Video Dolly

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YouTube member John Waskey writes in and shares his secret to a budget Motion controlled Timelapse slider. As an Astronomy fan, he uses a Telescope Motor mounted to a Kessler Dolly. Probably one of the best variable speed motors i've seen that can run you just under $40 bucks, specs on it state it can last up to 40 hours on a single 9 volt battery. What's the top speed? I'm not sure, but it can move slow enough to produce great time lapse footage, and it's already boxed up ready to mount. You can find these motors available below. [Thanks John]

via Amazon:
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find-price-button Telescope Motor Drive

via eBay:
Telescop Motor Time Lapse
find-price-button Variable Speed Telescope Motor for DIY Motion Time Lapse Slider

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Wow, the store front really expanded for this tiny eBay seller. I've had my eye on them for a while now as they had a few interesting items. Today they just really loaded up with a bunch of new items. Two of them are some serious clones. First most interesting item is the 'mysterious' clone of a Cinevate Carbon system. I posted the article here: http://cheesycam.com/indias-got-a-carbon-camera-dolly/ and not more than a few hours later, they removed all postings. Looks like 'The Man' got to them. Well it's back so we'll see how long it can stay online this time around (i'm betting the Man will shut them down after this post)

cinevate-carbon-dolly-clone
find-price-button Video Camera Slider Carbon Dolly Clone

Second on the list. Well well well..here's a Clone after my own design, another SpiderTrax dolly. This one doesn't look very good and shipping makes it more expensive than the Konova clone. Konova's design seems to be more polished, and this one looks exactly like another home made overpriced knock-off. Yeah get yourself a Konova dolly if you really need one.

SpiderTrax Dolly
find-price-button Video Camera Rotating Skater Dolly Clone

Third up, this one goes out to the boys in Blue. It's been said that the Blue accented Follow Focus was based on a Huco gearbox, and so is this one. This DSLR Follow Focus clone for standard Rail mounts come with flex gear, speed crank, whip, yadda yadda yadda. You can get more info via the links. At this price, you might still be better off going with ikan's latest Follow Focus system.

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find-price-button DSLR Follow Focus Huco Gearbox Clone

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Not sure if you can see the thumbnail in the video, but something about that slider doesn't look quite right. Oh yeah it's upside down! Vimeo member phoSumpro! shows a new way to use the Konova slider. Actually seems like a new way to use any camera slider. By mounting the slider upside down with the carrier Tripod, he's actually sliding the entire rail (not the carrier). I'll let the video explain why this was done, but that's one pretty cool trick. Sorry guys, but don't think this would work on a non Roller Bearing type slider. [Thanks phoSumpro!]

camera-slider
find-price-button Konova video Camera Rolling Bearing DSLR Slider

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4.3lcd-monitor

Not long ago I toyed around with a 3.5" mini LCD for about $26 dollars. It also worked on the GoPro HD Cameras that (at the time) lacked any LCD viewing. Now that GoPro has released their LCD BacPac there's no need for this. It definitely would have helped the guys out while shooting testing the Korean Dolly out in this video: http://cheesycam.com/test-drive-spidertrax-clone-korean-dolly/

Reader Alex writes in and decides to go about .8 inches larger from the 3.5" to the 4.3" still at the same price. This little LCD also includes settings for adjustment, but would stepping up another inch provide better color, contrast, resolution? We'll just have to wait to hear back, but Alex says it's all working out and more robust than the previous. For cameras that lack a certain angle of viewing, $26 bucks sure would help on those low rotating dollies & sliders shots for framing.

4.3" LCD Monitor DSLR Framing
find-price-button 4.3" Mini LCD Monitor

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Can't decide between a slider that 'just slides' or a slider with actual 'roller bearings'? (Technically, I guess that would make it a roller) There's a mix bag of shooters who prefer one over the other, but here's a new 'tweener. Glidetrack was teasing everyone with their new Hybrid camera slider a few weeks ago that uses a new hybrid Roller/Slider bearing, and it's now available to purchase online.

Looks like it's still based off of the IGUS Drylin rails with the new IGUS Hybrid bearings, but there's some custom work done on the actual carrier and adjustable legs. Obviously price is going to be pricier than the normal versions from Glidetrack. In fact, for the price of 1 single Glidetrack Hybrid you could almost score two Konova full roller bearing sliders of the same length. No descriptions on variable friction, but there is a hard brake stop to keep it locked down while moving around. If you're interested in hybrid designs, the Glidetrack Hybrid sliders / rollers are available in a variety of lengths from 20" (0.5m) - 78" (2m). You can find the prices below.

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find-price-button Glidetrack Hybrid Slider Uses Sliding AND Roller Bearings

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Someone commented the other day about the Konova slider not being available and another person questioning if it will arrive. I'm not sure how long they were offline, but they seem to be back again and they are definitely shipping. Here's another recent unboxing and short video clip samples from Vimeo member NetMedia. Instead of using a Fluid video head, he's gone with a 3 way photography head. Although panning while sliding could be tricky, you can achieve some crazy camera angles with this type of head. NetMedia seems to be pretty happy with it. Of course they do sell such a thing as a 3 way fluid head, which works well for panning small cameras.
camera-slider
find-price-button Konova video Camera Rolling Bearing DSLR Slider

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YouTube member TheAussieInLA puts together his DIY version of the SpiderTrax rotational dolly and gets some pretty cool results. Looks like some basic skateboard trucks, skate wheels, and flat steel. [Thanks Alex]

The original version sold at PhotographyandCinema.com is no longer available, but if you're not the DIY type the next best version for the cheapest price is made through Konova. The Konova rotational dolly is well built with an anodized plating and a few fancy graphics. Although they opted to use roller blade type wheels, they flipped the axles upside down and shaved them flat, bringing it closer to the ground for low shots. You can find them following the link below.

konova-skater-dollyspidertrax-dolly
find-price-button Konova Rotational Video Camera Skater Dolly

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Vimeo member Carl throws up a demo video with the Canon T2i on Hague MMC video stabilizer. Something i've shown a while so nothing new there. Jump on over to 2:18 in the video and you find out how Carl balances the GoPro and iPhone properly. I've always said if your camera is too light for the stabilizer, you need to add weight to the top. Carl achieves this by adding a small Manfrotto tripod which works well for weight and adds the function of a quick release adapter. Now that the GoPro has an LCD BacPac, we could start seeing more GoPro Flying. Watch out Tiffen Smoothee, the cheaper Hague MMC with some small mods can easily balance a Flip, GoPro, iPhone and more...[Thanks Carl]


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find-price-button Hague Mini-Motion Cam Video Stabilizer

Now Carl does an excellent job with the Hague MMC, but i've used this stabilizer before and there's other (better and cheaper) options. The Hague is higher priced than the IndieHardware which I reviewed against the Hague MMC not so long ago. You can definitely save a few clams if you considered the IndieHardware over the Hague for your lightweight cameras.


indie-hardware-stabilizer-upgrade
find-price-button IndieHardware Camera Stabilizer

If you're really interested in flying a GoPro, you should also check out another version of these type of stabilizers from Lensse. Probably just as good if not better than the rest with a price that sits in between. There's also a smaller version offered by Lensse dedicated to small Cell Phones (iPhones) or PDA's. Right now Lensse is trying to grab some marketshare and some items are being auctioned off starting at .99 cents. These small stabilizers already designed to work with an iPhone without any further modification, just might be good enough for the GoPro too. A deal hard to pass up..

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find-price-button Lensse i-Steady Camera Stabilizers

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For those who've been looking into the TommyJib line of jibs, Salvador P. sends us his Unboxing video with a few of his first video samples. This one shown seems to me one of the smaller units, but you can find a complete line of TommyJib products available via eBay. Got questions or comments you can leave them on this article.

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find-price-button TommyJib Products Cranes Dollys Sliders