Review on 📹 GVM Great Video Maker Camera Motorized Slider - 48"/120CM, Automatic Round Trip, Time Lapse, Panoramic Shooting, Video Capture - Smooth and Stable Slider with Battery by Rashan Jimenez

I want to start by saying that I really like this device. Runs clean and does what it's supposed to. It makes my videos so much better. The rails and posable head feel solidly built, and the ball head with the camera on it is well supported. Motor, head and rails feel solid. It feels like it's built really well. For the price, I'd recommend it, but there are some pretty major downsides that you have to balance. 1) I tried using it with two tripods. Looking at the ends, the bracket is barely wider than the screw hole for attaching a tripod. There's just no "bite" for anything to assemble. This puts a lot of pressure on the hole and it just doesn't feel tight. I just ordered some support brackets so I can mount it on a medium tripod where the contact area is larger. I ended up just coming up with a setup where I leave it on the shelf so I don't need a tripod for most of my purposes. It won't work for everyone, and it won't work locally. A long unit (compared to a shorter model) exacerbates the problem as there is greater leverage. It was easy to move and install without worrying about damage. 2) The remote control arrived broken. It was cracked and flaking off from time to time. They immediately sent me a replacement. The overall impression of the remote control is cheap. This doesn't match the build quality of the slider itself. 3) It's annoying to have to reprogram the ends of the loop function, but I imagine it would add significant cost if a sensor is installed to automatically locate the ends. An acceptable compromise in cost but still time consuming for each shoot. 4) The motor is quiet but not silent. A good microphone will pick it up. I have a gun mic pointing about 5 feet away from the unit and I'm getting background noise. I ended up cutting out two pieces of 2" thick foam and covering the motor with it and threading the cable through the hole. Picks up a lot of sound. I'm a little worried about the heat but in testing the unit stayed pretty cool for a short time It's a decent solution for short shoots, but I wouldn't use it for long periods without further testing 5) The tracking function depends on a small bracket that slides over the tracking control rod.The bracket comes with a Pin attached to the underside of the moving head (disk).There is play in the connection as the bracket is a few millimeters larger than the rod.When it changes direction it takes up the slack and changes the orientation of the camera depending on the direction of travel by a few degrees. This changes the frame quite a bit. I position the camera on me to one side of the frame so that my eyes are looking away from the camera. As the slider rotates, I jump from the left third to about the middle in a close-up with the camera about 6 feet away. I took a small zip tie and threaded it through the bracket with the smooth side facing the stem. It takes up most of that play and eliminates much of the frame difference depending on the direction of travel. The device really needs a smooth washer installed in the bracket to eliminate this play. 6) I put the slider on the shelf in my "office studio". Feet on a hard shelf create some reverberation. You won't hear it on the floor, but almost any table will act as a vibration speaker. I just put the ends on the foam blocks with the legs folded in and that eliminates the resonance. There should be more padding in the legs. Conclusion: It has flaws, but I can deal with any of them with a little creativity. Not sure how this will work on location unless you're a pro - tripod mount is an issue but it's not what I need so I won't dock it for this.