Inovativ Apollo – The 40% Stronger Compact Camera Cart
Cult favorite cart manufacturer Inovativ has announced a new flagship line of carts. The Inovativ Apollo is a new heavy duty, portable camera cart offering up to 40% more strength over previous models.
Inovativ has been around for some time, gaining status as the go-to for owner-operator camera carts.
Their existing range offers high customizable camera carts that hold a distinct advantage over other manufactures in that they can pack down into an extremely low profile.
The newly announced Inovativ Apollo takes a stride closer to build over portability – boasting figures like 40% stronger, with 14% thicker verticals, 56% thicker shelves.
The result is two length models, 40 and 52 both with a 1200lbs (544kg) weight capacity. The models reside either side of a typical Magliner senior length (around 50”).
You’d expect such an increase in build comes less portability, in weight terms that’s about right – the Inovativ Apollo 40 and 52 weigh as light as 102 lbs. and 115lbs respectively, meaning neither with a standard airline (this is one of the advantages of the smaller Scout line).
Yet both still pack down to the thickness of both shelves – fantastic for local travel.
What’s new over the existing lines?
One side of the top shelf now folds down; great for if you’re using your cart as a DIT station and need prolonged desktop access.
The aforementioned strengthened verticals now sit much closer to the corners of the cart, maximizing shelf space.
Mast accessories (such as posts for lights/Movi dock/monitors) will stem from inside the posts, meaning a much stronger mate with the cart – anyone who has used the mast accessories on existing Inovativ carts will know their weight limitations.
Having accessories stem from the posts also means the sides are much less cluttered.
Speaking of sides, the opposing long length has optional cheese plates with ¼” 20 and 3/8” threaded arrays, these are great for wireless links, cable tidies etc..
The clasps for when collapsed are also much refined and moved to the short sides of the carts, there’s also a new optional draw design
Dimensions for the Inovativ Apollo 40 and 52
Apollo 40
– Collapsed: 40″H x 26″W x 7.5″L
– Assembled: 40″H x 26″W x 40″L
– Weight: 102lbs. (With EVO Wheels) / 112 lbs. (With NXT Wheels)
Apollo 52
– Collapsed: 52″H x 26″W x 7.5″L
– Assembled: 52″H x 26″W x 40″L
– Weight: 115lbs. (With EVO Wheels) / 125 lbs. (With NXT Wheels)
Like existing lines, the Inovativ Apollo will be available in EVO and NXT. The former is the flagship, all in-house design for quick release wheels. The NXT are more off-the shelf, 30% heavier and are therefore cheaper.
It sounds as if these will ship early summer 2018, pricings starting at $3100.
$3K? I’m waiting for the Tiltas and Smallrigs and similars of this world to come out produce carts also, at a 10th of the price, and put these companies out of business. Those prizes are ridiculous. You can buy -in the EU at least- a very very decent Mountain bike for just €300 with lifetime warranty, and yet Magliner and Innovative think they can charge thousands for a (stupid) cart!
What a coincidence! I was talking to the rep from Inovativ today and he said that they’re also coming out with a cart at 1/10th the price. It’s also 1/10th the size. But at least a person can carry it around on their very very decent Mountain bike!
Started and ran a lot of successfull businesses did you Henry? I am sorry but your comment is disrespectful, ignorant and aggressive. Developing, manufacturing, marketing and distributing camera carts to a niche industry is very different from making mountainbikes to the masses. I welcome critique, and yes, I can agree with you that sometimes things (especially in this industry) feel overprized, but please, try and keep a respectul tone.
I’m an Economist and Marketing Manager, and know pretty well what it takes to develop a product and launch it to the market. My opinion about prices of some ‘simple tools’ like carts and such is the same everybody I know in the industry in EU thinks.
In the USA due to a very standardized and closed industry controlled by Unions, a production costs 5 times what it costs in the EU. The BBC can shoot three 90min “Sherlock” ‘movies’ for 5 Million; that’s what it costs to shoot a single 40min episode of similar quality in the USA.
Honestly I could design something like a cart myself in AUTOCAD in a few days, find a company to build it -in the EU- and assemble a small team to distribute and manage the whole company and keep prices low. Markets regulate themselves. When opportunity window arises, new smarter companies overtake. Stands, tripods, carts, cages… etc are all very simple things to design and build. It’s not rocket science, (like an ALEXA sensor). High prices for such items exist until Some TILTA or similar disrupts the market. It happens over and over.
Sorry to sound so blunt, but the film industry is not any different to others. Hollywood itself is doing this by outsourcing as much as possible. All FX and 3D is done overseas. Principal photography look for tax exemptions to shoot all over the planet. Same with Soundtracks: 6 of the 9 scoring stages in L.A. have CLOSED because LA musicians demand royalties, while the London Symphonic doesn’t (!). In Prague it’s even cheaper, etc, etc.
Sorry if my initial post sounded disrespectful. Didn’t want it to be. Just stating some simple economical facts.
Please, please put your money where your mouth is and do this.
I am also an Economist and Marketing manager as well as full time forum moron and Henry Berg is right. These videos carts are just 300 euros worth of mountain bike in disguise. I could design literally any piece of filming equipment on AUTOCAD in a day (probably less) and sell it for an astronomical profit making me the most successful entrepreneur of all time, but instead I spend the majority of my time writing useless comments on the internet…as thats what the industry really needs.
Give me a shout when the companies up and running Henry, I’d love to join your small distribution team.
Never stop stating the simple economical facts.
“economical facts”
You realize the Tilta cart is a knockoff made with cheap chinese metal and borderline slave labor?
Please, start a cart company so you can go bankrupt and we can all hjave a good laugh.