Nowadays, a picture may be worth a thousand words, but a video is often worth a million views. Since views tend to result in sales, or at the very least, in getting your brand out there for the right customers, having videos is almost a non-negotiable in the modern world of business. Sadly, not every kind of setup is going to give you the quality of the video you want, without hiring a pro cinematographer to keep things looking their best.
When you want to produce high-quality videos, one important aspect of your video quality is panning and following shots. Most things in life move, and this movement needs to be incredibly smooth. Unless you want to go into an indie film festival or make your audience nauseous, you want smooth motion. You get this through camera sliders. The right sliders can make your movies that much more polished and present you in the best possible light.
Quiet Operation
When you go to a good photography website and find that they provide camera sliders, you’re going to start being choosy about factors that you might have never thought about before. One of these factors is the sound level of the slider's operation. This is one part where many kinds of promotional videos differ from professional films made in Hollywood.
When a studio makes a movie, music video, or even a commercial, they will often dub over the original sound. If you’ve ever heard someone say, “They can fix that in the post,” they are referring to how post-production will often edit out both unwanted visuals and unwanted sounds. When you use a camera slider, you may or may not have the same kind of luxury.
One of the traits you’ll want to look for with your camera slider is quiet operation. In nature shots, quiet operation is vital to not scare creatures. For most everything else, you still want to avoid a whirring sound that could be distracting and bothersome.
Portability
Camera sliders have to be portable to an extent, but the level of portability can vary tremendously. In some cases, you may have a slider that only moves a foot or so, and that you can carry to wherever you need it with one hand. This is great when you’re taking a large number of shots in the same general area, but will end up repositioning your slider several times for the best lighting, or to capture a particular kind of action. You may also find that a slightly less portable but larger slider is good if you have time to prepare, and you’ll not be moving the slider itself very much.
Solid Payload
The carrying capacity of your camera slider is also important. If you’re using a heavier camera such as a DSLR, you may find that a weaker slider will move jarringly, not move at all, or may even topple over. It’s important to ensure your camera slider is strong enough to do all that it needs to do.
