Slider Raily Advice, Please

That looks like it comes out of the same factory as Kamerar's slider. These are drylin sliders, basically meaning they don't have bearings, they rely on a teflon pad sliding smoothly across aluminum. At least I think they are teflon pads.

I've owned a couple sliders like this in the past. They can get decent shots but can be susceptible to getting "stuck" every now and again while you are sliding. That said, you are admittedly on a limited budget. As long as you don't expect it to be 100% perfect (and no gear ever is, even when you're spending $1000+ on a slider) then you'll find it to be more than adequate to get the ubiquitous slider shot.

To better answer your question, what camera are you using and what setting?

For example, a slider like this, the lighter the camera the better. I assume if you're beginning video this day and age, you're using a pretty bare bones DSLR. This works perfectly for a slider like this. If you start strapping on XLR adapters, monitors, lights, videomics, etc. then you make the camera heavier and could be pushing the limits of a small slider.

Context is also important. Are you shooting promo videos/corporate stuff? Or even just personal stuff? These are situations where it's easy to get an extra take or two of a shot. If you're shooting B-roll for a local coffee shop, it doesn't matter if it bumps during a take, you can do another. On the other end of the spectrum are live events/weddings. In these situations, second takes are hard to come by.

As far as length, 2 ft is a good slider length for a starting DSLR shooter. It's long enough to get some of those nice "reveal" shots, slide past a product, or give a little extra dimension to a shot. It's short enough that it's easy to carry and setup, as well as carry around a shoot attached to a tripod.

EDIT: My first slider was an indiSYSTEM SliderMini. It looks like he's improved the design and added better feet, still only for $99 http://www.indisystem.com/indislidermini-6/

Located in the US, too. I know some people have had slow responses/slow shipping from him, but I think he's added staff to fulfill orders faster. Worth looking into!
 
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