October 13, 2010

Track and slide + HDSLR stabilisation

Hague Camera Supports' Cam-Slide Traveller is a new, small, lightweight tracking system. It also has a new DSLR stabilisation system.

The Cam-Slide Traveller promises to give "a nice, smooth tracking shot either attached to a tripod or directly onto a flat surface". It is small enough to fit in your suitcase, and joins Hague's existing Cam-Slide, which is slightly larger.

The Cam-Slide Traveller is quick and simple to set up; it can be mounted to the video head of a tripod, placed on a table or on the floor for low shots. The camera fastens directly to the carriage, or an optional Ball Levelling Head can be used between the camera and carriage, this enables the camera angle to be adjusted when used on a table or the floor.

Two track supports are also supplied, one for each end of the track, to support the Cam-Slide track when it is used on a table or floor and also prevent the carriage from coming off the end of the track. The Carriage has a 1/4-inch camera screw to mount the camera. A thumb screw on the side of the carriage locks the carriage to the track when used in a fixed position.

It is 50cm long, 5cm wide, weighs 1.125kg, and can support camcorders or DSLRs weighing up to 3.5kg. It is currently available at an introductory offer price of £189.95 inc VAT. The larger Cam-Slide is also on special offer at the moment at £199.95 inc VAT (down £25) – it is 1m long, weighs 1.5kg, but can only carry cameras weighing up to 2.5kg.

Motion Cam

Hague's new DSLR Motion-Cam is a budget hand-held stabilisation system designed for Canon 5D, 7D or similar DSLRs used for HD video weighing between 0.8kg - 2kg. It can help smooth camera movement and eliminate camera shake. 

It has been designed to cope with different lenses being used, and the fact that on these camera's the tripod mounting hole is never in the centre of balance, which can make them difficult to balance on some stabilizers. Therefore, the DSLR Motion-Cam offers an increased range of movement forwards and backwards, plus extra sideways movement for balance correction.

It is essential that the handle is free moving, so its gimbal has a highly polished ball with a nylon socket, plus a radial ball bearing handle to ensure free movement. It comes with a selection of counterbalance weights. Once balanced, fine trim is achieved by manually moving the camera plate forwards or back, and sideways fine trim achieved by moving the weights on the counterbalance plate from side to side. It costs £149.95 including VAT.

By David Fox

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