View the DitoGear OmniSlider and get a sneak preview of special future products here
Sliders have been very popular with DSLR shooters so far (think Philip Bloom’s pocket dolly!). They’re fun to use and allow shots and creative techniques which would be impossible without one.
Now slider manufacturer DitoGear are refreshing their flag-ship product, the DriveCam – which is even more exciting because this is a programmable motion control slider.
I am right now seeking out a DitoGear slider myself to shoot with because it looks ominously like one of the best and most feature packed sliders out there. It’s more exciting than a standard slider because a motorised slider with an electronic handset can be used in all kinds of ways, chiefly:
• Effortless smooth tracking shots and sweeps with an analogue joystick
• Timelapse tracking shots to liven up an otherwise locked-down tripod shot
• HDR video and timelapse (El Skid has a great article on DSLR HDR shots here)
• Keying and SFX work where programmable camera movement is required
The electronic aspect of the slider means it’s movements are precisely repeatable like the virtual cameras used on Avatar. Programmable camera movement is really good for SFX work and keying against a green-screen.
Repeating exactly the same programmed movement of the camera twice gives you the ability to layer two tracking shots together to form one seamlessly green-screened shot. You can also layer multiple tracking shots at different exposures to create an HDR video!
The OmniSlider is the successor to DitoGear’s DriveCam Slider which was very well accepted by professionals so far (here’s Austria’s very own Nino Leitner’s review of the DriveCam) and although I have not yet tried it myself, build quality looks exceptional. The DriveCam was also reasonably portable and comes in different lengths up to 2.5m. For a motion control unit, it’s also actually very affordable and it’s successor will continue that trend.
Improvements include better stability, a stop motion facility for animators and SFX artists, a clearer user interface, a Go-To position function, position memory, and more camera support for it’s timelapse mode, with the shutter release mechanism now supporting Nikon and RED as well as Canon.
For Panasonic GH1/GH2 users, you can use an intervalometer timed remote to trigger stills.
Battery life is up to an amazing 10 hours in timelapse mode and 3 hours in video mode, on a 12v gel type battery included with the slider.
DitoGear are also introducing a cheaper mechanical CrankSlider with the same high quality rails, bearings and noiseless operation, just without all the electronic programmable features and motorised trolly.
In the future, DitoGear have some exciting products in the pipe-line – to see what they are, check them out on the website here
