NEEWER DL400 Upgraded Motorized Camera Slider Dolly with App Control

I am a camera gear nut job. I love to try everything in photography and videography. I have wanted a dolly for a long time and now that I have one, I can’t stop “playing” with it! This dolly is made super well. The metal is machined perfectly and the finish is awesome. It comes with a battery and it’s an NP-F battery, so it’s not proprietary.There is a gauge marked on the body of the dolly to get your angle. I really didn’t use the gauge much yet, as I’ve been testing it on areas that are not perfectly smooth. Everything fits nicely into a hard shell case that comes with the dolly. You also get a phone holder and a mini ball head. The controls are easy to use (I’m not an app person so I focused on the manual controls). You go either forward or backward and there are 5 speeds. The buttons are very responsive. The motor is barely audible.So, here’s why I’m really sold on the motorized dolly. You can get so many shots that you can’t get if you are hand holding a camera. First, you are able to get shots from under something (like a table). Set the camera and let the dolly run under the object. Second, you can set the dolly to angle around you creating the illusion of a second camera person being with you. I was able to connect my gimbal to the dolly and since it has AI to find me, both the dolly and the camera were moving and creating a really cool shot of me (and looking like I actually have a camera “crew”). For note, when I used the gimbal, I used an action camera so I wouldn’t be overweight for the dolly. The dolly can handle up to 6.6 pounds, which is impressive. You can use a DSLR camera with the dolly. For the DSLR, I used another ball mount I had to get the camera up above the dolly more than the included ball head could do. For note, if your surfaces are not totally smooth, you will probably want your camera stabilization to be on. The dolly does not appear to have stabilization.Other shots I did involved making a ramp out of a board and letting the dolly go up or down it. You won’t want the ramp terribly high, but it does work well and depending on whether you angle the camera facing in the same direction, sideways, or the opposite direction, you get different perspectives. I was impressed with the dolly motor’s ability to scale the board without a problem.This led me to taking the dolly into the woods with me. I will mention that carrying the dolly adds weight to your backpack. The dolly is heavier than I thought it would be, but to me this makes it more stable. I did try the dolly on rough terrain. It doesn’t work well due to the low wheel base, but I found a work around. Using an old thin yoga mat with a little texture across rougher terrain, you can get the dolly to perform well. The motor of the dolly was plenty strong enough to take grip to the yoga mat when spread across small pebbles. You will get “bouncy” shots and I would advise using an action camera with really good stabilization or a way to “lock” your subject.This brings me to my “wish” list items. Given the price point, the dolly is well worth what you get especially since it comes with a battery. However, I would like to see “accessories” like larger tires to clear rougher terrain and a suspension system if possible. It would be nice to use this on dirt paths or crushed stone walkways.Overall, I’m having probably way too much fun with this dolly and pushing it to its limits. I would definitely recommend it.

This slider/dolly kit from Neewer is a game changer. Like many other products from Neewer, the kit is ready to go and you don’t have to make additional purchases to make this device work. The kit comes with the slider/dolly unit, USB chargeable NP series battery, USB cable, ball head, action camera adapter, phone adapter, and a manual in a partitioned foam linter carrying case.Included battery has good capacity at 4400 mah (32.56wh) but it takes a long time (~ 4 hours) to charge as it may not support fast charging. Dolly unit itself is heavy. Compared to the 3 wheels one I have, this one feels substantial and the build quality seems to be very good. Unlike the O-ring tires on 3 wheel dolly which required smooth surface, the wheels on this dolly makes it possible to use it on variety of surfaces, which is a huge plus. Included ball head is ok but I replaced it with a heavier duty one I had lying around. Once powered on, you can use the buttons on the unit itself to select its speed and to make it go forward and backwards.Additional functions are available through the app. I like that you can control all sorts of devices using a single Neewer app and through the app, you can configure constant speed or gradual increase to preset speed. When using the app, the battery side should be facing left if you want the match the directional arrows in the app. You can also set A/B points and other features, such as timelapse photography setting is available. App makes it possible to conveniently remotely control the dolly, which makes it easy to use. Overall, excellent dolly which expands shooting possibilities. Highly recommended!!

Sweet as a Bun