Above: Konova K3 camera slider with my Sony FS100 camera mounted.

I've been looking for a camera slider for what seems like ages now. Especially one that won't require me to sell the house, the bike and one of my kidneys, because they tend to be seriously expensive and hard to source locally. Until now. I pulled the trigger late last year on a Konova slider and the kit arrived via courier just a few days before I left for my December holiday.

It is lightweight, compact and, having now used it on two or three shoots, I realised that you really don't need more than a one meter length of track to achieve an attractive result. It is tricky to achieve smooth tracks initially so beware - don't rush off to your first shoot with this thing only a day after you opened the box for the first time. It is going to take practice to achieve those slick tracking shots you've seen in just about every Hollywood movie ever made. I was thrilled to discover that my editing application was ready to help me fix a few less-than-smooth attempts; Avid Media Composer's Stabilize effect does a great job to automatically smooth out tracking shots!

Sliders are generally made for DSLR cameras so with the FS100 I'm probably right on the weight limit with this one. However I haven't had serious issues other than forgetting to lock the fluid head before letting go and turning around to see everybody leaping to catch the rapidly tilting camera (ouch)!



Above: the whole kit packs neatly into a carry bag

Again this is one piece of kit that you'll only master with lots and lots of practice but so far I'm thrilled with the results.