I am a big fan of using a dolly to move my camera smoothly through space. This became an extension of my use of prime lenses without any zoom capability. I built my own skateboard wheel and pcv pipe dolly system for my own projects.

The only problem with using a skateboard dolly system is lugging the two ten foot spans of 1 1/4 inch pvc pipe and the heavy dolly around from location to location. I use the entire span of the track and mount a tripod to the dolly, but sometimes you do not need the full 10 foot setup.

A new generation of lighter, shorter and very portable dolly kits are hitting the market. These dollies will not replace my skateboard wheel/pvc kit, but they will have their own place in my productions.

Eric Kessler at Kessler Crane has built a dolly system that is an improved version of their “pocket dolly” line, the CineSlider. With small cameras like the Canon 5dmk2, I can now hike an entire camera system with dolly around by myself to create very dynamic camera shots. I can do this with much less effort than ever before.

From the Kessler Crane Website:
The Kessler CineSlider is a heavy duty portable mini-dolly / linear slider system for camera rigs weighing up to 80 pounds or more. Weighing in at only 10 pounds, with a length of 40.5 inches, 5 inches wide, and a total camera travel distance or 35.5 inches, the CineSlider is a very portable solution to get those quick, smooth short-run dolly movements, without having to transport a large dolly system. Features include drag control and locking, handle with adjustable arc diameter for ultimate movement control, smooth rolling precision stainless steel ball bearing Delrin wheels, and multple mounting options.

The CineSlider can be center mounted flush to the Kessler Hercules 2.0 head to achieve panning and tilting movements, center mounted to a 100mm bowl tripod with the optional 100mm Ball Mount Kit, or support from both ends with a combination of a standard tripod / fluid head or lightstand or monopod.

Camera mounting options include the Giottos Quick Release Plate & Receiver that comes standard. Also included with the CineSlider is a 3/8″ standard mounting bolt, for flat mounting a fluid head to the carriage. Optional mounting options include a 100mm Bowl High Hat (coming soon) and 100mm Ball Relocater.

I took the CineSlider to Fenway Park a few days ago and captured some flavor around the ballpark before the “Frozen Fenway” college hockey games were played. I was working the games for broadcast television, but found some time during my lunch break to play with the portable dolly. I was shooting with Canon “L” series lenses and using the Canon 5dmk2 DSLR set to 1080 30p.

The CineSlider is able to support a lot of weight on the moving ball-bearing wheel plate and it has a belt drive system for control and friction. I really love the design and so far every time I use it I end up with very good results. I found the level bubble on the quick release plate to be very helpful when setting up a dolly move and keeping the track straight.

The belt drive is super smooth, the rails are protected by thick metal plates and the sliding plate has wheels that ride on the inside of the rail system. This means that you are much less likely to damage the track and feel a bump when the dolly moves down the rails.

Kessler makes different accessories for the CineSlider. It is possible to mount cheap ‘Frotto pan/tilt head on the plate with the screws that are included with the slider. You can even get a high hat 100mm bowl attachment so that you can use a professional fluid head (like a Vinten Vision 10AS) on the dolly. For example, when using a pan and tilt head on the CineSlider, you can dolly right as you pan left for a really great effect.

I moved around the ballpark. I shot inside and out. I only had an hour so I was a bit rushed. I shot for 45 minutes in cold temperatures, but nothing was falling from the sky. The forecast called for snow showers and I was hoping to shoot the park as the flakes drifted to the ground. No luck!

Just as I was getting ready to pack up, it began to snow. I had to get back to my “real” job that day shooting for television. I was only able to capture a snow filled sky at Fenway for a few minutes atop the Green Monster Seats. The place really is magical when the snow flakes are falling.

I had the entire CineSlider system mounted the Hercules 2.0 pan and tilt head. I mounted it to the 100mm bowl in my Vinten carbon fiber sticks. This pan and tilt head is not a fluid filled Vinten! It is much cheaper and really only designed to support the weight of the dolly and the camera as the weight shifts back and forth. You can use the Kessler head to pan and tilt, but I was unable to get smooth control preforming a tilt up while dolling. I used the Hercules head to set up my shot framing and composition and it worked out very well. It is a bit heavy, and built solid like a boat anchor. I would feel confident using this Kessler head to support the dolly and an expensive full sized broadcast camera.

A couple days later, I drove a few miles from my house to an old abandoned warehouse. I shot my first independent movie at this sweet location a few years ago with my Sony Z1u HDV camera and the Letus Extreme. You can see the film by clicking here. Be sure to visit that link, I have pictures of my PVC pipe dolly on that blog.

I had a lot of fun shooting at this location because I caught the light just right. The sun was setting in the west and golden hour was beautiful. I really enjoy shooting in old, abandoned and decaying structures. So much color, texture and character.

I only used a Canon 85mm f1.2 II L series lens for my CineSlider shoot in the warehouse. I though it would be a challenge to keep the camera steady down the track using a tighter lens. I was shooting everything in 30p, no slow motion, so I had to be very smooth or the shot would suffer at the semi-telephoto focal length.

I was using the Red Rock Micro matte box and two filters, a .6 ND (for bright light and leaving the f1.2 lens wide open) and the polarising filter for different color effects. Most of the time, I just shot through the box without any filter at all.

I preformed all the rack focusing and focus pulls with my finger tips on the barrel of the lens while pushing the dolly. I did not use any LCD magnification eye pieces or follow focus systems while shooting inside the warehouse or at Fenway Park.

I tried to tilt the Hercules 2.0 head all the way up to preform a dolly move on a different axis. This kind of worked, but gravity was pulling on the crank handle creating an uneven weight and making a smooth move very difficult. There are two ways to move the dolly down the track, pushing the camera with even force or using the belt crank. The belt crank works well, but it takes practice. I found that most of the time I am finger pushing the camera down the rails.

There is a tension adjustment on the end of the CineSlider that is very important. You want a little bit of resistance on your dolly move so that it will be smooth and even. This break system works well and you would never want to cut or remove the belt. If you did, the dolly carriage would slide free and fast down the rails with little control.

One thing that I was not able to do was a dolly in and out shot down the track. On the current version of CineSlider that I have, the quick release plate did not work properly when twisted 90 degrees. Eric at Kessler Crane is aware of this and they are working to fix the problem. If I mounted a pan head to the plate, I would be able to swing the head any direction and shoot a dolly shot down the track. I did not test this slider with a pan head yet.

Kessler Crane is working on a timelapse module upgrade that will work with the CineSlider. The idea is to mount a computer controlled stepper motor to the belt system to get super slow dolly movement. When this motor system is used with a timelapse camera, you are able to set parameters in the movement to preform a timelapse with a dolly slide. That is very exciting and I hope to test out the system when it becomes available in a few months.

Keep an eye on this site for more about this. As many of you may know, I am working on an astro-timelapse project and the motorized CineSlider would be perfect for me.

For more information on the CineSlider portable dolly system, please check out http://www.kesslercrane.com

Please watch the video blog for my full hands-on review of the CineSlider. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them below the video in the comments section of this page.

Special Thanks To:
Mike Narracci
Aaron Pinto
Eric Kessler
Chris Beller
New England Sports Network
Boston Red Sox

TRT: 11 minutes 18 seconds
Size: 315.91 MB
Type: H.264 720p HD .mp4 file

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