How beneficial is a crank/pulley system in a slider?

Rizzice

Rizzice

Active member
I'm probably picking up a Konova slider and I'm just wondering if the crank system is actually worth it? A lot of the videos I've seen with the crank people are saying it's difficult to use, and the shots are less smooth than just pushing it along the slide. I have really only seen a couple test videos with this though, and I know some Kessler sliders have cranks built in as well so can I assume it's a pretty good feature to have? Worth the $200?

If anything I do plan on getting a motor eventually which does require the crank, just trying to figure out if I'll ever actually use it without a motor. Any input appreciated thanks!
 
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i hav a kessler pocket dolly with the crank. i don't really use it to much anymore. when i first got the PD i tried to use it and found that i have to really concentrate hard on being perfect in the cranking. its easy to get a little wonky as your hand does 360's.

i find that grabbing part of the tripod head and the bottom part of the camera with left and right hands... i get a low center of gravity and can slide it along nicely with my hands. if i want to keep my subject in the center for instance then this works better than any other way for me.

if you want to only do a slide but just leave the camera aiming where you first aim it then the crank option can be of use. for instance...for you to manually move along a 48" length using your hands your upper body has to adjust itself quite a bit from left to right which can sometimes interfere with the accuracy of your sliding movement. crank can have some advantage here. for me though im usually adjusting aim of the camera while sliding so hands on L&R of camera works best for me.

david
 
i never have had luck with cranks. for whatever reason i always feel like i can see the repetition of the circle. maybe its lack of practice.
but i find it far easier, live david says to just push the head or camera body.
 
IMHO, cranks are more trouble then they are worth....plus, you can't pan & tilt when using the crank. :smile:
 
I have the CineSlder with crank and never use it. If your thinking about a motor then the feature is worth it but otherwise using it seems less smooth than grabbing the head and sliding.
 
I have Kessler's 2' PB PocketDolly, & 3' CineSlider.

While I never use the crank I do like how it can be tensioned to dampen the move.
 
I think motorized camera sliders are the way to go but they are way overpriced, IMO. I really want to do something about that and I've dedicated the last 6 months to that end. We built the Motorized MakerSlider (http://makerslider.com/) and just released version 1.0. We don't have a hand crank on our system but we do have a computer controlled pocket dolly for 1/3rd the price of the Kessler or other commercial systems we've seen out there. It's open hardware (meaning we give back everything we design to the community so that it can be customized or even used to undercut our own prices) and we're looking for early adopters. If you'd like to give it a go, Rizzice, I'd love to talk with you some more.
 
I have NEVER seen a crank on a slider at my day job, just saying ;) Those are bits designed by people that don't really make movies - maybe a good idea on paper, but worthless in the real world for anything other than timelapse (and in that case you need a motor as well).
 
I have a cineslider. I take the crank off since you can see the revolutions when using it. When doing fast slides the centripital force of the crank wobbles the whole slider. That being said, I still like having a slider with a belt for motor upgradablility as well as tention for even-paced slow slides.
 
Like Mark Williams, I've gone motorized. I went for the 4' Salamander slider with high torque motor which cost a shade over $560. http://salamanderslider.com. Not one of the volume manufacturers but it's well built, carries my AF100 fully loaded, is creamy smooth and the pre and post sales service was up there.
 
Agree with the consensus that the crank is pretty marginal. I have a Kessler gen 1 PD which I recently motorized. This original version slider wasn't very smooth to begin with, but with the motorized option, it is really excellent. The Kessler motorizing kit, while nice, is obnoxiously expensive. A couple hundred bucks for a motor is just stupid since you likely will need more than one and the control is a one trick pony. Instead, I cobbled together components from Servo-City and the results were excellent. Still, the kit cost about $250 + Tekkeon power so not cheap, but less than half of the Kessler kit with two motors with less function. The really awesome feature about what Servo-City offers is a box that will record a slider routine. If you are shooting by yourself, you can pre-program your movement and then worry over everything else while you shoot. The Kessler stuff is nicely packaged, and more sexy, but the kit I put together works really well. Mark Williams did has posted up some motorized footage which shows how effective this can be. The Servo-City folks were very very helpful. If there is any interest, I'll post a photo and a bill of materials next week.

Grant
 
Thanks everyone for the input. Looks like I won't be investing in a crank, and will be saving a bit of dough too, delighted. I also decided to pick up a some Manfrotto 055xProB legs, they seem really versatile and a perfect match with sliders for some dynamic shots.

I can always invest in a motorized attachment later. Do motorized sliders work at any angle or only horizontal?
Also just a side question, would you guys recommend a 100cm or 80cm slider? I'm leaning towards the 100cm as the 80cm shots seem to cut off to early for my liking from what I've seen, it's hard to say without actually having used it with my camera myself though. I don't feel the extra 20cm should kill too much portability. Thanks again for the help :Drogar-Happy(DBG):
 
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Slow speed gearmotors can pull a smallish cam up hill or vertical, but not for faster movement. To go faster or for larger loads, you can add a counterweight and still use small motors. User beware since there is a crash danger. With the setup I built, it is pretty easy to change motors, and they are about $25, so not unreasonable to have several. The Kessler belt system is plenty strong enough for the work.

Grant
 
The high torque motor on the Salamander slider can handle 6lb vertical load, adequate for the AF100. Maximum speed is 2.26 inches per second. Standard motor can travel up to 6 inches per second but vertical load is reduced to 3lbs.
 
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