Konova DSLR Slider Review

– April 8, 2011

Great roller bearing slider for the price. Plus a few tips on using a slider.

Before I start in on the review I want to tell you about my little DIY dolly because before I had it I thought it would be the answer to all my slider needs. Well it wasn’t and I don’t use it that often, there are two reasons, speed of setup and smooth surfaces. For me I like to move fast from slider move to slider move and using the dolly on a large long board is just not what I call fast for set up time. Also a board does not work well on a board unless it is really smooth, this works best on glass or like a Formica counter top.

I tell you this because the Konova slider is much faster to setup, especially in many different configurations.

Over the past couple of years a lot of sliders made for DSLR’s have come out and a lot of them are really expensive and out of the reach of many amateurs.

Basically there are two types of sliders, the less expensive friction sliders that use something smooth like Teflon, and the more expensive roller bearing type that can be very expensive. That is where this Konova slider is different, it has roller bearings and it is around the same price as the friction based sliders.

My Review

Watch it in Action

New Konova Slider

To be fair this slider does not have a hand crank or a motor like some of the really expensive ones.

I have not tried a friction based slider but from what I understand from them is they are lighter and quieter, however as you add more weight to them the drag increases, with roller bearing sliders you can add a ton of weight and it will still keep sliding with little or no drag.

Build quality, really solid. The track is protected on the inside from getting dinged which is nice and you can mount it in many different ways. The black finish seems like it will last a long time.

The slider comes with a tool to increase the drag, you need to take it apart to adjust it, I tried adjusting it for about 10 minutes and couldn’t adjust it that well, so I just leave it on the loose adjustment and use my figure for the drag I need. Much easier than taking this apart in the field.

One thing that I ran into outside was debris getting into the track and on the bearings. Sometimes just one blade of grass and stop it dead in its tracks. Also some dust getting on the track can make it dirt girty. To be fair I am guessing all sliders will have this issue if the track is not clean, and the side wipes do help in that regard.

The brake works well, you can trust it especially when you are going vertical.

I think it works really well and if you have not seen my Konova Slider Montage you should check out the shoots I got. For each shot I slid it at least twice to make sure I got a smooth shot. Sometimes it is hard to review for dumps in the screen especially if you are hand holding the camera and it is shaking. Most of the footage I did at 60fps and slowed some of it down in post to make it look even smoother.

With the wide lens I was using I don’t think I ever used the entire length. That surprised me.

If you use a zoomed in lens it makes it kind of tricky to get a really smooth shot.

Joy stick raises the center of gravity and it not the best idea but oh I love the speed of setting up a shot.

On a tripod you will get some flex but you can correct that with an additional tripod or light stand.

The bag is of really high quality.

I even did a time lapse on it which I think came out pretty well, when I get a chance I will try to make a tutorial on that topic.

I won’t mind seeing the track slightly wider and a way to mount the feet a little but better, but all and all a great slider for the price.