Aluminum pole vs. Carbon fiber

Aluminum is heavier and sound travels through it more easily, so outside vibrations might affect the sound.
 
Carbon Fiber is the one you should really be getting. More advantage than aluminum.

I started out with the Rode aluminum and then got a K-tek Carbon Fiber. I can't say if it's night and day because I managed very, very well with the aluminum. If you master well on the aluminum, it'll be a piece of cake once you start using the Carbon Fiber, any carbon fiber. Now, imagine yourself holding the aluminum with a shotgun on the end for about 40 minutes straight. Yes you heard me 40 MINUTES! That's something else.

If you have the budget or even close to is, save a little more and go straight to the carbon fiber area. It is worth it.
 
The K-Tek KE110CCR has been adviced a lot around here, but is aluminium I think... will there be much difference between this (also quite expensive) one and a carbon?
 
The K-Tek price list on their site lists it as $275 for aluminum and $531 for carbon fiber. You will find both cheaper at retailers though (the aluminum is $230 at B&H).

I still say save and go for carbon. The difference in handling noise is huge.
 
I have a carbon 15 foot pole for my unique uses. Now in terms of weight... would you wanna lift a 15' aluminum pole all day long?

In terms of quality, carbon surpasses aluminum as well.
 
Well, let's take the analytical approach. If you take out the 'cool' factor of carbon fiber (not that that is not important, but just for the sake of discussion), you have issues of weight, sound, and cost. The fact that sound travels better in aluminum is not really an issue if you have a good shock mount and are not banging the boom against things. Aluminum boompoles have been used successfully on big-budget features for 50+ years.
Now the biggie--weight. Though carbon fiber poles tend to be lighter for the same strength, the difference is pretty small. I just did a little table of weights versus length for a bunch of poles, both carbon fiber and aluminum, with internal cables. The carbon fiber boompoles average 0.21 ounces per inch, while the aluminum ones are 0.24 ounces per inch. Assuming for a reference point a 96" boompole with a 16 ounce mic/shock mount, the total weights are:
Carbon Fiber: 35.52 ounces
Aluminum: 39.04 ounces
Cabon fiber poles average $4 to $8 per inch. Aluminum, $2 to $2.50 per inch.
So a 96" pole in carbon fiber is $384 to $768;
And a 96" pole in aluminum is $192 to $240.
So one way of helping decide is to ask yourself, is it worth $200 to cut 3 ounces off the weight? Keep in mind that, blindfolded, you wouldn' t be able to tell 35.5 ounces from 39 ounces just by picking them up...
But don't leave out the cool factor. It's a legitimate factor.
 
The KTek aluminum poles are great for the money. If you can swing the cost, then get the carbon fiber poles.
 
I agree!

I agree!

dfisk79 said:
The KTek aluminum poles are great for the money. If you can swing the cost, then get the carbon fiber poles.
Click to expand...
I have the aluminum KTek and it works just fine. The only gripe is that in cold temps, it gets very cold and pretty soon your hands will be quite numb if you don't have good gloves on.
Bernie
 
Dan you make some compelling points there.

I forked out for a Van den Bergh and yeah its a boom and even looks like one. Internal cable is a must IMO.
 
Yep, I'd sacrifice the carbon pole for the internally wired one in a second. There is a weight difference (but since I'm rarely holding the pole, less of a concern for me). ;-)

Having an internally cabled pole makes a huge difference in setups and just keeps things running smoother.

BTW, I'm kidding on holding the pole thing - the last thing I want to do is make my boom op's life more difficult. I'm a huge defender of my boom ops on set - all mixers need to be. On a recent shoot the DP yelled at my boom op and told him that he needed to keep the blimp at least 4 feet above the frameline - he didn't have time to be bothered with watching for the boom dropping in the shot (direct quote). You have never seen me jump out of my chair so fast - I was right in the DP's face letting him know in certain terms that, first, it was his job, second, not to talk to a member of my department that way, and third, that the director/producer hired me to deliver a solid sound track, not a guide track, and that the boom will be placed in its optimal position and he will just have to deal with it. Then in front of the entire cast and crew told my boom op he was doing a great job, and to ignore any directions the DP gives him. I then pulled the first AD aside and let her know that I would shut the sound department down if it happened again. About 10 minutes later the DP apologized to my boom op and we had no more problems.

Sorry, I got a bit off track. Here's my recommendations:

1. Internally wired carbon
2. Internally wired aluminum
3. nothing else.


HTH.

Phil
 
ptalsky said:
BTW, I'm kidding on holding the pole thing - the last thing I want to do is make my boom op's life more difficult. I'm a huge defender of my boom ops on set - all mixers need to be. On a recent shoot the DP yelled at my boom op and told him that he needed to keep the blimp at least 4 feet above the frameline - he didn't have time to be bothered with watching for the boom dropping in the shot (direct quote). You have never seen me jump out of my chair so fast - I was right in the DP's face letting him know in certain terms that, first, it was his job, second, not to talk to a member of my department that way, and third, that the director/producer hired me to deliver a solid sound track, not a guide track, and that the boom will be placed in its optimal position and he will just have to deal with it. Then in front of the entire cast and crew told my boom op he was doing a great job, and to ignore any directions the DP gives him. I then pulled the first AD aside and let her know that I would shut the sound department down if it happened again. About 10 minutes later the DP apologized to my boom op and we had no more problems.

Phil
Click to expand...

Very nice Phil. :thumbsup:

Next time telling tell him (better still tell the BB) to move his Kino because it is getting in the way of your boom ;)
 
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