It was on a manfrotto ball head/tripod. The main focus (pun intended) was to practice pulling focus free handed which is where the shakes come from. Obviously more practice is needed.... but I do believe there are focus pulling mechanisms that would make that focusing smooth... What is this slider are you referring to? Shooting through things wasn't going to happen at that location... and the bugs weren't doing much given how early in the morning it was, which is the best time for stills since they aren't doing much which was my main goal of that morning. With all that being said I won't be purchasing gear strictly for video as it's not the main purpose of my shooting, but I would like to get decent bits from time to time. Thanks for the input from you and Mark.