland of America! read more

Kessler Crane undoubtedly makes some decent products for cinematographers (or so believed by the community), but they fall far short with their customer service and dishonesty. Some time ago, I ordered a Philip Bloom Signature Pocket Dolly. Great product as advertised, except I received a blatantly defective model. Having contacted customer support, sent numerous back-and-forth emails between support techs, and even made a video outlining the defect in my received product, they finally agreed to exchange my Pocket Dolly for a new model, requiring me to ship the item back at my expense. For what it's worth, the issue I was having was that the slider was "catching" or "sticking" at a certain point on the track, even creating an audible click as it did, not allowing for a consistent and smooth slide. I shipped it back and re-received my Pocket Dolly saying it had been "repaired." Their promised "item exchange" has now turned "item repair," and I got my original Pocket Dolly back with the same defect. Upon contacting Kessler Crane again about the issue, they said they had been unable to re-create the problem I had, regardless of the fact they had said they'd REPLACE my item. This time around, I had them send another Pocket Dolly as I held on to my original so I could make sure I'd receive an entirely new product, not trusting them to not scheme me again. After having finally settled this ordeal, new all-terrain legs were released for this Pocket Dolly model. I contacted them again hoping to be able to upgrade my legs at less of a cost, especially because it took so long to settle this mess, but nope, no can do. Figures. Decent products per se, but a lack of customer support presence. I will be steering clear of this company in favor of Cinevate. My Pocket Dolly is already on its way out to welcome in a Cineslider. read more

The wedding company that I work for is starting to expand to DSLR cinematography (I'm an experienced DSLR film maker). We wanted to have some equipment that we could easily bring along with us to events for quick setups that looked professional both in person and on screen. After watching some videos, we decided to give Kessler a try. I'm glad that we did. We ordered a Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly along with a low profile ball head and everything needed to motorize it for time lapse shots. We also picked up a KC-Lite Jib with some Manfrotto 536 legs and a Hercules 2.0 head to fly it on. The jib arm is great. It's a quality build and breaks down in to an included carrying bag that isn't too big to throw in your car or bring to an event. I attached a Manfrotto quick release plate (also sold by Kessler) to it to make setup and teardown even quicker. The Hercules head is a beast. The extra weight is the tradeoff for knowing your gear is super secure, and makes using the KC-Lite easier. We did run in to an issue with the Philip Bloom pocket dolly, however. The crank wasn't properly installed so it would hit camera or the ball head when the stage reached that end of the track. This made 1.5 inches of the track unusable. After a call to Kessler, I was told to email them a picture of what was going on. They gave me the option of adjusting the crank myself or exchanging it for a new one. The offer of exchanging it even if the repair results in it breaking gave me the confidence to try it out. It took literally thirty seconds and it's now working as intended. It's a great tool to have with you. Initially, we ordered a second Manfrotto 535/Hercules 2.0 tripod thinking we would need it for the pocket dolly. Well, we didn't. Kessler was pretty backed up at the time we asked about the return. Even though it was past the return window by the time they got back to us, they still did the right thing and honored it. It's easy to forget that you're dealing with a small company when you order from Kessler because their name has quickly exploded and their gear is just so great. They aren't going to have a 24 hour hotline like big distributors, but don't let that make you write them off. Check them out and get to know them if you're in the market for some new cinematography gear. read more

I own an internet marketing company and we shoot online informative videos for area businesses as part of the suite of services we offer. I have been using the Kessler Kwik Release System for over a year and the quality of this product is outstanding. I had been using a competitor's slider for some time which I purchased because of the cost difference. I never was happy with that product so I purchased a 3' Cineslider with Low Profile Ball Head from Kessler. I had sent several inquiries to the company via email prior to purchase to get information about their products and every one was answered expediently and professionally. I am very pleased that the Cineslider and Low Profile Ball Head are some of the highest quality products I have worked with and like the Kwik Release System perform flawlessly. Their products make it so easy for me to switch between setups. In my business time is money and Kessler's products save me valuable time during my video shoots. I recently needed some information on their K Plate which I was considering and their support staff went out of their way to help me with a solution for lens support. I am happy to recommend Kessler Crane, their products and staff. They really do set the standard for products used in motion cinematography. read more