In somewhat of a surprise, Accsoon, who are best known for their wireless video systems, has announced the S40 and S60 motorized sliders.
Both the TopRig S40 and S60 are being touted as affordable motorized sliders that redefine what users can expect at the price point. The concept behind both products was a simple one. Come up with products that can do smooth automatic slides and parallax movements, with less vibration and judder than the competition.
Motorized sliders can be hit depending on what one you buy. Good ones tend to be expensive, and a lot of the more ‘affordable’ ones lack precision and don’t produce smooth consistent results.
According to Accsoon, the S40 and S60 are able to do judder-free, smooth movement by utilizing high-performance brushless motors (similar to the ones found in gimbals).
Onboard & App Control
Both the TopRig S40 and S60 are designed to be very portable and they have physical controls on the unit that allow for quick operation without having to rely on apps and smart devices. Users have the ability to alter the speed of travel using a control knob, as well as buttons to start/stop, loop movement actions, and set A and B points where a movement starts and finishes. By relying on hardware controls every move is repeatable, dependable, and controllable. However, if you do want to control the sliders via Bluetooth, you can, by using the TopRig app.
Parallax Shots
The sliders feature an in-built parallax system that allows the camera to automatically pan gently as it moves around the subject which is handy for interviews and when shooting products, etc. The parallax-type movement is easy to do. You just place the slider square on to your subject, make sure that both ends of the slider are equal distance from the subject, then move the camera to one end and use the adjustment bar to angle the camera in towards the subject. Once done the camera will slide up and down continually aiming the camera at the subject.
Travel Distance
Both the TopRig S40 and TopRig S60 can be used for smooth horizontal moves as well as vertical moves. The TopRig S40 has a camera travel distance of 22.5cm / 8.85″, and the TopRig S60 has a longer camera travel distance of 42.5cm / 16.73″. Accsoon claims that the slider’s operation is near silent and the speed of movement can vary from 0.1 cm/s to 5 cm/s.
Size & Weight
The TopRig S40 is just 41cm / 16.14″ long and the TopRig S60 is 61cm / 24″ long. The TopRig S40 weighs 1.4kg / 3.08 lb and the TopRig S60 weighs in at 2.5kg / 5.51 lb.
Payload Capacity
The sliders have been primarily made for mirrorless hybrid cameras and smaller digital cinema cameras. The maximum load for both sliders when traveling horizontally is 4kg / 8.81 lb, and when moving vertically at 2.5kg / 5.51 lb.
How do you power them?
Both sliders can be powered by a single Sony NP-F type battery. A F 550 battery is claimed to be able to run one of the sliders for up to 60 hours. Alternatively, the sliders can be powered using 7.4V-16.8V DC via a barrel connector. Both sliders also have a 5V USB-C output to power accessories.
Price & Availability
The Accsoon TopRig S40 costs $349 USD and the TopRig S60 costs $399 USD. Both will be available from authorized Accsoon dealers soon.
These look to be very affordably priced, as similar systems usually retail for considerably more money. It would be interesting to know how these Accsoon TopRig Sliders compare to something like the iFootage Shark Slider Nano.
