Fstoppers Reviews the Edelkrone SliderONE PRO: The Ultimate Motorized, Portable Slider?

Edelkrone has established a glowing reputation as builders of thoughtful, premium camera stability and slider products. The latest addition to this line was an upgrade to their motorized, all-in-one slider, the SliderONE PRO. Here is our in-depth review after spending six weeks with this professional, app-controlled video accessory.

What Is It?

The SliderOne PRO is a motorized slider that offers a precise solution to sliding motions when shooting video along a 7.87-inch (20-centimeter) track. At 10.6 x 3.7 x 2 inches (2.7 x 9.5 x 5.1 centimeters), it’s small enough to fit into any camera bag which makes it incredibly portable compared to almost every other slider solution, let alone a motorized one. It is also a great tool to create beautiful parallax time-lapses and stop motion animation when needing to pack light. It’s battery powered off a Canon LP-E6 battery and is operated from a superbly designed app from your phone.

What’s Different?

The SliderONE PRO is the second iteration, following on from the SliderONE, so what’s different? Firstly, the SliderONE was a modular product which consisted of a manual slider, with an optional motor for precise slides. This is now all built into the one product which makes the cost of entry much higher, but most likely a move based on the demand of consumers almost always buying the motor accessory with the SliderONE. The SliderONE PRO is 5 centimeters longer, can handle heavier loads, is 150 grams lighter, and is operated by an improved app.

Is 20 Centimeters Enough?

It’s the horses for courses argument when it comes to answering this question. For macro video work, it’s a no brainer. For wider shots, 20 centimeters is a lot more movement in camera than you realize, especially if you load your scene with static objects close to the lens to get that parallax effect that is impossible to create by cropping in and adding a pan of frame in post. In the SliderONE PRO app, ease in/out can be added to your slide that utilizes the entire track, compared to longer, manual sliders where only a portion of your slide may be free from shake or unwanted speed changes.

But when longer, faster, and more dramatic slides are required, the SliderONE PRO won’t be up to the task. When precise slides are required across a longer track, Edelkrone offer the SliderPlus & Motion Kit which provides up to 90 centimeters of track, but costs up to five times as much, has more setup time and is less portable.

Setting Up

The all-in-one system is a breeze to setup. You can mount the SliderONE PRO onto any tripod, then attach a video head onto the 3/8-inch mounting screw. I bundled the Edelkrone FlexTILT Head 2 in with my purchase to mount on top, a durable camera head that offers versatile pan and tilt changes instantly.

Once your camera is mounted and Canon LP-E6 battery inserted, load up the SliderONE Pro app on your device which connects instantly using Bluetooth low-energy communication tech; no hunting through menus. Next it’s time to set up your slide using the intuitive settings, all visible on one screen.

What’s It Like to Use?

For the last six weeks, I’ve used the SliderOne PRO on music video productions, product shoots, and corporate commercials with the Panasonic GH5. Some of the sliding shots were planned in pre-production, but many weren't, and this is when I knew it was money well spent. It’s slight form factor means it can live in my video case without taking up too much room, so can come with me to most of my shoots regardless of how I travel.

A precise slide can offer something extra to a static shot that can raise your production value, even if it’s across just 20 centimeters. The SliderONE PRO was quick to setup, precise, and mostly reliable. On a few occasions there was a connection issue between the app and the slider, where only pulling the battery out and in seemed to fix the problem. But apart from this, I was in smooth sliding heaven.

Another super useful, and underrepresented feature in Edelkrone’s marketing is the ability to setup a dynamic second camera if you working as a team of team of one on a video shoot. On a live music video shoot, I could mount the SliderONE PRO and set up a constant slide back and forth for the duration of each take, then manually operate a second camera on a gimbal. This gave me two active cameras using one pair of hands and easily trumps a second static shot in this scenario.

In other observations, the SliderONE Pro is not silent in operation but won’t be picked up by an off-camera direction mic like the Rode Video Mic Pro. The time-lapse feature is easy to set up using a separately sold shutter trigger cable specific to your camera along with the time-lapse dedicated menu inside the SliderONE Pro app. I am yet to test a time-warp or a motion-warp feature, but both seemed easily accessible using the app.

Alternatives

Edelkrone offer several sliding and video motion products, which all have their own set of features and limitations. The SliderPlus and Motion Kit offers the most comprehensive set of features including precise 4-axis movements, but can cost over $5,000 for the full kit. The SurfaceONE, similarly priced to the SliderONE PRO, has the potential to offer the longest sliding shot of all Edelkrone products as it runs on wheels across a flat surface, but has obvious limitations on only being able to operate on whatever flat surface is available. A cheaper alternative is the Wing, which is a rail-less slider that can be mounted to a tripod much like the SliderONE Pro and can offer 40 centimeters of sliding motion. But there is no motor built in, so your slides are only as accurate as your slight of hand, with no time-lapse functionality.

Rhino’s Ultimate Slider Bundle is more in line with the Edelkrone SliderPlus and Motion Kit in terms of form factor, but is operated by a dedicated wired controller. It’s twice the price of the SliderONE PRO and much less portable, but has a sliding track up to four times longer. There are other motorized sliding products available from manufacturers like Kessler, Cinetics, and Syrp, but there is nothing available in such a small form factor that offers such a versatile range of uses as the SliderONE PRO.

What I Liked

• Precision sliding motion for video, even for heavy loads up to 4 kilograms.
• Easy and fast to set up.
• Intuitive app to control slider.
• Small enough form factor to fit into any camera bag or case.
• Long lasting battery life.
• Constant sliding feature can create an unmanned, dynamic camera angle for a team of one film crew.
• Ability to shoot fantastic looking parallax time-lapses.

What I Didn't Like

• Not useful for long, fast sliding shots.
• App loses connection with the slider every now and then (although this could be improved in firmware updates).
• Battery is not included.
• FlexTILT Head 2 is not included.

Conclusion

Edelkrone have prided themselves on creating inventive and original products for photographers and filmmakers, and have hit the nail on the head with the SliderONE PRO. On the surface, a 20 centimeters slider for just under $900 sounds frankly ridiculous, yet it’s precision, small form factor, and ease of use make it a mainstay in my video kit and therefore somewhat of a bargain. It’s array of features and well-designed app offer solutions for shots that would be otherwise impossible in video production, and paired with the Flex Tilt Head 2, it becomes even more versatile with the ability to shoot angled slides. If you are looking for a motorized slider for time-lapses or video, bigger isn’t always better, case-in-point: the superb SliderONE PRO.