Anyone Used the CineCity Slider with the 150?

I bought one recently and used it for our short film, Silence of the Belle. I was very impressed with the fluid movement of the device. The only downside to the CineCity slider is the lack of mounting head on the glide piece, otherwise it is a fine tool and highly recommended.
 
Zaza.. thanks for this... 36 inches seems like a decent size.. Do they make a 4 foot version? Even if I had two use two sets of sticks that would be cool... and even maybe a 6 foot version would be nice...
 
The Kessler Pocket Dolly uses the same track and maybe the same carriage, so most of these units are pretty similar using the components that ZaZAcast links to. His hardware looks pretty sweet.

Having said that, I have found three issues using these mini-sliders:

Support. A standard tripod head with quick release plate isn't rigid enough unless you use a monster tripod. At the minimum, plan on a tripod + light stand for support. For example, my 503 head lacks the rigidity to give the needed support and is still pretty flexy when used with a light stand. Two tripods would be better. A solid flat surface works good. The monster Kessler K-pod solves all of this, but is a bit much to pack for a small shoot.

Smooth movement. There is a learning curve to getting smooth movement, so plan on some practice time before your shoot to become proficient. If you plan on panning the the cam with a fluid head while moving the carriage, plan on even more time to get the feel of things. My pocket dolly has a belt and crank system which pretty much requires a second person, but offers more potential. Kessler, I believe, is working on a drive motor which if implemented well, could be really cool.

Weight. On these small sliders, I wouldn't go much past 5-6 pounds.

Just keep in mind that if your expectations are high, there is a real skill set to use one of these.

Grant
 
Well I have been in the market for one of these sliders, so this thread was of interest to me.

In any event, I too noticed that all of the aforementioned sliders used the same design and parts...the Igus ( I think I spelled that correctly) parts. I really wanted something different...something that used a steel roller or ball bearing.

I ended up ordering a DP Slider. Haven't received it yet, but will let you guys know what I think about it after it arrives. Anyone ever used one? I hope I like it. From the promo videos it sure seems it can handle quite a bit of weight. Not that I need that much weight capacity...it was the bearing set-up that sold if for me.

Regards,

G.
Skater
 
ggrantly said:
The Kessler Pocket Dolly uses the same track and maybe the same carriage, so most of these units are pretty similar using the components that ZaZAcast links to. His hardware looks pretty sweet.

Having said that, I have found three issues using these mini-sliders:

Support. A standard tripod head with quick release plate isn't rigid enough unless you use a monster tripod. At the minimum, plan on a tripod + light stand for support. For example, my 503 head lacks the rigidity to give the needed support and is still pretty flexy when used with a light stand. Two tripods would be better. A solid flat surface works good. The monster Kessler K-pod solves all of this, but is a bit much to pack for a small shoot.

Smooth movement. There is a learning curve to getting smooth movement, so plan on some practice time before your shoot to become proficient. If you plan on panning the the cam with a fluid head while moving the carriage, plan on even more time to get the feel of things. My pocket dolly has a belt and crank system which pretty much requires a second person, but offers more potential. Kessler, I believe, is working on a drive motor which if implemented well, could be really cool.

Weight. On these small sliders, I wouldn't go much past 5-6 pounds.

Just keep in mind that if your expectations are high, there is a real skill set to use one of these.

Grant
Click to expand...

Question...what about instead of quick release plate on 503HDV, what about mounting the 75mm half ball to the slider instead of the quick release plate? Have you tried it that way? If so, is that way any better?

Regards,

G.
 
I'm not saying that you can't or wouldn't use a head with a slider, only that you will need to be much much more careful in use. If you skipped the head altogether, that would be best. If you mounted it directly onto a bowl that would work well.

Grant
 
I just ordered my 3ft slider, we shall see how well it works when it gets here. Ill be mounting it on my Bogen 316 so this should be one smooth setup :-D
 
It appears you can't do vertical slides with it, you would need to make extra brackets to do this I reckon.
For me, this is a deal breaker, I already have a dolly so I can do side to side, in and out shots. Yes this is way easier to setup and more portable than luggin around a 12ft rails system and dolly but I want to be able to simulate crane shots by going up and down, the DP slider does this.
 
Just got my slider in yesterday - 2 day shipping was pretty impressive, I ordered it Sunday night and had it the morning of the 31st. I bought it from this guy http://myworld.ebay.com/dvcare/

The build quality seams pretty good and it is very smooth. I'll post some footage this week of it in action.
 
I didn't get to put it through its paces enough this week. I'm going to be shooting a video of a VW Bus on Tuesday and will post the footage from that :-)
 
Below is a link of the first cut of a video I shot this week using the slider. Overall I am pretty happy with the slider. The tripod screw it came with isn't long enough to work with my bogen plate so I picked up a new screw at the hardware store for 25 cents.

http://vimeo.com/11040670

Thanks
Alan
 
ProAmateur said:
I ended up ordering a DP Slider. Haven't received it yet, but will let you guys know what I think about it after it arrives. Anyone ever used one? I hope I like it. From the promo videos it sure seems it can handle quite a bit of weight. Not that I need that much weight capacity...it was the bearing set-up that sold if for me.

Regards,

G.
Skater
Click to expand...

I've made a DIY DP Slider using Redi-Rail Linear Guides, it's the same exact slide.

http://crt.pbclinear.com
 
The Zaza Slider is the best non-essential investment I'm made for my business. It's just under 3ft wide, so I never take it off. I wouldn't go too wide.
 
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