Camera Cart for Video Productions: Rock-N-Roller Multi-Cart R18RT

When is the right time to invest in a cart for all of your film and video gear? (if there is such a time actually). For our video production company here in Austria it was basically once it got to a point where a two-person video crew (camera operator and a sound recordist for example) couldn’t manage to “lug-around” the gear in one go for any particular video shoot.

Now of course, taking a cart on a video shoot has plenty of downsides: It takes up a lot more space in your trunk, loading the video gear and securing it properly takes time, it’s an extra bulky item at the shooting location, and most likely it will be one of the biggest/heaviest pieces of gear you’ll bring along with you to the shoot. So it definitely isn’t the most “run and gun” item for videographers, camera operators and camera teams alike.

Having said all that, camera carts can also be a very useful and even essential item when it comes to video productions that require a bit more equipment to be used. It will also prevent quite a bit of back pain and even “premature sweating” on shoots where the video team would otherwise have to drag all the tripods, camera bags and cases all over the place by hand ;)

Rock N Roller in Full Capacity Before a Video Shoot

After some research online regarding different camera cart brands we decided based on our video production needs to go with a Rock N Roller Multicart, namely the R18 RT. It has an impressive carrying capacity of 320 kg (700 lbs.), and wide foam core tires that help roll heavy video gear over different terrain like dirt, gravel and grass.

Rock N Roller offers a variety of different carts aimed at TV networks, video and film crews, pro-sports teams, DJs, videographers etc. All of their carts transform into 8 different configurations, although from experience we basically only use 1-2 configurations during our video shoots. It has a non-skid frame bed surface that prevents slippage, and they offer a variety of different accessories such as decks and shelves to be used in conjunction with their carts.

Video Crew with a Loaded Rock N Roller Cart

Although it might seem overkill to take a camera cart on one-man band style video shoots, I have done it a few times. Every now and then clients will want to (instead of hiring an entire video crew) hire only a camera operator from us with a bunch of gear to go with him/her, so taking the cart on those video productions has actually been worth it.

A few specs:

- It’s a relatively lightweight cart (16,8 kg. or 37 lbs.) for the amount of weight it can carry.

- The length can be adjusted from 107 – 152 cm (42” – 60”)

- It has a height of 35,6 cm (14”) when folded, and 109 cm (43”) unfolded

- Polypropylene Hub with Polyurethane Foam tires

Posted by Vitor Goncalves