First slider video, lessons learned

[Ron Hunter]

I recently bought a Konova K3 80" slider to go with my new tripod/head, and today was my first chance to try these toys out. I used them to shoot assorted footage around my house, and I strung the clips together for a video that is a little over 1 minute long.

I got the Konova slider mainly because of (1) great reviews and (2) it has a motorized kit that I can buy in the future for time lapses. The K3 has an extra ball bearing so I presumed it "must" be better than the K2, but truth be told I bet I couldn't tell any real difference between K2 and K3. Looking back I think I should have ordered the K2 and saved $100, but hindsight is 20/20. The K3 is VERY smooth during slides. Build quality is outstanding. I think you could run over it with a tank and it would be fine. It comes with detachable feet that also have good build quality. The slider has tripod attachment points in the middle and ends of the slider. If you remove the detachable feet you can turn the slider and mount it on its end for vertical slides. The slider accepts 3/8" or 1/4" attachments.

After I got the slider I realized it needed a dedicated head in order to use it. D'oh! I got a $25 Sunpak pistol grip ball head to go on the slider and to my surprise, that "cheap" ball head is EXCELLENT!! Very stout piece of gear and when you release the "trigger", the head stays put. It has a bubble level that is really helpful too. I can't believe that grip is that good for just $25.

Of course you can use the slider by itself on the ground, or you can connect it to your tripod. You could even use two tripods and suspend the slider between them.

I learned quite a bit today in my short experiment, and I thought others could benefit from my experience:
- Getting footage with a slider is a lot more work than I expected. The slider with tripod/head gives you tremendous flexibility, but it takes a LOT of adjusting to get things the way you want.
- When the tripod is connected in the middle of the slider, the slider tends to dip as the camera moves from end to end. It is VERY difficult to keep this from happening. I cranked the tripod head tilt control very tightly and it still tilted a little. I'm worried I may end up damaging the head. I ended up supporting the slider bottom as the camera approached the end of the slider to minimize dipping.
- If you are standing you need to think about your body position before you start recording. More than once I pressed "Record" and started sliding, only to find out I was quite contorted by the end of the slide.
- Having a bubble level on the slider's head is REALLY helpful. Even when the levels on the tripod indicated "level", I was still able to use the slider head level to dial things in. My slider doesn't have a bubble level, but the head has one so I'm happy.
- Having an element in the foreground is critical to help convey the sense of movement when sliding.
- Even when I focused on a particular point of the frame, the camera's auto focus changed as the camera moved. This makes sense now that I think about it, but for some reason I thought the camera would magically stay locked on my focus point. Next time I'll have to focus lock and then choose manual focus to prevent changes.

Here's the video in case you are curious:

[momoffduty]

- If you are standing you need to think about your body position before you start recording. More than once I pressed "Record" and started sliding, only to find out I was quite contorted by the end of the slide.

- Even when I focused on a particular point of the frame, the camera's auto focus changed as the camera moved. This makes sense now that I think about it, but for some reason I thought the camera would magically stay locked on my focus point. Next time I'll have to focus lock and then choose manual focus to prevent changes.

Very good review and points Ron! Is it the 80 inch or 80 cm ?

The tip about standing is a good one and also holds true for handheld. I read a tip about handheld that said to have your feet planted straight ahead for the end of the pan and then twist to start the pan.

Manual focus is the way to go with DSLR video. Set focus and then switch the lens to Manual.

I noticed in the video that you edited the clip beginning and ending while still moving and I think this looks best than showing a stationary position. Unless you are slowing panning to your subject.

Practice, practice, practice. My slider is collecting dust and I need to practice before I use it again. A tip I saw on the slider is to put a rubberband around the grip and use that to help give steady tension during the slide.

One thing that is very hard with the slider is to keep the same rate of speed thru the slide. I've counted and noted the 1/4 points. For example, if I want the slide to be a total of 8 seconds I count "one thousand one, one thousand two, etc." And note that at the 1/4 point I should be on one thousand 2 and the 1/2 point should be done with one thousand 4.

Congrats on your new slider!

[IndyMike]

Thank you for the video Ron. The wife keep asking me at Christmas what I wanted. I ask her if she would get me a Konova K2 3 foot slider and she did. I pick up a Manfrotto MVH500AH Flat Base Pro Fluid Head I needed a Fluid head anyway. Even with the 3 foot one I did notice that slider tends to dip as the camera moves from end to end. I think the best way wound be to have two tripods connected on each end or maybe a Monopod with feet at one end might work.

I have not got to play with it a lot yet. Here in Indiana we have had so much snow and cold weather this winter. I chose it because of Dave Dugdale review of it.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnhDUgof4SI[/youtube]

[Ron Hunter]

Thanks Cheryl, that is great feedback. Yes it is difficult to keep sliding at a constant rate. I like your idea of matching a verbal countdown to the travel distance; there is a ruler on the slider that will help me with that. The rubber band is a great idea too.

80in slider? Good grief, sorry I overlooked that. Talk about tilting on the tripod!!! It is the 80cm slider.

[Ron Hunter]

Hey Mike, me too! Dave Dugdale's excellent review of that slider is what led me to purchase it. I also am the proud owner of a Manfrotto MVH500 fluid head, I got it with 055XPROB (I think) sticks as a package deal from B&H. Dave's review of that tripod lead me to purchase it. And I loved Dave's video of assorted slider shots, that is what really demonstrated to me the potential of a slider.

When I'm in the market for new gear one of the first things I do is visit Dave's website and view "My Gear". Great info!

Good to know I'm not the only one with the dipping issue. Yes, I think using two tripods/stands is the best way to avoid dipping.

Have you tried your slider out yet? Post up some video!

[Francesco Carzedda]

Ron, Mike, it looks like the only difference between k2 and k3 80 cms sliders is the number of ball bearings,
both are said to be able to bear easily up to 1 kilo, which can be the weight of a DSLR with a light zoom lens on and the ball head.

What do you think?

Francesco

[Ron Hunter]

Hi Francesco! I cannot remember the distinction between K2 and K3. I was under the impression (at the time of purchase) that K3 was newer than K2. It was highly recommended by Dave Dugdale and "The Basic Filmmaker".

If you purchase a Konova slider (they are great!), I recommend you also purchase the "stability arm" at the same time, otherwise the slider will droop slightly at one end as you move the camera. I only purchased one stability arm (recommended by Nitsan Simantov) and it works well. You can buy a second stability arm but it isn't needed.

[Francesco Carzedda]

Ron, thanks !
I hope the stability arm could fit with my very light tripod:

http://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B0002W6E56/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=556244387&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000EBFN70&pf_rd_m=A11IL2PNWYJU7H&pf_rd_r=0C5EWM9JY3XGSJDVNKKM

I have two tripods of the same model, perhaps I could get accustomed to use both for better using the slider.

[Steve Grisetti]

I love the look of this video, Ron! Thanks for sharing it as well as your lessons learned.