Review of Hague D5T Camera Tripod Tracking Dolly Kit

The kit arrived and was packed very well, lots of bubble wrap, no empty space for components to slide around and get damaged.

There is a simple one sheet instruction manual which is pretty straightforward and fairly easy to follow.

The kit contains:-  

8 x 1.5 metre sections of tubular track

6 x track connectors

3 x bungie type straps

2 x wheeled sections of dolly

1 x bridging section of dolly, with screws.

By simply squeezing the connectors together slightly and inserting into the ends of each tube the kit will provide a six metre length of parallel rails. Extra rails and connectors can be purchased separately via Hague's website but six metres is very adequate in my opinion.

I have purchased the Hague SBAG Soft Padded Bag to transport the set between locations, and this is large enough that the connectors can be left inside some of the tubes for quick assembly the next time you use the set. The tubes are made of a hard-wearing plastic and look durable, as do the connectors.

The Dolly construction is very robust and the quality of the finish is excellent, the paintwork has a slightly hammered finish which is nice and one of the sections has a large Hague sticker across the top. The wheels are made from a nylon type plastic that has a slightly rubbery feel, and are mounted with sturdy nuts and bolts, they spin very freely and smoothly.

It's fairly obvious how the 3 pieces of the dolly fit together from the instruction sheet. I did slightly get thrown by the small black screw pictured below, and getting the dolly aligned correctly required a little bit of a play. I then realised that the black screw head on the right hand wheeled section fits inside the end of the bridging section. Once you have realised this it's completely obvious and easy to assemble going forward.

The bridging section connects to the wheeled sections via two threaded screws with triangular plastic knobs that you tighten to make the dolly rigid. The constructed dolly is not heavy at all and is easy to carry around. I would imagine that some professionals might leave the dolly in one piece permanently as it's not too big once constructed, and pop in their vehicle on top of their other kit.

Once the plastic rails are aligned the dolly is easily rested on top and the running is very smooth. The constructed dolly has 5 holes cut in the top approximately 2 inches across, these will hold most feet of major tripod brands and allow for some variance in leg positions and height.

I tried my 3 stage broadcast style Manfrotto tripod first, then a more traditional stills photography style tripod with a video head. I found that whilst the 3 stage Manfrotto tripod was fairly stable on top of the dolly with it's spreader and rubber feet, I needed to take the spreader off to insert the spiked feet into the holes on top of the dolly platform.

The 3 stage tripod Tripod was fairly secure like this, and straps to secure your tripod and camera are supplied, however the clawed feet did slightly scratch the paintwork when doing this. 

Since my initial unboxing I have discovered the 565c Spiked Foot Shoes for the D5 Tracking Dolly and I would very much recommend these for the broadcast style 3 stage tripods like Vinten, Satchler or Manfrotto, you'll know if these will work for you.

I was also delighted to find that once I had added the spiked foot shoes, I could still dismantle the dolly, and it still fitted in the Hague SBAG that I had purchased to carry the kit.

The broadcast style tripod seemed very stable with my Panasonic HC-X1000E 4K Camcorder on board, moving the camera on the track seemed very smooth with this level of weight.

I found that my Panasonic G7 on a more traditional Manfrotto photography style tripod with a video head was a little less stable for me.

I think this suffered slightly from having less weight, and my personal preference would be use my broadcast tripod even when using the DSLR, I suppose this really would depend on the shot and how far the camera would need to travel on the track.

In conclusion I think that the Hague D5T Camera Tripod Tracking Dolly is a quality piece of kit at a really good price, the build quality is amazing and it runs very smoothly.

It is easily assembled and disassembled and It all fits wonderfully into the Hague SBAG Soft Padded Bag (Purchased separately) taking up little space.

This purchase has definitely made me look at other Hague products which look like very affordable options for professionals or enthusiasts alike.