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Developed by Sante Zelli in 1962 the Elemack Spyder Camera Dolly would become one of the world's most successful dollies with over 2,500 being built by 1979. It had a single column that could be manually pumped up, utilising a foot-pump, to the required height and locked off, or let down in shot by releasing a simple control valve.

 

The Elemack Spyder was the first camera dolly that I encountered as a young boy, and would be the first camera dolly that I would learn to maintain.

 

Despite the wide introduction of electro-hydraulic and electro-mechanical dollies the Elemack Spyder has remained relevant as an excellent second unit or low cost dolly and its crab capability has meant that it has been called on by first unit crews for specific applications. One such application being it's use in filming the dance sequence in Keneth Branagh's 'Hamlet'.

 

However, many Spyders have fallen out of use to turn up in rusty piles of kit in studio corners and dark garages. I have probably maintained over 20 Spyders during my time with camera equipment rental companies, and I have completely rebuilt or restored several units.

 

Apparently, word of those units that I have rebuilt and re-sold has travelled the world on various cinematography forums, and though having moved on in my career, I now regularly get email enquiries about the Elemack Spyder Camera Dolly, and so I intend to make this area a resource for those still nursing and maintaining these camera dollies into their 7th decade of filmmaking.