Gear Review: Matthews Dutti Dolly

The team and I were prepping for a new series of tests covering nearly every piece of diffusion that Tiffen makes, when we realized we needed a dolly. I needed to be able to move the camera in exact repeatable steps to show how the different diffusions affected the frame, and do it quickly. Our first thought was to pick up the tried and tested Fisher 10, but as much as I wanted a Fisher, we just didn’t have the time or the crew. We needed to move fast. I needed something different, something that gave me options, and the freedom to easily move our setups. That’s where the Matthews Dutti Dolly swept in and saved the day.

Loading Tiffen diffusion filters into the tray for our a new Inner Circle series

The Dutti Dolly is an anodized CNC’d aluminum plate with a built in Mitchell mount, only 20” x 24” in size, which makes it incredibly portable.

Matthews Dutti Dolly. These babies come in three colors, red, black, and chrome

What really makes the Dutti Dolly so cool, though, is how low to the ground it rolls – at just under 2” in height.

This thing can get low!

The Dutti Dolly moves along 8 inline skate wheels, which mount in pairs to the ½” thick aluminum plate.

I really loved the array of accessories you could use with the Dutti Dolly too. Take the track, for example. Matthews makes a few great sets of track, but say you wanted a really specific length, or just needed more and needed it quick. This dolly can roll along any smooth surface so no matter if you wanted right angled aluminum, square stock, or pipe, you could just go and pick some up at your local Home Depot anytime you want – in any length.

Damon Mosier prepping our rig to shoot for the Tiffen Diffusion Series

Matthews makes a great set track, which we used on our shoot

I could operate both the dolly and the camera by myself with ease

You can set the track on top of apple boxes or use Matthews slider stands with their universal stand bracket like we did.

This thing is absolutely amazing for working in small spaces.

Matthews The Slider Stand (3.8′)

Matthews Dutti Dolly Universal Stand Bracket

This thing will roll on any smooth surface or it can be used with track, on or off stands, over and underslung.

It’s got a ton of rigging capabilities too, because of the the tapped holes on the dolly board.

Here’s a little backstory on how it came to be:

It’s called the Dutti Dolly because Dolly Grip, James Saldutti, also referred to as ‘Dutti’ in the Hollywood community. He started developing this dolly nearly 15 years ago, and it’s been perfected after achieving hundreds of different shots on feature films, television shows, and commercials.

Let’s recap some of these awesome features:

– Extreme low angles w/ adaptability for any desired height. The dolly rides at just under 2” in height, on or off track.

– The width, weight, and wheel design of the dolly give the operator the capability of hard whip pans and quick tilts, unlike some of the skate dollies out on the market.

– Will roll directly on the ground floor or any smooth surface, or can be used with track, on or off stands, both over and underslung.

– Inexpensive expendable track can be purchased at any industrial metal supply or home improvement store or you can purchase the Matthews right angle Dutti track which comes in 4, 8 and 12 foot lengths. The track stacks and nests nicely for storage.

– The right angle track can be rested on apple boxes to achieve desired camera height.

Specs: Dolly Weight: 25 lbs Weight Capacity: 800lbs Dolly Dimensions: 20” x 24” x 3.5” Platform Height: 1.75” Dolly Mount: Mitchell System, with 75/100 and 150mm bowl adapters available.

I had a blast working with Matthews Dutti Dolly. It allowed me to be one with the camera, haha! But seriously, it really made our shoot day so much easier by having this around, so much so, I wanted to share it with all of you.

You’ll get to see more of it in action with us in our new Tiffen Diffusion Series, coming soon to the Inner Circle.

We edit all our videos on HP Z840 workstations that chew through 5K raw footage like it’s nothing, and we watch it all happen on our gorgeous HP Z24x DreamColor monitors. Check them out, because they’ve made our lives a lot easier.

All the gear we used: