Camera Support

It's very important to have some gear to support your cameras and keep your shots smooth and professional looking. When you're looking for a tripod to support a teleprompter, keep in mind the weight limits on each tripod. If your teleprompter and camera weighs more than your tripod can support, it will break overtime. Here are some of the items we use to mount our cameras to.

(Click on the product image for more info on each item)

Manfrotto 394 Quick Release

We have a set of these attached to every camera body and support piece we own. It makes swapping cameras from a tripod to a Steadicam, to a teleprompter super fast and easy. Every set you buy comes with a piece to attached to a camera and another piece to a support piece. What makes it work is having the same quick release system on all your gear. We just happen to choose this one.

Miller DS-20 Tripod System

Our main tripod is very similar to this one. The only difference is that this tripod has aluminum sticks and ours has carbon fiber sticks, which makes the tripod lighter (Miller doesn't sell that setup as a package deal anymore, but it can be pieced together). This tripods supports 22 lbs. Miller is one of the best, and if you can afford it, I'd highly recommend getting this setup.

Miller Solo DV20 w/ Carbon Fiber Sticks

This is another tripod that we own and love. It only weighs 10 pounds and is the perfect tripod to travel with. This tripod can be raised and lowered pretty quickly, gets pretty low to the ground and can be raised to 70". This tripod supports 22 lbs. Miller also makes a cheaper version that only supports 11 lbs.

Davis & Sanford PROVISTAGR18

Don't spend any less than this on a tripod! For less than $175, you're getting a decent, fluid head tripod. This may not last you forever, and it may not be the best designed for ease of use, but it does a good job.

Glidecam HD2000

This is the piece of kit that you'll need to make your handheld footage look like it came out of a Hollywood movie. If you want to see the master of the Glidecam, check out Joe Simon Films wedding videography. He's the master.

A Glidecam is tough to balance, but it's definitely worth it.

Sliders

We used to rent dollies to get that "dollied" look. Then, we found out about the "slider." When used properly, you can get a dolly look portability with one person on the shoot. We have the Glidetrack and the Philip Bloom Kessler slider. The Kessler is certainly built better and will last longer, but the Glidetrack gets you similar results for a lot cheaper price.