The Pocket Dolly from Kessler supports your inner crankiness.
ALEXANDRIA, VA. Walking the floor of the NAB Show exposes you to lots of products, and it's easy to be subjective about what you see. In my subjective opinion, one of the fastest-growing product categories in recent years is Camera Support, the products used to help steady a camera and allow the videographer latitude on shots.
In the past 25 years, we first saw the growth of Steadicam-like body-mounted stabilizers, then similar handheld products that could provide the same function for small lightweight cameras. These are still popular, but they are just one of a multiplying variety of camera support products.
Very popular in the past 10 years have been sliders, which let you smoothly move a camera in-and-out or side-to-side, adding a sense of motion to an otherwise static screen image. These are so popular that they are now common in films, scripted TV series, reality programs, documentaries and television news.
There were plenty of sliders at 2015 NAB Show, in all shapes, sizes and configurations. These included motorized sliders, ones with cranks and other manual motion mechanisms and tripod-mounted tracks with built-in curves. As cameras get smaller and yet more capable, the size and weight of sliders has been keeping track. That leads to some inexpensive professional products that provide a lot of bang for the buck.
One example was at the Varavon booth, where the company's Slidecam Arc provided a curved one-meter track to add interest to shots. Another was the Kessler Pocket Dolly that has a big flywheel-stabilized crank to allow for smooth camera slides or dollies.
A drone takes flight in the Drone Pavilion. (Photo: Al Powers)
In the Central Hall, it seemed that one end was filled with innovative camera support gear that drives the hunger for ever-more creative shots.
Of course, drones were one of the most talked-about camera support products at the show, with a pavilion dedicated to several manufacturers' products. Walking the floor, there were dozens of drones displayed in as many booths, as well as booths for drone manufacturers, often with flying cages.
Among others, 3DR and DJI had flying cages for their popular drones, and both drew steady crowds in the Central Hall. Drones were this year's top model when it came to cool camera support products, but they were not the only interesting development.
A couple years ago, one of the interesting products was a handle with a gimbal-mounted platform for a camera. This made for interesting moving shots that mimicked the point-of-view of a person or animal. At this year's NAB Show, there were more of these devices and at lower prices.
Hien Le, CEO of Letus, demonstrates the company's Helix Jr. gimbal stabilizer.
The first one to make a splash with a gimbal stabilizer was Freefly Systems' MoVI, which has a couple different models for cameras of different sizes. At the show, DJI also drew a crowd with its Ronin Gimbal Stabilizer, which it had actually shown a year before. Another crowd pleaser was the Letus Helix Jr., a small and affordable gimbal stabilizer for small and affordable cameras.
In an interview with industry veteran Walter Schoenknecht, owner of Midnight Media Group, he said that one of the things that has impressed him with the trend toward smaller and more affordable video gear was its empowerment. It used to be that it took a truck full of expensive equipment to make a video, but that is completely changed today.
A clever and creative person today could make a watchable video or even a movie using a cell phone's video camera, a few inexpensive accessories and editing software. That's empowerment, and it means that more people than ever are thinking about video, making video and sharing video.
At the 2015 NAB Show, many of these empowered people were looking at the many forms of camera support products and thinking about how they can be used to create the next interesting video. If you didn't spend time looking at the camera support gear, you might have missed one of the industry's biggest trends.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
The Pocket Dolly from Kessler supports your inner crankiness. 
