07Feb Riser plate for camera sliders
I was on a shoot a few months ago where we were using the ifootage Shark S1 slider to slide the camera back from a subject to reveal an object off to the side that was out of frame at the beginning of the shot. If you’ve ever tried to use a slider in this manner you’ll know that the issue with a move like this is that at the end of the move you run the risk of getting the edge of the slider in frame.
While I’d seen riser plates for rod systems, I was looking for something that could be dedicated to the Shark S1 slider’s bag and provided enough lift to get the rails out of the shot at the end of the slide. The solution I came up with is this camera slider riser plate.
This camera slider riser plate will run you about $40 and comes with a 1/4 20 male/female adapter as well as a 3/8″ male/female plate. You can also configure them to be stack-able if you need to bring the camera up even higher.
Combine the camera slider riser plate with a Manfrotto 501 fluid head and you’ll be able to pan, tilt, and slide all in a single shot. While $40 is a little pricey for two riser plates, it’s the best solution I’ve found on the market so far. It also made it much easier to get the shots I needed in limited space.
The camera slider riser plate is a pretty handy accessory for any slider owner and it’ll keep the slider out of frame. If you find a cheaper solution let me know and I’ll post it, this thing has been working pretty well for me, but it was also the only solution I could find.
February 7th, 2015 at 1:45 pm
This is why I read dslr film noob. Useful posts about sound gear, clamps and stuff like this. Camera talk might bring in the clicks but this kind of post is the most useful to me. Keep up the good work.
February 7th, 2015 at 2:30 pm
Thanks Dan! I find it more useful than ranting about Canon as well. These things are handy.
February 8th, 2015 at 11:47 pm
DeeJay,
sell me one. 🙂
February 9th, 2015 at 10:00 am
Nice these seem pretty well made, and a good Idea to use on a slider, my 501 is set up for a bowel mount so I would need the more expensive riser but this still looks nice, how is the actual machining quality of these. I have seen some nice stuff coming out of companies such as SmallRig also in china with very HQ CNC Machining. If the quality of the risers is high I did not feel $40 for 2 of them if I understand that correctly is much at all.
How is the Shark holding up? it looks quite slick and well made.
February 9th, 2015 at 10:22 am
You do get 2 units for that price. Build quality is good. Threaded stud is just a stainless steel bolt threaded through.
As for the Shark slider, for the most part I love that slider. Only problem I have is using the extensions. It tends to twist a little if the unit isn’t set correctly on both sides with the extensions in place. If that happens the slider carriage locks up towards the end of the slide. Otherwise, great unit, does better than any other unit I’ve played with.
February 10th, 2015 at 9:21 am
Deejay,
Edelkrone just announced a new product called the Flex-Tilt head. Looks like it can do a lot but one of the applications demonstrated in their introductory video is to raise the camera up (and forward) for forward and back slider shots. I’m sure it’s a compromise like all things but might be a bit better a multi-tasker than these one-trick risers…as long as one can justify the higher $99 price tag.
http://www.edelkrone.com/us/p/463/flex-tilt-head
February 10th, 2015 at 10:47 am
That’s pretty sexy. Thanks Dave, i’ll check it out.
February 10th, 2015 at 2:14 pm
That tilt head does look pretty cool but a bit costly, I don’t own anything from Edelkrone so I dont know how HQ their products are, but it does look like it is a well made piece of gear and it should be considering it’s a $99 pocket sized unit.
Deejay likes testing out cool new gear, so Deejay are you going to test this out for your loyal viewers when its avail, inquiring minds want to know, is this thing any good 🙂
February 10th, 2015 at 3:16 pm
I’ll see what I can do DC. Only a one man shop here 😉
February 11th, 2015 at 6:22 am
Thanks for all you do, you are very much appreciated here, and for a one man show you get a ton done.
February 11th, 2015 at 6:56 am
Thanks DC. I try to keep up.
February 11th, 2015 at 8:20 am
Edelkrone gear is of the highest quality. I’ve bought a few things from them now and all of them have been amazing. A friend of mine also has one of their sliders and won’t use anything else now. The price is always the sticking point but they’ve done what they can to bring that down like free US shipping. They even recently introduced a loaner program but I’m not sure that can help you get your hands on one.
The only possible issue I see for this design is with larger cameras or heavier lenses because the joints are only held in place with friction. Their Pocketshot had similar issues. Great design, slightly overpriced, and the joints would slip with heavy gear or rough use.
February 12th, 2015 at 5:02 pm
Thanks for the info there stuff always did look well made to me.
Maybe I will try something of theirs one day.
Might be able to limit the pos slippage you mention in the head joints with a little mod, by removing one allen screw and replacing it with a small ss thumb-screw, thus allowing one to adjust the amount of friction on the fly. Why they did not build something like that into the design seems odd to me. I bet for that price they could have machined a small tension adjustment knob built in.
February 12th, 2015 at 5:15 pm
That’s a good suggestion. I think that mod would work. I was ready to buy the Pocket Shot until I saw what my friend Wiley at Hondo Garage put together. Their Pop&Lock is very similar only it’s all aluminum and the joints lock with a sort of rosette type joint…so much better.
February 12th, 2015 at 5:26 pm
Glad you like that idea I do think it could work, if I buy one I would def try to mod it, Yes I know of Hondo Garage the Pop&Lock looks like a pretty cool piece of gear I may get one, I like the way it locks at each joint that looks like it would be a very strong design.
Did you end up getting one? I see no real review on that Pop&Lock anywhere would love to know how well it works with something like a 60D or 7D sized cam on it.
February 14th, 2015 at 4:01 pm
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