31" Motorized Camera Slider

Review after a couple of months of use. I purchase this slider after spend a long time doing research in the market and finally I decided to give this a try, after all I was a fraction cost of the of the other option out there so why not I thought, if you are reading you must likely know that. and o man, what a great decision. So first, no by any means this is the perfect slider or the ultimate tools you need for step up you work quality, but without any doubt it is a formidable tools that require a little bit of patience and understanding. Now the bad things, (Not so bad at all) but well what I think that could be improve. 1- Every time you turn on the slider you need to set a star point and end point. is something to have in mind. 2- The time laps functionality it is hard to understand, but work. 3- We need a place to put the controller. I have found myself in more than one location looking were to put the controller in a safe place. The good Things 1- Light weight 2- Noise it not a problem, I have use this mainly for interviews and in my experience noise it not a problem. 3- It is smooth, really smooth and help a lot the fact that it ramp in an out when stops. so no hard stops. 4- the ability to track a subject or and object mechanically. (Note that this feature requiere to play around with it and is it not a 100% accurate but have this functionality included in this price range it is awesome, also once you play around a couple of time with it is very simple) 5- it uses the NPF Sony batteries style and in my case it great I already have a lot of those. After all I thins this is a great option to have in mind if you are in the market for a motorized slider. Also GVM have a couple of option with motorized till and pan but I havent try those, I planed to do it in the future.

This is actually a great auto slider for the price. The app works well with it, and if you're doing something interview style and are a one person crew on a tight budget, this is a great purchase. The battery life is fantastic, though I'd keep 3 in rotation for long shooting days (and in case one decides to take a nose dive). Creating a parallax with a camera while focused on the subject is quite simple by adjusting the angle of the center rail that turns the bezel on the slider. You control the rate at which it turns to avoid the camera drifting off of the subject. The remote app allows you to adjust your beginning and endpoints and gives you the option of 1 or 2-way movement. Additionally you can set the number of travels the camera makes to suit your shoot. It doesn't have a means to run back/forth forever, so you do have to specify a number of times you want it to oscillate. You also determine the speed of its motion. The motor drive uses easy to find and relatively inexpensive batteries that also fit most other accesssories like panel lights, field monitors, etc. The toothed track for the motor drive is a flexible and easily replaceable component (these will wear). The composition of this toothed conveyor is both an asset and at times adversarial (which is why I cannot give it 5 stars). It is an asset in that, once properly tensioned, the camera can hit its endpoints and move the opposite direction without a sudden stop and shake. However, while in operation, the conveyor can sometimes shake in resonance with movement of the camera, which will cause jitter on video, particularly if you don't have solid in-camera or lens stabilization. I learned this the hard way so you don't have to. Several things I used to mitigate this - using a mounting plate atop the bezel so I can balance the camera on it just like I would on a tripod or gimbal. I added a bit more tension to the conveyor to knock off some of the resonance that can cause camera shakes. I also realized that the way you position the center rail of the slider (which changes the rate and/or angle the bezel and camera turns, either for a panning effect, or for a parallax effect keeping the aim of the lens on your subject. Try to angle the center rail too much and it will flex a bit, causing potential sticking points for the bezel and mounted camera in the direction of travel. I haven't tried any long or heavy lenses with this, and I want to evaluate this further testing it with different camera and lens weights. I would not use this for narrative work. But for interviews and B-roll, it's quite a nice piece of kit. And the entire track is extremely light and portable. This slider certainly punches its weight. It can be custom modified as you need. And it is quite silent, preventing the chance of background mechanical noise from bleeding into your audio.... ok unless that background mechanical noise is your significant other, in which case I can only recommend tranquilizer darts prior to shooting, and between scenes. Go make something!

If you are a low or no budget filmmaker, this GVM slider is a definite investment to your kit. For my type work (at a non-profit doing promotion) this made total sense in buying. Over the past months, it has proven itself in numerous criteria: economical, versatile, consistent & durable. I have used this slider to give motion to a B-camera and as a temporary setup to give motion in live production. I have yet to have an issue with any craftsmanship or functionality issue. It has added a great improvement to my appeared production value. Things to know: 1) It does take time and patience to learn the interface of the controller. It is not difficult or complex, but it does take time to become proficient. Read reviews & watch videos on youtube to learn how to set it up. I opened the box on the day of a shoot and did not assemble it until I arrived on location and had no problem setting up the controller. 2) At higher rates of speed, the battery drains considerably faster. So take extra batteries. 3) At lower speeds, the motor's sound is almost imperceivable. However at very high speed (90%+). With that being said, if you are using it for a moving B-Camera you will never want to use it above 70-80% speed. So this to me is a non-factor. 4) The case, though light-weight seems to be durable enough to sustain travel. I do "baby" everything I own and travel with. If you are on planes or are prone to being overly rough on gear, you might want to consider a flight case in the future. 5) Due to the weight of the motor unit, you will DEFINITELY need 2 tripods/light stands or the extension support arms you can find online. One tripod under the center will likely ever be sufficient unless you are using a short travel distance. I am peculiar about everything I use. If this slider proves to be deficient in the future I will be changing my review. However, it has been solid for me and has yet to underperform my expectations.

This is a great find for filmmakers who are wanting to add some smooth dollies to their arsenal of shots. Also useful for timelapses. Here are some perks: For the price, the build quality is great. It's lightweight, but not fragile or cheap. It has a buttery smooth slide that's precisely programmable. In manual mode, you can quickly set up one take slides. In auto mode, you can spend an extra minute to define the start and end parameters, then set it and forget it while it automatically loops continuously. The battery also lasts surprisingly long for a mechanical device (I've run mine for hours without running out of power), but as you would expect it takes a long time to fully recharge. Tips: You will need to buy a tripod ball head. The rail itself only has a thread mount that puts your camera flat on the surface, which is not helpful for setting up a shot. The ball head raises the camera up a few inches and lets you angle it however you'd like. It's actually pictured in the product shots on GVM's website, but not included. It also won't fit in the case, so plan to carry it separately. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MGJH5U6/ You will also need to buy two light stands to mount it above the ground. This is way better than mounting it on a tripod, since it would just tilt and wobble around. Even with two stands to stabilize, the whole frame is fairly lightweight, and tends to wobble a good bit if you have the tripods extended to eye level. I recommend getting some heavier duty light stands, or bring some plate weights to tack on to keep it grounded and more steady. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074VMTP68/ Drawbacks I would want to know before purchasing: There's a slight sticking point in the middle of my slider. It doesn't affect slow programmed movements, but if you quickly run the rail by hand (not powered on), you can feel it lag about halfway through. As I mentioned above, the whole frame is very lightweight. If you put a DSLR on it and raise it up above waist level, it will wobble as it motors along, so it needs extra weight to keep it steady. The remote is also clunky, so take a few minutes to learn it before you need it, because it's not intuitive enough to figure out in the field. Summary: This is a great entry-level slider. You save $1,500 compared to a professional grade slider, so keep your expectations reasonable. But if you make the most of it, you can really up your game with this tool without spending a small fortune. Highly recommended.

I purchased the 31" carbon fiber slider for use during a field shoot my company was doing at the Today Show studios in NYC. It was set to be a left-right loop slow speed tracking wide shot on a two person interview to give movement to the wide angle shot. After receiving the slider I was massively impressed with the quality of the materials used in its manufacture given the price. Everything felt tight, everything felt solid, and nothing felt like it would break. The case it comes with is made of thin fabric but feels moderately robust. The only component which feels extremely cheap is the zipper pull tabs- they bent as if they were made from slices of a soda can. This makes me think the rest of the zipper may also be of low quality, however, so far, no problems with the rest of the zipper. Setting this slider up is very simple and easy. Loosen the red lock screw, attach the remote via its cable, switch it all on, set your start/stop points, set your speed and go. If you don't need the motor and plan to do it manually then simply loosen the red screw and slide away! This slider was purchased two weeks prior to our shoot at the Today Show studio and all of that time was spent trying to trouble shoot one issue. Tracking. The tracking feature (where it stays centered on the target as the slide proceeds left to right/right to left) is simple enough to set up. Slide the camera one way, target and lock the shot using the side adjustment knobs, slide it the other, adjust once more to zero the track in more precisely between point A and point B. The middle area of the tracking works smoothly, however, at the far left or right of it there are problems which become more obvious with a repeating left to right/right to left loop. As the camera begins to return from one side to the other, the track doesn't engage and pan immediately to keep the shot centered. Instead, after about 8 inches of slide it smoothly but suddenly starts tracking. It does this in both directions. It also does not seem to end on the same target spot twice (though it is close). Checking underneath the slider unit, there is a LOT of play in the slider head on the tracking bar mechanism. My slider doesn't appear to be damaged in this area so I presume this is part of how it is supposed to prevent jerky tracking at the far ends of the track. Our shoot involved a two person morning show style interview (two chairs, coffee table, etc) with the slider camera placed approximately 12 ft away from the subjects. In the end, the target track had to be position corrected in post to hold on a steady target. This solution of post tracking would likely have looked bad if the slide was both moving faster and not a wide shot, however, on a wide shot and moving at between 30% and 50% speed, the solution of fixing it in post yielded a good result as to not draw attention to itself. In my testing I did not have this problem when tracking objects closer than 6 feet but had the problem occur with increasing inaccuracy in the tracking beyond that distance. This is a good slider but the tracking feature left much to be desired for use in interviews of this type. It would definitely work perfectly fine in straight slides or closer product shots. Pro's: - Feels solidly built. - Motor is pretty much silent which is great for interviews. - The remote is, despite everyone else's reviews, very very intuitive (in my opinion). - The slider is very very affordable. Con's: - Tracking feature is inaccurate at longer distances. - Tracking mechanism (on mine, at least) has a lot of physical play in it making it smooth but not very accurate. - Zipper pulls on the included bag are very low quality (which I would guess means the zippers themselves are, too). Neutral's: - The start/stop points have to be manually set every time you power on (this process takes about 20 seconds). - The feet can get in the way of side mounted monitors when they are folded to the up position). Overall: This slider is pretty good but could be even better if the tracking mechanism had less play and functioned more accurately at further distances when in looping mode. In the end we were able to make it work for our purposes. In our productions this slider will no longer be used for tracking shots, but will be used for standard left/right slider shots as needed. One final note, I would highly recommend buying some slider support arms. This enables you to cut down on stands/tripods needed for field use which is majorly convenient.

I loved this slider at first. I couldn't believe this product could do what it did for the price they're putting it out at. Then reality struck. I'm on set, filming a product shot. Everything is going great. I spent 4 hours setting up the perfect shot. I made a few passes and went to adjust the lighting. When I came back two minutes later, the motor was buzzing. It was paused in manual mode. I tried to move it with the remote but nothing happened. I turned the power off and the sound stopped. I turned it back on and nothing happened. I can hear a small click, but nothing like the louder click when it's working properly. The motor died on me right in the middle of a shoot, it front of the client whom I am guessing will never hire me again. I called GVM several times and texted them from the number on their site that literally says "If this is an urgent matter, please call us at xxx-xxx-xxxx, but no answer and their voicemail isn't even setup. Super unprofessional. According to Amazon, their warranty is only 3 months. I am just outside that window. I am furious and now i am out $370. Lesson learned, buy cheap, buy often. Buy quality, it's for life.

I recently got booked for a couple video interviews and wanted to add a little pop with subtle movement on my B cam. So I did a little research, ordered this puppy and opened it up the day before the shoot. Took everything out and set it up in a matter of minutes. However, if you are not technically savvy, you should watch a tutorial on YouTube. The remote is easy enough to figure out but not necessarily intuitive. Set your start point, end point, slide speed, manual or auto mode, loop or single a pass and you're off and running. I had this up and running within a couple minutes day of the shoot. Adds the perfect amount of movement to make a shot pop. I will say, I have not and do not really intend to use this for time lapse photography. So I can't attest to that functionality but I'm sure it's cool. The only suggestion I will make is play around with the center directional rod. If it's dead center, the slider will simply go left to right with no camera pan (cool for cinematic shots, etc). Play around with varying degrees of adjustment to dial in the perfect amount camera pan so your shot stays on your subject for interviews. I noticed you don't much. As for quality, it's built very well with aluminum plates and carbon fiber rails. The best part is that it's whisper quiet. Can't hear to motor or gears one bit. However, my brother ordered the same kit and he said he noticed a faint high pitched squeal when the slider ramps down to change directions. But again, mine is quieter than Hellen Keller. The kit comes in a convenient cary bag with foam for protection. Sure, the nylon bag is kind of cheap but it works. The entire kit is very light and takes up less space than you think. Definitely recommend.

The GVM 48"/120cm Motorized Camera Slider has completely elevated my videography game. Its motorized design allows for silky-smooth, professional-looking camera movements that add a cinematic touch to my shots. Whether I'm capturing product videos, interviews, or cinematic sequences, this slider delivers consistent and precise slides. The build quality is excellent, with sturdy construction that supports my camera gear effortlessly. Setting it up is straightforward, and the remote control makes adjusting speed and direction a breeze. If you're serious about capturing smooth and dynamic footage, the GVM Motorized Camera Slider is an absolute must-have in your toolkit.