US company Rollocam has released its Hercules pocket-sized motorised camera dolly. The product is the result of a successful Kickstarter project last year which raised over $380,000 and additional funds helped add more features to the final design.
Running on AAA batteries, Hercules is programmable and consists of a three-wheeled body with a tripod screw and a single press-button controller. It's designed to drive in straight lines or arcs, and is suitable for shooting video and time-lapse sequences.
Adding accessories will allow it to rotate for 360° panoramas, while different sized wheels alter the travel speed. Two of the wheels are hinged to allow the user to set a curved path of travel, and the whole unit disassembles for easy packing.
Rollocam says Hercules can support 10lbs and travel at seven speeds, from 2.5 to 20.3cm/1 to 8in per second.
In time-lapse mode it can be set to travel between 0.13 and 12.7mm/0.005 and 0.5in, across eight settings, with intervals of 1 to 60 seconds.
The company says it is now working on a camera trigger that synchronises with the dolly for recording time-lapse frames in a move-shoot-move sequence.
The basic Hercules costs $125 US (pre-order) and a premium kit with extras, including mounting plate for heavier cameras costs $249 US.
For more information visit the Rollocam website.