Sliders: ball mount or tripod head?

Grug

Grug

Veteran
Hi guys,

I just picked up a Cinevate Atlas 10 35" Slider for my Sony F3, and I'm trying to decide on what I should go with to mount the camera to the slider.

A large part of the reason for opting for a 35" slider was for speed and versatility - I wanted something small enough that I could centre-mount it to a tripod for setup speed. The idea being that for bigger tracking/sliding movements I'd probably want to hire a dolly anyway.

What I'm wondering though, is whether for small 35" slider moves the pan/tilt versatility of a tripod head really needed? Or would a sturdy ball head (like the Manfrotto 057: www.manfrotto.com/057-magnesium-ball-head-with-q5-quick-release) for more straightforward movements, make more sense? (being smaller, lighter and simpler)

If anyone has any thoughts or opinions on this particular conundrum I'd love to hear them. Any recommendations/experience with different ball mounts/tripod heads would also be appreciated.

Cheers
 
i find that at least half of any slider work i do uses features of a fluid head to achieve what i call "compound moves"
so. while not a "MUST", if i had the option of having a head attached i always would
 
wgzn said:
i find that at least half of any slider work i do uses features of a fluid head to achieve what i call "compound moves"
so. while not a "MUST", if i had the option of having a head attached i always would
Click to expand...


I have an inexpensive dolly type of slider and I put a Manfrotto 701 head on it. While that is not a great head, I can put a FS100, with a small zoom on the 701 and it works very well. Pan-tilt combined with the slider move really opens up your flexibility.
 
I have a 100mm bowl high hat on a Kessler CineSlider and it's tall. I'm thinking about getting a flat base head that I can attach to the base. I also have a Igus homemade slider with a small Manfrotto 501 head on it. I like this is setup better but the CineSlide is a much better slider.
 
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You will severely handicap the usefulness of a slider if you don't put a decent pan/tilt head on top of it.
 
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