Just received a review unit of the new Varavon Slidecam EX Premium Video Slider that uses a weighted belt driven flywheel pulley to eliminate hard starts, hard stops, and offers consistent motion throughout your slide. Even if you have unsteady hands, it's pretty hard not to get smooth shots.
To be fair, Varavon is not the first to implement such an idea. Other sliders on the market like the Shark Slider or Cinevate's latest 'Hedron' slider are using the same principle. The way Cinevate talks about the function of using a spinning weight with the slider has been described as 'inertial dampening'.
The spinning weight requires a gradual start and slowly builds up speed, and as you near the end of your movement, the spinning weight has to gradually come to a halt. The spinning weight will also ensure the motion across the slide is fairly consistent. Varavon has taken one it's higher end 'EX' model video sliders and has incorporated this feature. The results are very smooth and I should have something to show towards the end of this week.
Varavon Slidecam EX Premium
[Tip] Here's a cheap way to get smooth fluid pans while keeping a subject centered. Adjust angles between two sliders on each side to change the amount of panning.
A quick reminder that Varavon's website pricing changes this Friday. Right now you can save hundreds of dollars off many items listed on their new website. The Birdycam2 3 Axis gimbal is currently discounted -$375 OFF regular price and many of the Armor video cages for the GH4, Sony A7s, BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera are discounted, as well as external battery power solutions to keep your cameras running all day. So before the weekend, make sure to check out the website at Varavon.com for a list of all the current deals.
