Everyone needs a slider to create excellent footage - a "Straight To The Point" review of the 24" 23.6" 60 cm Neewer Carbon Fiber Slider

Everyone needs a slider to create excellent footage - a "Straight To The Point" review of the 24" 23.6" 60 cm Neewer Carbon Fiber Slider

This is my first longer form review - hope someone finds it useful. Please feel free to comment.

For some time I've been wanting to acquire a slider. There is a plethora of options available, both in terms of bells & whistles, as well as price points from low to ridiculously high. 

My criteria were;

1. To be able to add a bit of movement to increase the perceived production value to the footage, as well as hopefully be able to make mundane subjects or situations to look more interesting. The required movement would need to be controlled, smooth and stable, as well as the slider being able to be versatile and giving me a range of useful options as how to use it. The main intended use would be for when I create stock footage which normally are only 15 to 30 seconds in length. 
2. Portability, I decided to go for shorter rather than longer as my thinking was that it would mean less of a hassle to bring and use thus making it used a lot more and brought along on the pure chance of being used (wowser a lot of use/used words in that sentence). Also as I don't only work in studio but on "pure chance" out and about it couldn't add too much weight to an already heavy backpack - I'm an animal and of course can handle the weight but less is always better, especially during long walks/days.
3. Sturdiness which usually goes hand in hand with quality is paramount. When not used it would be strapped to the back of my backpack and it would without question bump into things, well generally be used pretty roughly/careless.

Neewer 24" Carbon Fiber Slider with coupled with
a Manfrotto MVH500AH fluid video head with
Canon 5D MK IV attached.

So how did I settle on the Neewer slider?

So after some research, thinking, weighing up pros and cons with the different options I landed on the newly released updated version of the 24"/23.6" 60 cm Neewer Carbon Fiber slider. I paid £55.49 + £9.79 which brings it to a total of £65.28 or $86.58 (July 11, 2018) no taxes or duties as this was within the EU/Europe.

A few things swung it towards this particular model.

1. Generally heard great feedback on Neewer in terms of value for money.
2. Non-friction based "glide" but proper ball-bearings and 6 of them instead of the normal 4 (4 on the upper side and 2 underneath).
3. Ability to take a heavy load - rated for 8kgs. Well above what I normally would put on top of it, but it gives not just plenty of headroom, but generally I find that keeping a big "buffer" on similar things such as tripods, steadicams etc. works for the better, eventhough you're not close to the max - more is simply better.

Verdict 

Having used it for about 7-10 days now, both in studio and out and about I can attest to it's quality and working as I intended. Found no niggles, smooth as butter and no worries that it would stand the test of time - but time will tell. 

The slider can used with any kind of tripod head on it. For me personally I found that coupling it with the Manfrotto MVH500AH fluid video head gives me the best experience, both with the extension arm and without (which makes it a bit more compact).

Close up images of important details

Metal locking knob to lock feet at a desired angle.

Screw in or out rubberised feet for good
grip and height adjustments. They can be
locked at any certain desired height and
will stay firmly in place.

Best mates - the combo that I initially
found to work the best have been
with the Manfrotto MVH500AH video
fluid head, with or without the extension
arm.

6 ball bearings, 4 on upper side and 2 
underneath, ensures a much smoother operation 
compared to friction based sliders.

Close up of rubberised wheel that
together with ball bearings gives
silky smooth footage.

A recommendation or not?

I can wholeheartedly, genuinely recommend with two fat thumbs up the Neewer Carbon Fiber slider if one is after a price conscious yet quality product that will open up a whole range of options for your footage making abilities. Without having tested the aluminium version or any longer versions I would personally stick to carbon fiber for rigidity reasons and probably not go for anything longer than 100 cm unless you are going to use it on flat surfaces - this is me guessing in an educated kind-of-way, I could be wrong. 

In the spirit of the great Ken Rockwell - if you feel like supporting me and my awesome family, use any of the Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post and I earn a small commission, which is of course very much appreciated.