Hi Everybody--
Semi Newbie Here.
Need some expert help on dolly choices!
My experience includes:
I've had some experience with Modern Studio Equipment dollies, have never used American Grip's dolly or any of the JL Fishers or anything like that (that's overkill for us). I've heard good things about Black Bear Studio Systems and Matthews Studio Equipment.

We're definitely looking to purchase rather than rent because of the frequency of usage we intend on for the dolly.
We'd love to get a roundy round type dolly that steers with all four wheels but it's something around $3000 for that option after shipping with a Matthews and that's not in the budget right now. We could put down $2000 for a regular dolly but I know we'd want to get a roundy round in about three months and don't want to have to sell a used dolly and take a loss after we're done with it. I know the Black Bear dolly converts to a roundy round with an attachment but don't know if any other doorway dollies out there will do the same. We also want to be able to utilize the dolly on track in the future.

So I guess my options are these:

Black Bear dolly (around $1600 with the roundy round attachment) ( www.blackbearstudiosystems.com )

Matthews Roundy Round for around $3000 and rent until we can afford it? ( www.msegrip.com )

Or a super cheap ebay type dolly (Diamond?). http://cgi.ebay.com/4-WHEEL-STEERING...ht_1762wt_1141

Thoughts?

I just posted an article and footage of the dolly I created for $100 dollars.

Here is the video footage from dolly and Canon 5D, as well as the blueprints to make it.

Build the Dolly Video