Tiny sliders?

S

Snapper123

Well-known member
Hey guys, are there any very small devices out there that pretty much could roll around on a coffee table in any direction? Something not so much bigger than a tripod head with wheels? The reality is that there are truly so many surfaces out there that could serve as excellent pans if only there was some small wheeled device between the camera and the surface - just something you could keep control with with your hands, nothing special. I feel like something like this would be able to boost my creativity triplefold - heck, on the right surfaces, you could practically roll a camera across an entire room, following someone's footsteps or anything like that. And if the wheels could lock down, it could even serve as a decent table-top tripod.

I once saw a device on Amazon where you could slap wheels onto the bottom of a large tripod, I'd personally love it if the gorillapods had wheels, though. Any pointers here? I mean, I've seen a couple devices out there, but I'm really trying to keep this sort of thing in the $50 range, and also keep it where the device is small and backpackable, either something that's used on its own (the camera screwing into it) or something that you could slap on the bottom of a small tripod like one of the gorilla's. Thanks!
 
If your willing to think outside the box a bit, thePod bean bag mount is excellent in that regard for small cameras. The bottom is a vinyl kind of material and will slide on just about anything. I've used hand rails, table tops, even the floor. I always keep one on when shooting hand held, I find it comfortable to grip the bottom and there is always something to set the camera down on. The best accessory I've found for small cams.
 
The BeanPod really gives me the thought: even with a mini dolly, which is probably what I was originally thinking (with the Hauge, it seems that you can screw the camera into it as well as that something like the gorillapod could also stand on it if you needed a bit more height, which is nice!), the wheels would make tile surfaces and such very bumpy. The BeanPod gives me the idea that it'd be better to use something that's more sled in nature; something flat that would glide along grout and tile easily without bumps. Something pretty much like a flat piece of hard plastic with a screw mount and a somewhat tall handle screwed on to one side. If the plastic was long enough in a certain direction, I could glide it down stairs for a certain effect (while keeping hold of it of coarse, with hands, handle, or even by slowly unwinding a piece of yarn attached to it!) If I had a long piece of invisible wire attached, I could even pull it behind me while walking for a footstep follow effect - pretty much, something like this seems pretty endless in the possibilities!

But any ideas how to make this? I'm thinking about picking up a piece of poster board, buying a screw for the bottom of the camera, and simply screwing it into the board, and then getting some wire or or a small handle and attatching it to the board - this seems really exciting!

Effects you could do with a tool like this:

-Sliding your camera slowly down stairs with smooth control.
-Pulling or pushing your camera behind you or another actor for a footstep follow effect.
-Pushing, pulling it along grout and tile were wheels would normally bump.
-With a good IS lens, possibly pulling/pushing smoothely on top of well cut grass.
-Table top pans of coarse.
-All the normal sideways pans - filming wheels, footsteps, ect ect.
 
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i agree with Moses... you could definitely get an old skate deck, chop n saw it to size, drill a hole for the camera screw, and throw some casters on it. cheap, efficient and would be smooth as silver. however you are also right Snapper, it may have issues with grout/tiles. Just my 2 cents.
 
Snapper123 said:
The BeanPod really gives me the thought: even with a mini dolly, which is probably what I was originally thinking (with the Hauge, it seems that you can screw the camera into it as well as that something like the gorillapod could also stand on it if you needed a bit more height, which is nice!), the wheels would make tile surfaces and such very bumpy. The BeanPod gives me the idea that it'd be better to use something that's more sled in nature; something flat that would glide along grout and tile easily without bumps. Something pretty much like a flat piece of hard plastic with a screw mount and a somewhat tall handle screwed on to one side. If the plastic was long enough in a certain direction, I could glide it down stairs for a certain effect (while keeping hold of it of coarse, with hands, handle, or even by slowly unwinding a piece of yarn attached to it!) If I had a long piece of invisible wire attached, I could even pull it behind me while walking for a footstep follow effect - pretty much, something like this seems pretty endless in the possibilities!

But any ideas how to make this? I'm thinking about picking up a piece of poster board, buying a screw for the bottom of the camera, and simply screwing it into the board, and then getting some wire or or a small handle and attatching it to the board - this seems really exciting!

Effects you could do with a tool like this:

-Sliding your camera slowly down stairs with smooth control.
-Pulling or pushing your camera behind you or another actor for a footstep follow effect.
-Pushing, pulling it along grout and tile were wheels would normally bump.
-With a good IS lens, possibly pulling/pushing smoothely on top of well cut grass.
-Table top pans of coarse.
-All the normal sideways pans - filming wheels, footsteps, ect ect.
Click to expand...

Sadly, most tile is not that flat even on its own. You'll be surprised at what happens, not that wheels will be any better on it either.

I use the DIY Zaza slider. It has been the best for dolly in a straight line over 3 1/2 feet.

The other thing is with the skateboard dolly, which we've used as well, you can just bring some wood or thick card to ride on. This works great, but be sure you lock down those trucks!!!!
 
Careful with the casters. I used a set for a DIY dolly last year, and they were reasonably smooth but the set I got made a horrible squeaking sound until I threw another 10-15 lbs of weight on the dolly.
 
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