Yes. It uses a cable and pulley parallelogram system which will keep it level as it booms up and down.

The Cobra Crane mounts on your tripods head, (there is no need to remove the head) and when you tilt the head, the unique pulley and cable system can tilt the camera up to 180 degrees, by simply tilting the tripods head using the tripod handle. Standing behind the tripod you would put your right hand on the back of the unit, for booming & panning, and your left hand on the tripod handle for tilting. This lets you swoop the camera from a low shot to a high shot smoothly and efficiently. You can also keep your eye on a monitor placed on the tripod. You can tilt the camera while the boom arm is either still, or in motion. This is a unique feature of the Cobra Crane, other low cost cranes on the market will not tilt from the rear like this.

Yes it can boom pan 360 degrees continuously. This sweeping arc through the air makes a much more dramatic pan, than just turning right or left like when on a tripod.The Cobra Crane can do all three moves simultaneously if need be- boom, tilt, and boom pan. It can also be set up to do dutch angles without buying any optional dutch angle accessories. If you want to pan out on the end, we have a remote pan and tilt head available with a long wired remote control, that pans 180 degrees and tilts 30 degrees. Or you can put a tripod head out there and do it the old fashioned way. (its limited to how high you can reach, or how low you can bend. Plus its hard keeping your eye on a monitor).

Eight pounds, and comes completely assembled.

Professional work requires proper monitoring of the image. This is accomplished by running a video wire from the video out jack on the camera, down the Crane arm to a small portable monitor on or near the tripod. A "HEADSET MONITOR" (available from Classic Video Products) is also a very effective and professional way to monitor the framing of your image.

Approximately nine feet high. If you order the optional 3' extention, the camera can go from the floor to 12' high. Included with the extension is a video tape showing you how to set up and use the system, a video wire, a fine tuning sliding weight, and a second pulley cable. This is called the productivity kit and comes with the optional 3 foot extension. 6.5 pounds is the maximum camera weight.

The Cobra Crane 2 has a maximum capacity of 25 pounds (9 foot high). It has all the same features and benefits as the original Cobra Crane. (Its basically a heavy duty version)

Since it mounts directly to your tripods head, it is very fast. Here is the complete set up and balancing process. (sidenote: no tools are required for set up) 1) Put your tripods quick mount plate on the Cobra Crane, and mount it to the tripod. It attaches exactly the same way any camera would. 2) Mount your camera to the front end of the Cobra with the provided camera mounting thumbscrew. 3) Run a video wire down the Cobra arm to a monitor. 4) Add common barbell weights until the camera lifts off the table. The first time you do this might take 15 to 20 minutes. From then on it can be done in 2 to 5 minutes. If you get the productivity kit, it includes the video wire, a fine tuning sliding balancing weight, and a video tape showing you step by step how to set up and use the Cobra with alot of tips and examples for good shooting techniques.

Any sturdy tripod will work. (metal, not plastic) The best one we like is a Bogen 3246 leg set with the Bogen 3063 or 3066 head. But again, it has been designed to work on Bogen heads. (We sell the Bogens at heavily discounted prices if you need one).

Its made from super durable high strength lightweight steel. It has four radial spline bearings, and weighs approximately 8 pounds.

Common barbell discs found at any sporting goods store. You need approximately 3 times the weight of your camera in weight discs. We sell them if you need them.

Yes, you can front operate it with a tripod head under the camera. The optional set up tape shows you a secret tip that saves you $250. It shows how to imitate a competitors optional front operated handle system without paying the $250 price. The tape shows another really cool secret shot that we've never seen demonstrated anywhere else.

Virtually any video or film camera under 6.3 pounds. The Canon XL-1, Optura, ES-2500, ES-4000, ES-5000, Es-6000, UCS-1, 2, 3, 5, Sony VX-1000, VX-2000, TRV-7, TRV-9, TRV-10, PC-7, PC-10, JVC cybercams, TR101's, V-101's, 701's, 801's, VX3, All Hi-8s, all VHS-c, all mini DV, Digital 8's and many, many more. Call if you are concerned about your camera model.

15 minutes of working it is all the practice you need. Once again, the optional set up tape shows you which shots are most effective, and tips showing you how to get one of a kind shots that are so smooth, it's impossible to get shots any smoother.

Its best to prefocus the shot before shooting. If you trust your auto focus it can be used when necessary. If your camera came with a wireless remote, most of these have a zoom/pause feature that works pretty well. We have an optional remote control that plugs into the LANC jack on your Sony or Canon camcorders. It will zoom, pause, manually focus, and power on and off the camera from up to 16 feet away (wire is 16 feet long). It also has a LCD numerical readout that indicates record time, low battery, end of tape, and many other features. Please call for price and availability. Feature filmmakers rarely zoom the camera. They prefocus the shot, leave it at a very wide setting, and dolly the crane toward the subject. This is a simple, effective, and relatively goof proof method.