Articulating magic arm issues

N

nickbeef

Active member
It seems pretty standard to use an articulating arm to hold external monitors in place. I have the Aputure magic arm, and personally, I'm not happy with it, and it doesn't seem to get great reviews either.

However, the main issue that I'm having is that when I use it on top of my C100, to boom out my Ninja Blade for a monitor on my shoulder rig, it swings all over the place, but the weak point seems to be where it screws into the 1/4" thread on the camera. Not sure if somehow a better arm would fix this or if I just need to find a better solution.

Perhaps its because the Apature arm doesn't tighten enough to get a good crank on the 1/4" thread, or weather this would happen with any arm when the weight is in the direction of loosen.
 
Your not alone. The 1/4-20 screw stinks as a mounting device. Having all that weight on an arm is no match for that little screw. I don't have any good solutions for you because there aren't any. The combination of not enough surface area to create friction and not having a good way to torque down the screw leaves you with the results you are getting. The best you can do is tighten up the arm and then use it as its own wrench to twist it as tight as you dare onto the camera.


In general, we need the photography and videography industry to come up with a new solution for this antiquated standard.
 
After years of being fed up with flimsy magic-arms I switched to a ball-head like this to mount monitors to camera cages, and it's been rock solid for me. ( it's strong enough that I could pick-up the camera by the ball-head with no movement )

Noga Ball Head (Male / Male)
 
ULCS Arms don't have any of those issues. I have been using mine for three years now with the Ninja Blade, it's pretty damn solid. I attach mine to the 15mm rod on my Zacuto VCT Pro Baseplate but I have used 1/4" 20 and 3/8" versions on various cameras and tripod fittings. These arms are not cheap but they are solid and work great. A good investment as they will not become outdated as you move from camera to camera.

http://www.ulcs.com/index.php/products/cinematography-accessories
 
I had a solution that involved clamping onto a 15mm rod attached to my zacuto baseplate...seems that no matter how much i tighten the piece that attaches to the rod (the same piece that holds the monitor), if I tilted down the monitor would follow gravity. How is the ulcs stuff different?
 
Not familiar with the C100's options, but Wooden Camera's Top Plate for the FS7, & some of their Top Handles, include Arri Accessory Mounts which prevent compatible accessories from twisting.

http://www.filmtools.com/ulcosyarba.html

Wooden Camera appears to have licensed ULCS patents, & improved the design. Both ULCS, & Wooden Camera, offer arm components compatible with Arri Accessory Mounts.

On a side note, SmallRig has begun designing a knock-off ULCS-type arm which appears similar to Wooden Camera's system.

http://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-ball-head-magic-articulating-arm-1911.html
 
Last edited:
Josh Bass said:
I had a solution that involved clamping onto a 15mm rod attached to my zacuto baseplate...seems that no matter how much i tighten the piece that attaches to the rod (the same piece that holds the monitor), if I tilted down the monitor would follow gravity. How is the ulcs stuff different?
Click to expand...

Guess it's made better, it just clamps to the rail and doesn't move too much. I have also just bought the Small Rig C100 helmet and handle mount that is rock solid and it has 1/4" 20 threaded holes all over it. For shooting from tripod where I want my Zacuto EVF Pro or the Ninja Blade up higher, I am using the Cinevate 1/4" 20 to 1/4" 20" mini arm and it is solid as a rock. If you own a C100 MKI, you really need the Small Rig helmet and cold shoe. I tried the expensive Wooden Camera cold shoe and the C100 MKI handle still moved. With the Small Rig, it is as solid feeling as the C300 MKII handle. It's rare that Small Rig beats Wooden Camera but in this case, they did.

Small Rig C100 MKI Top Plate, NATO Rail and Cold Shoe https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0148KEES6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Cinevate Universal Accessory Mount https://www.amazon.com/Cinevate-CIR...UTF8&qid=1495659483&sr=8-64&keywords=CInevate
 
fboonzaier said:
I'm going with this as an EVF sollution as it seems like it will be a bit more robust and infinitely adjustable...my top handle also takes short 15mm rails at it's mounting base so a railblock with a 14-20 thread and no more loosening wheel at the thread in point as that's where they all seem to fail at the absolutely worst moments

https://www.amazon.com/SmallRig-Con...&qid=1495642681&sr=8-1&keywords=Smallrig+1903
Click to expand...

Wow, this looks like a nice solution for EVF users. I actually like Small Rig's stuff.
 
puredrifting said:
Wow, this looks like a nice solution for EVF users. I actually like Small Rig's stuff.
Click to expand...

Me too!... and I like the little touches like their tightening knobs being springloaded....in tight spaces with limited room for a full turn, you pull out on the knob which disengages and you can "ratchet" back and take another bite...I also use a simpler NATO rail mount from them with the same plate as in my post for a Shogun on the back of my rig for recording...rock solid and it was $64!...really great value and design on their part...My camera setup is symilar to yours, in that I use a Zacuto Universal base plate on a VCT-14 plate on my tripod...this will be the sollution for positioning the EVF comfortably for on the shoulder work...magic arms started frustrating me too much...of course the Varicam LT EVF mount is truly rock solid...well maybe soon!
 
jwalk said:
Ive went through so many arms. I know your pain. I went with the matthews infinity arm. Its pricey but worth every penny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG021jX30NI
Click to expand...

I love Matthews stuff, I have several Matthews C-stands and light stands. But wow, $300.00 plus whatever tips you need ain't cheap for a monitor arm. But they have seen a niche where nobody makes the tool that properly does the job. Their tool does so I guess they can charge for it. This is something that the pros will buy because it works.
 
puredrifting said:
I love Matthews stuff, I have several Matthews C-stands and light stands. But wow, $300.00 plus whatever tips you need ain't cheap for a monitor arm. But they have seen a niche where nobody makes the tool that properly does the job. Their tool does so I guess they can charge for it. This is something that the pros will buy because it works.
Click to expand...

I had an odyssey 7q+ take a fall onto concert because of an arm failure 2 separate times. I was very lucky there was only paint scrapes to the housing. After that i bought the matthews arm and its my favorite accessory. I hang full camera rigs for a birds eye view for cooking shows with it. Its worth every penny. They show up on ebay once in awhile for 200.00
 
There is also the Titan arm from Bright Tangerine. If you set the right tension it will hold a monitor in place yet still allow you to grab and move it without having to undo and retighten.
 
zacutos monitor arm kit is supposed to be awesome...mainly for the reason that the part that screws into the monitor and/or cam has little prongs that keep things from rotating. Of course whatever you attach on either end has to fit with the prongs...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top