Tired of sliders being too short?

macgregor

macgregor

Veteran
Who wants a slider when you can have... a ladder!!!
Longer, cheaper, more portable... well OK, it's not really portable... but it's awesome!!!
Perfeclty stable, perfectly smooth and it takes 2 seconds to level.


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Seen here with an eazy-dolly.
 
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I got a camtram as soon as I found one local that the guy couldn't sell. I love ladders but the only drawback is owning two. One for dolly and one for cleaning my rain gutters!
 
Bern Caughey said:
Abel Cine sold a similar version, though more expensive, that seemed very well made. Can't remember the brand name.
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Able sold the CamTram. It does cost a bit but its really well made, has a motorized option, the centre of 3 o-rings can be removed to run on speed rails and each set of 2 wheels is independent to take up any bumps. Plus the whole bowl mount base comes off to be a high hat.

I love it.
 
There are indeed several out there, but its like all things; you get what you pay for. To the question of sound, the CamTram is king of quiet and the inline follows. Both use silicone wheels and are smooth the CamTram is more flexible than the Inline in that it has more adjustments and whistles and bells but it costs considerably more. I have used the CamTram, rented it and I love it but I can't justify owning one and I am not interested in doing rentals. I willl be buying the Inline in January for a shoot. I have tried various skateboard wheeled ladder dollies and they are too noisy for my liking and not suitable IMHO for most sound shoots. Others may disagree but that has been my experience. I find the skateboard wheels seemed to reverberate through the ladder, yet are fine when I slap them on some pvc pipe with a little lemon pledge.
 
Fact is a slider and a dolly are for 2 different purposes. Sliders are for when you need MUCH more portability and space is an issue. Also for when you need subtle moves without all the bulk. Not much sense in comparing the 2 IMO.
 
now you need a new vehicle to get it around :happy:

but seriously, everytime I use my 2 foot slider I think of how stupid it really is.
 
Final version 1.0 is ready!
Now I need to find a way to put a chair in it... :cheesy:


Thanks Zaza for those links, I didn't know about those. Very helpful.
What I don't like about the CamTram, while being a great product, is that the camera remains very close to the tracks (ladder), therefore when shooting straight dolly in movements, you see the track pretty soon with any wide angle lens. On the hacked version that I just put together, since you can put a regular tripod in it, I can get away with not seeing the tracks.

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I use a ladder with my DigitalJuice Dolly and the wheel set that comes with the rubber tracks.
No sticks, just the head on a high hat - much like the CamTram, but for a much better price.
Love that setup, especially for outdoor shooting.

macgregor, have you attached aluminum tubes on to of the ladder?
 
Postmaster said:
macgregor, have you attached aluminum tubes on to of the ladder?
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On where? Nono I haven't touched the ladder. THis ladder is actually huge, I don't think I can move around with it lol.
What I need to buy/build is some sort of legs/adjustable support for the ladder. Any idea where to look for that?
 
I use two tripods and then have two cross bars threaded on to 100mm balls. Leveling is super fast.

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