I need help figuring out what slider I should buy.
Boy it feels like a long time since I have done a video, I have doing a bunch of complex coding the past month and I really can’t really do anything else when I code.
Our family went up to the Breckenridge 2011 International Snow Sculpture Festival and got to watch contestants from around the world carve their sculptures at night and got to come back during the day when they finished.
They guys just blew me away on what they could do with snow. Incredible. And the weather was just perfect for it. I think I got a sun burn.
We actually didn’t ski on this trip mostly just hung out and relaxed.
I saw a few others shooting video with DSLR’s.
Of course I had to test out more flat picture styles, watch out for my next podcast on that topic next week.
I shot everything hand-held.
I wish I had a slider on this trip, I think it would have added so much to my shots. Emm over at Chessycam turned me on to the new Konova slider for around $280. I really couldn’t use my DIY spider dolly at an event like this. I want something I can mount on a tripod and easily move around. Anyone know of another slider with roller bearings in that price range or is that the one to get?
Also is the hand crank on some of the expensive sliders necessary?
Let me know you thoughts?
Dave , Again….a great video!!! You ARE the man!!!!!!
I’m thinking the hand crank would probably give a more consistent and stable speed than just doing it with your hand… not sure though haven’t tried one yet.
Hey just out of curiosity, what kind of stuff are you coding? I am a web developer by day. I do a ton of PHP, MySQL and CSS stuff. If you ever needed a hand with anything I would be more than willing to help out.
@O’Ryan Thanks for the offer. I know I might get some slack for this, but I code in Coldfusion. I have been using it for about 7 years now and I’m not sure I could switch to PHP since CF is so easy to write. I have been working on taking a customer’s XML feed, geocoding addresses, uploading images and everything else into my system.
Hey Dave,
I ended up purchasing the “DryLin® W16-A Linear Motion System for Camera Sliders”. I love it. The only thing is that you will have to modify it to fit on a tripod or 2 but other than that its very smooth. Here is the link if your interested.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XECN2S/ref=oss_product
Jeh
Hey Dave I have a Konova slider and had others. This slider is the best I have. It is thin and mounts on tri pod by unscrewing your tri pod head and screwing in the slider in place of the head. Then screw the head into the slider. It is also light and comes with a very nice caring bag. You will not regret getting this slider. I am using it now on a music video. Tommorrw I will put a clip from the video on my web site were I used the slider. It never sticks and workes flawless every take. And I never used the crank on my other slider.
The Ultraslider has a really long throw.
Luke Neumann is having fun with it here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Dod3032#p/u/2/WlfjeZYVPYM
Official website: http://www.ultraslider.com
I don’t know a ton about sliders, but it seems as though none of the “man powered sliders” have a very smooth slide to them in my opinion. I would opt to get a cheap one, like this one: http://indisystem.com/products/indislider_mini ……..and simply add a stepper motor or a cheap drill driver motor to make it slide. I am probably going to go this route when I can justify another purchase to the wife!
Motored sliders are nice if you want to just go in one direction or for time lapse . But if you are following actors movements it is so hard to time the actor at the same speed as the motor. Hand sliding is the way to go. Also with a motor you cant change direction in the middle of the action. But if all you do is one direction slide to reveal something the motors are fine. And I can tell you that the Konova slider is so so smooth if you don’t have it exactly level and the break is not on it will drift along the track.
Take a look at this slider!!
Nice sculptures .
I like the Glidetrack is small, portable, affordable.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/748300-REG/Glidetrack_SD_075_SD_Slider_29_5.html
Hi Dave, Nice Footage and beatiful pictures. Thanks for all the great videos , I have learned a lot with you. I bought the slider that Luke Neumann recommended, it might be too long for what you are looking for. I think your best bet is the Konova slider….
Check this one out from ebay….The only thing is that they ship all the way from Hong Kong…I had a bad experience with some 32G SD cards I got shipped from there.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140508454527&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
@Sierra Thanks for the recommendation. I tried that link but it didn’t work.
The videos look great and the photos look incredible. From what I have seen, avoid the linear dry bearing sliders. I have looked at every slider video known to man and they all usually seem to have issues with being moved by hand, especially with the zaza types. Also, a hand crank seems extremely hard to get smooth shots. I would look into the roller bearing model or similar as referenced by cheesycam. I have been working on my own using skateboard bearings. It is as smooth as glass. I recently added a simple motor, but I have got to test and tweak before posting footage.
@Aron
Well, I guess my point is: Why spend $300 bucks, even $100 bucks on a slider as a hobbyist – when you can get the same mediocre results from a $12 dollar PVC DIY slider? The only reason to get a non-motored slider would be to eventually put a motor into it in my opinion. When I see some video of a non-powered slider that moves fluidly for more the 6 inches, I’ll change my tune… but I still have yet to see any.
Wow, your photos of the snow sculpture are wonderful. I lived in Boulder for ten years and now I am kicking myself for not having gone to this (I was more a Copper Mountain girl
though Breckenridge night skiing is pretty special.
As for sliders, I literally JUST got the new Atlas 10 from Cinevate, but still unpacking and setting it up so I will report back when I have actually tried it. I am still very very new to all this.
Question: what are you using for hand-held? I checked your equipment listing, but maybe I missed it, and I am fairly new to your blog so forgive me if this has come up a zillion time, but your handheld work here looks amazing for the T2i. I just got the Fig Rig and have been having some fun with that. I needed more flexibility than I could get with a shoulder mount.
@Kathy welcome to my blog. I don’t have any stabilizing equipment yet all truly handheld in this video.
Hi Dave
The item number in ebay is 140509470005 and the shop’s name is “polasucker”. You can also type “Smallism Camera slider 1M linear track for DSLR HDV” . they sell it for around $150… I hope you can find it…
Hello Dave!!!
I’m Fernando from Brazil but living in Japan since 2005. So first, sorry my bad english.
I like very much all of your videos. I love the look of your videos. I have a Nikon D90 and i an’t make videos with a quality like your videos.
I just want know, your videos is so sharp. How do you do this? Is this nativity from your camera your this sharp is make in post production???
Thanks to share your knowledge and your expirience with us!!!
aron. i wanna see your konova slider. can u tell me what`s your website??
I have a Glidetrack (the smaller one) and it’s good! I have a couple of quick release plates (one on the video head, one on the slider) so I can go tripod-only, or tripod + slider. It’s kinda janky, but the plates work great and I’m happy with the setup.
Hello Dave,
An alternative to buying a slider is to use a tripod that has an adjustable horizontal mode for the head. I just posted a video that shows how I use this:
http://vimeo.com/19666190
And great site by the way, I have watched all your videos and have found them really useful as I have leaned to use my 550D. Keep up the good work!
Dom
I have a Kessler Cineslider. It works well, but it was expensive. My only complaint is that it’s impossible for me to get smooth sliding action using the crank. The Cineslider will accept a motor, however.
@David thanks for letting me know about the crank.
Dave,
I’m in the same boat you are; learning about video on a DSLR. I come from a video background (commercial production and news) but I’m very used to using traditional broadcast cameras. DSLR video is a completely different ball game. Thanks for doing this site, it’s been a wealth of knowledge.
With that being said, I purchased an igus slider from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XECN2S/ref=oss_product
It’s a DIY type slider meaning you’ll have to drill a hole for a bolt to attach a pan/tilt head and make stops for the ends so the slider plate doesn’t fall off. You can buy stops for it but I just tapped threads and put bolts with oversized washers on it to make stops; only cost me a couple bucks maybe. And you’ll need a sturdy tripod and head to mount it, this is a heavy piece and incredibly strong! Mine came in a 44 inch length and if it needs cut down, any machine shop in your town can do it for a few bucks. In total, I think I spent about $340 between a Manfrotto 501HDV head and the slider (I already had a tripod with a pan/tilt head). But certainly look into it.
@Dave – one more thing about the Kessler Cineslider: It has a tensioning adjustment, which is what sold me on this device. I had rented a cheaper slider, sans tensioning. I found that it had the tendency to speed up and slow down while sliding, which was unpredictable and led to lousy looking dolly shots . The Cineslider does not do this because I can set enough tension that it forces me to apply a steady pressure. Thus, I cannot make it go faster than the set tension unless I were to really apply a lot of force. This is very similar to setting the tension on a good tripod head, and how that results in steady, smooth pans.
I tried the Atlas 10 last night, and wow. It is ultra-smooth pushing the sliding base with your hand. I have it center mounted on my tripod, and it is heavy to pick up the tripod with the slider… actually my complete set-up this morning is a tripod (504 manfrotto head), with the Atlas 10 mounted to it (using a 504 qr plate on the slider), then rather tha putting the camera directly on the slider, I have the camera mounted on a Fig Rig (manfrotto) and then the Fig Rig is mounted on the slider (also using a qr plate on the bottom of the Fig Rig).
My use-case is horse and horse training videos, so I want the flexibility of quickly jumping to hand-held with the Fig Rig.
The big problem for me now is figuring out how often I will need the slider and whether to just keep it on the tripod most of the time, which means I must hit the gym more so I can get better at carrying the darn thing around like that
Oh, and your hand-held steadiness (given it is literally just your hand) is phenomenal. You must have ninja training in your past…
@Kathy thanks, but believe me I cut many takes that had me shaking all over the place.
Hi, Dave,
First of all, thanks for all the generous work you do at the same time that you advance in the DSLR way (same as all of us are actually trying to)…!
Secondly, when by the end of 2010 I was in Europe for working reasons (I am an Argentine documentary filmmaker) I bought a slider for my T2i.
It is German and is called Kamera-Slider. Here is their site.
hhttp://www.com-videoshop.de/042f2d9d0e0cb2273/042f2d9d0e0cb677a/042f2d9d0f0097c16.php
They also have a brochure in English
http://www.com-videoshop.de/downloads/kameraslidersystemenglishshop.pdf
It’s really fluid. I bought from them their smaller one (it was hard to bring a longer one into my case back to Argentina without folding it…
. I use it with a Manfrotto 501PL plate underneath the rail, so I can quickly slip it on or release it from the tripod. For the top side of the rail I bought a Velbon tripod head with great results.
Hope this is useful and adds up to your inquiry.
Thanks again.
Ana.
@Ana that one looks similar to the IGUS.
Dave,
I just got my Konova silder from http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120672581291
I find out that it has a completely same body as my Atlas 10 http://www.cinevate.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=252&osCsid=00183d4aad00ee839ad11814cff7f4bd
Which cost me $$600
I think one of them might be the producer.
Hope this could be useful for u
@Alexander interesting I would if they are getting the rails from the same place?
I think you are right, Dave. According to the pictures of IGUS, this Kamera Slider perhaps is made of the same pieces. But I sent it to you because it works really fine and the price was quite affordable as well (147 euro, approx. 200 dollars) provided that I would not have to pay shipment as I brought it home myself.
What I also got -and it is really a marvellous buy- is a cage for my T2i. The make is Hague CamFrame, made in the UK, and the price I paid is only 49 pounds (now I see it is 55 pounds, approx. 88 dollars). This little accessory helps me so well in balancing steadily the camera for handmade travellings, and also allows me to mount a LED pad, or my LCD monitor, among other pieces. In case you are also considering acquiring another “movilization” accessory, I would give this one a deep thought, Dave.
Best,
Ana.
This is the precise link.
http://cameragrip.co.uk/acatalog/hague_cfslr_digital_slr_camframe.html
I’m interested to get slider too now. Igus seems nice, but I have no idea how to order it.. Igus homepage is so complicated and amazon says Currently unavailable. Any ideas?
@Tarvi I know what you mean about the Igus ordering process it looks really bad.
Dave
Would like to see a podcast that focused entirely on affordable sliders. Here is one I am considering
http://www.glidetrack.com/products/glidetrack-sd.html
Dave, I am seriously considering getting the konova slider and spider dolly in the next few days. Seems like the best deal out there at the moment.
Anyone ordered from their homepage? I asked them about trackable and insured shipping and they said it is only $3 per item. So definitely worth it.
Also anyone got some experience travelling with a slider? I mean boarding a plane won’t be possible. Would the 1m version still be short enough for drop-off baggage?
Any tips appreciated. Thanks!
Hey, I was in the same boat as you, Dave (great site, by the way!!). I first got some igus parts and made my own slider. i took that around the world (I live in Singapore) for the past few months but found that it just wasn’t smooth enough. It was inconsistent in its tension. Then Emm over at Cheesycam.com turned me on to the Konova slider and I got it last week. LOVE THE DAMN THING NOW. Its as smooth as silk and just gliiiiiiiiides. Just get it. its the cheapest thing on the market that is worth the price. It can mount vertical as well and that rocks. But, use it on a tripod, forget about using it with two light stands. Best is actually to use it with a tripod and then another tripod or light stand on the other end. It just rocks. Great customer service, too. Cheers, Alex
@Alex thanks! I plan on getting one once I have a little bit of money ready to go.
Hi Dave. You asked if anyone knows of a more affordable slider that uses rollers, I’m not sure if you’ve seen the new Glidetrack Hybrid slider but I just had one for review and it’s a really big improvement over the standard IGUS system.
http://www.pauljoy.com/gear/camera-support/glidetrack-hybrid-slider-review
regards
Paul.
@Paul, great video of the product. Thanks for letting me know about this one. I like its size and form factor however the pricing a bit too high for an amateur like myself. Even the Konova is a little pricey for me, but I have a review unit on the way and I will let you know how it works.
Dave,
Eagerly awaiting slider reviews. i think a slider is the single most important gear for elevating your video to the next level. Budget considerations are very important.
@Dennis I should be getting one in about a week.
Check out this summary of the current slider market…it should be quite helpful to anyone trying to figure out which slider to get for their DSLR.
http://thedslrjourney.com/blog/equipment/slider-dslr-video