Best Odyssey7 mounting arm solution?

J

Josh Bass

Veteran
Hi. I dont have/use an fs700 or plan to, but this seems to have become the unofficial Odyssey7(q) section so ill post here.

Wondering about some kind of arm to affix the odyssey to a camera for static tripod setups as well as handheld (though i have a gini rig with a little arm for a monitor so maybe im covered there). I would want something flexible as i might have the cam lower than my head, at eye level, or even above me. Thinking of something like bogen magic arm (from what i remember anyway). What are folks using? Maybe suggest things at several different price points? I read about the solid camera rig...thats a little insane. Over $1k for a mounting rig? I was thinking a few hundred at most.
 
Thanks. I'll take a look.

Doing a little research the Noga arm is more in line with what I was thinking. All the cages/brackets etc. Way more sophisticated than what I want. Picture me doing talking head interviews, b-roll on tripod, some handheld, those are the kind of situations I would want it for. Also, I wouldn't be using it with an FS700, more like than likely DSLRs, EX1, or C100. Maybe an HPX170.
 
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That's what I use it for too but with the FS700. A noga is good for lightness but even on a tripod I found that when moving around, the noga would often come unscrewed slightly and 'flop', depending on how you mount it. The biggest problem I found with that kind of mount is that it relies on a single threaded connection on both ends of the noga. Inherently insecure, even using large nylon washers etc. with a knock or sufficient weight acting in the right direction, it can unscrew. I found this happened several times to me.

i do still use the noga when doing multi cam shoots though with the noga and a clamp attached to a tripod leg. This is good for sharing the O7Q between cameras. So maybe try a noga or similar and see how you get on?
 
Yeah, I hear you. ALWAYS had that problem with anything that mounted on a screw like that and hot shoe, movement/gravity and it would unscrew itself. Let me reword it then. . .is there a solution between the $140ish for Noga arm and the $360 or so for your setup that doesn't have the single threaded screw problem?
 
If you like a Noga-style adjustable arm you should consider the Manfrotto Hydrostatic arms. They use hydraulic power rather than friction force, so they hold much better and do not wear over time.

There are a lot of other mounting options and frankly 9 out of 10 times I find a simple ball head mounted to the hot shoe of a camera to be the most efficient. I generally like the Manfrotto 492LCD as it is simple and robust.

There are TONS of other options as well. Don't forget that the Odyssey can be mounted from the back or the sides, and it has an auto-flip function so you could rig it with the connectors on top if that works better for you.
 
Thanks. Like others have said, weak point in hotshoe mounts is that single screw keeping everything in place, ditto connection to monitor. They tend to unscrew themselves. Maybe Manfrotto hydrostatic is different? That'd be nice.

Looked at the hot shoe mount you recommended. I actually want something that can put the monitor much closer to my face, at the side of the cam rather than on top.

The ULC clamps. . .didn't see any pricing? And how do they attach to a cam? Same question for Manfrotto arms. . .don't see something that would screw into the cam?
 
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Josh Bass said:
Thanks. Like others have said, weak point in hotshoe mounts is that single screw keeping everything in place, ditto connection to monitor. They tend to unscrew themselves. Maybe Manfrotto hydrostatic is different? That'd be nice.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing they use exactly the same thread mounting as all the others - just the arm locking mechanism itself is different?
 
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