People are always looking for a way to take better photos or videos with their cameras or smartphones. One way to set your video apart from someone else’s is unique movement, like from a slider. Until now, sliders have either been expensive or manual, they’ve almost always been only in a straight line, and really never very portable. Trek is a slider that is motorized, very portable, can take tight turns (and even do 360-degree), can extend or shrinks as much as you need, and is quite affordable compared to the competition.
After we covered Trek near the end of October, the company reached out and asked if we’d like to go hands-on with it. After accepting, we received a pre-production unit to do some initial testing with. In my short time with Trek, I really loved using it. Being a pre-production unit, it had some quirks, but I was assured by the manufacturing team that they will all be resolved on the final units. I had enough pieces to turn Trek into a nice “U” to show it going in and out, but not enough to make a full circle. You’ll get the picture though because it’s the same premise just a longer curve when doing 360-degree.
The track pieces are hard plastic and very sturdy. They also have very strong magnets to hold together but are easy to take apart when it’s time to pack up. On the underside of the track pieces, there are holes with magnets for the feet or 1/4-20 threads to mount Trek on a tripod, giving you many different options. The included feet use a friction system to keep position and allow you to change the height to make sure Trek is level on any surface.
Now, one thing I loved about Trek was the control system. I’ve used other motorized sliders in the past and they required secondary controllers, which would have to be charged along with the batteries for the slider itself. Trek uses Bluetooth and your phone as the controller. When I first saw this, I had some reservations as Bluetooth can be laggy sometimes. But, surprisingly it’s nearly lag-free even when several feet away.
If you want to use your phone for the recording and controlling, Trek can do that as well. There is a way to use your phone to trigger Trek to start moving after you put your phone on it. It’s wonderful.
The base for Trek is also waterproof, so you don’t have to worry about leaving it out overnight for a night sky time-lapse with a GoPro, or using it by the beach to get the perfect sunset shot. There is a light on the Trek base to give you different signs, but the light can be turned off once movement begins so it doesn’t leak into the photos or videos.
All in all, from my short time with Trek I will most likely be picking one up here soon. They’re still available on Indiegogo with a January delivery time frame. With starter kits from $255 plus shipping, Trek is an affordable motorized slider solution that offers a unique perspective.
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