Do you prefer dolly or slider?

[Michael Frymus]

I'm still in a long debate deciding which would better suit me.

Dolly (Matthews doorway dolly):
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/135675-REG/Matthews_395100_Doorway_Dolly.html

Pros
-Track is on the ground and can easily do in/out shots
-Camera operator/1st AC can sit/stand on the dolly
-Can be as long as needed in both straight and curved
-Can be set up in places the Slider cant
-Can mount a jib on the dolly
-Can be used on a track and on the ground

Cons
-Working solo can be more difficult to setup/loan/unload
-Heavy (Often need 2+ people to help)
-Size (It is big, but still manageable for transport)



Slider (Losmandy Explorer Trolley):
http://www.porta-jib.com/explorer.html#trolley
Pros
-Lightweight
-Can be moved and setup by yourself
-Can be set up in places the dolly cant

Cons
-Straight track only
-Cannot do in/out shots or the track will be in the shot
-Cant mount a jib on the slider
-Camera operator/1st AC must follow with camera




I have never worked with a slider before. I have only worked with dollies; Matthews doorway dolly, Peewee dolly, Chameleon Dolly.
This is for work on short films, feature films, commercials, and music videos

 

[Kenny Mosher]

Personally, I love the Dana Dolly. Super smooth, easy to move around and pack up, great results, plus you can use any length of speed rail you want.

I have used a lot of other sliders before this, and this one is THE BEST.

Kenny

 

[Zak Brickett]

I voted slider. as I've only really used sliders (and jibs) but never a proper dolly.

 

[David W. Jones]

Kind of like asking do you like telephoto lenses or wide angle lenses. The answer to your question really depends, IMHO.

I have a doorway dolly & track and sometimes it's the right tool.

I have a slider and sometimes it's perfect for the job.

I also have a DIY Dana Dolly style unit on speed rail which gets the call on some shoots.

And I have a DIY Skater mini dolly which is awesome for tabletop and curved or circular moves.

The majority of my work involves shooting TV commercials with a smaller size crew, so the above mentioned tools are manageable, and let me cover my bases in an inexpensive manner. I think in my case the days of pulling the Fisher off the truck along with the pay for a pair of dolly grips are long gone.

 

[Jason Comparetto]

Michael, I think you've done a great job of listing the Pros and Cons, but this is the kind of thing where "The More you know, the More you don't know". I don't mean that to sound arrogant, its just that the decision between slider vs. dolly almost always is on a case-by-case basis due to a variety of so many factors. Also, if you expand beyond the Losmandy slider all kinds of possibilities exist.

Dollies are very useful, but Let me give you some examples--

*Most* sliders are not curved track, but I've made some with radius of 18" and 36" as well.
*Most* sliders cannot handle a jib attached to it, but the heavy duty ones I made for RED ONES can all handle a jib arm.
That also goes for riding on the slider. I often ride the one I use.
if you attach a riser underneath your tripod head, you can avoid getting the slider in the shot for in/out dolly shots.

Of course, in the end the slider fails when you have to go beyond ~10-feet of travel. Dollies are king when it comes to long tracking shots like that. Of course, everything has be evaluated carefully. I was once the camera operator on a shoot where the production had 20 feet of dolly track laid out on a sidewalk. The dolly took up 4.5', which made it about 15 feet of travel, and then they decided not to use the first 5 feet of travel, which meant they only needed about 10 feet of travel. After they spent over 30 minutes leveling the track -- THE SIDEWALK HAD A LOOSE CEMENT PAD SO IT ROCKED EVERYTIME. Oh my gosh, I kept staring at my truck thinking about grabbing the 10-foot slider. We'd be set up in a minute and half. Eventually the director gave up, accepted the rocking shot and decided he would cut around it in the final edit. The next day the director asked to use my slider and we used it at 3 locations and 5 different shots that day. The Fischer stayed on the truck that day

 

[Chris Henze]

I use the CamTram system. Flexible smooth and robust. The problem I have with dollies is that the camera is usually far away from the wheels and subject to more random motion. The Dana or CamTram system the camera is very close to the wheels and to me more stable. The reason I like the CamTram over the Dana is that the CamTram can use almost anything as track. Even found conduit pipes on a sandy beach.

 

[Jon Carr]

I bring my slider with me on every job, it's so versatile. You can use it for movement, or quick adjustments. My favorite is to rent a silent cat slider and mount it on a fisher for the day. Makes setting up shots fast and painless. Small movements is also key for some scenes. If I know I only need to move camera 3-4 feet, I'm not gonna make G&E waste time setting up 8ft of track. Just grab a slider. (Unless there's booming in the shot of course). Both are great tools that have their place, but in my opinion I would buy a slider and rent the dolly.

 

[Paul Toth]

I find that for me I prefer the slider generally speaking, due mainly to it's simplicity in setting up and ease of use. Having said that, using a dolly will have it's time and place. Same for a Jib or steadicams, etc...

 

[dio Zafi]

nothing like a slow dolly move!

 

[Douglas Underdahl]

Jib and Dolly.

www.longvalleyequip.com

 

[Peter Stelzhammer]

pretty simple: if alone -> slider - if two or more people -> definitely dolly (2 people to "focus" on two things can't be beaten by a slider - depends on the job tho, exterior-dolly can be a hassle to build up [really like it indoor and studio tho])…

 

[Matt W.]

The Dana Dolly is the best thing going for the price. You lose the pedestaling action of the Fisher and Pewee but it sounds like you don't have plans to rent... The other trade-off is that you can't really push in so much as the track is in frame when you do. That bugs me, but it's the case with all sliders.

It's too big for a one-man shoot, but for anything bigger it's fantastic. Super smooth, accepts most tripod heads, works on low rise juniors and apple boxes, which are useful to have around anyway, and dirt cheap.