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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Affordable Slider for the Scarlet?

So I had a shoot yesterday and my DP slider couldn't handle my Scarlet. I'm going out of the country for about 10 days at the end of next week and a slider was a critical piece to my travel kit. I emailed the guys at Midas Mount and within 5 minutes I had a response with a phone number to call. After talking with Brandon for a bit, he said he could make me a custom setup TODAY and get it out TODAY. Thanks to the folks that suggested Midas and thanks to Brandon for hooking me up. I'm looking forward to getting this and giving my DP slider to my assistant for her DSLR work. All I can say is that I'm one negative guy and walk around all day saying that everyone sucks. My faith in humanity was raised a bit due to someone actually giving a crap for once. Thanks. (And no I don't have any affiliation with Midas Mount, just a happy customer.)
 
For big jobs - Fischer.

Otherwise, Long Valley for platform style yet portable and Dana Dolly (sliders seem very limiting to me in terms of travel distance). Both of these systems utilize track that is readily available and can be purchased wherever you are shooting, which is great if your are traveling with your gear.

But the best dolly tool money can buy? A good dolly grip, someone who actually knows how to do smooth, well timed dolly moves. I used to think moving a dolly would be easy until the first time I tried it and failed miserably. A good dolly grip can make even crappy dollies kind of work whereas an amateur like myself can make even a good dolly look really bad. :-)
 
This thread has been great for info, I was in the market and stumbled upon it... didn't even know about most of these sliders. I won't throw another company under the bus, but I had their version of a DSLR slider and it worked 'okay' but it took a ton of practice to get it smooth, without 'sticking'... it wasn't a skater or wheel dolly. It did its job, just took a LOT of takes to get the shot right. However, with everyone's suggestions and for my budget, I went with the Midas 6' slider;

http://www.evsonline.com/midas-mount-6-skaterail-slider.html

Honestly, I couldn't be happier. I think it's a hell of a slider, let alone for the price. I did some test shots last night and it was super smooth... like, first take was perfect, no learning curve. I haven't tried it elevated yet, but on the ground it was amazing. My last one was so much work to get a nice shot and this is just auto-pilot... I mean, you'd have to be shockingly clumsy to mess a shot up. If anything, it might be too smooth which can make it go quickly so you can finger-drag to slow it down. What's also nice is the almost square foot of base where you can obviously mount your camera but I liked putting some cloth down and doing some angled dollies... it could clearly handle more weight than what I was loading on it.

Honestly though, I know we all get caught up in this or that brand name and whatever else but at the end of the day, we have to remember that these things (sliders, matteboxes, sticks, etc.) are just tools. However you get your shot, awesome. If it makes people feel better, then pay over $1,000 for something can get you the exact same shot as this slider around $400.
 
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