boom poles

avr

avr

Well-known member
I am looking for a cheap boom pole. I don´t know if a paint pole could make the similar work. I have a audio Technica AT 8410 and I won´t have problems for adapt the AT to the painter pole.

Any suggestion please...?

Thanks ;)
 
I've used a painter's pole with success. There's no internal cabling, and most of them aren't as light as a real boom pole, but with modifications they can be effective.

The most important thing is the joint. I found one at Home Depot that has a twist lock that has no wiggle at all. I extended a bunch of different ones in the store (as well as at Lowe's) and gave them a good wiggling. Most of them rattled at least a little, but this one didn't. Happily, it was also the lightest. I think it was 15 bucks or so.
 
I've had problems with mic noise when using painter's poles and other DIY boom poles. For $65 you could pick up a Gitzo pole that is pretty good. It's the one I'm going to buy next month when I get my new mic.

Rob
 
I picked up a "Contractor Grade" pole from a paint store for $20 and I've been using that for a couple years with great results.
 
I actually made one yesterday. Went to menards, bought a 25' extendable pole. the end on it had plastic threads to screw on a brush of something, but what I did is took a dremel and cut off/ smoothed off the threads so it was just a smooth plastic nub. Then I took the clip that goes to the mic , knowing that i'm not going to use it for anything else, and force screwed it onto the 'nub' cutting the threads in to it. then I used black duct tape to secure it. Very sturdy, not heavy, and can extend very far.
 
What I did with the paint pole was pretty simple. Since the paint pole is designed to have a paint roller screwed on the end, I bought a paint roller and yanked the handle off the rest of it. I then drilled a hole in the end of the handle that is big enough to hold a 3/8" carriage bolt. You can screw a shockmount on the end of the bolt. It all fits perfectly and you don't need to rely on any tape.
 
****, I wish I had thought of that. I took out the old thread and installed a bracket on the end. I bolted (with a knob on one end) an old threaded end to a mic boom to that so I could angle it if necessary. Your way sounds simpler Horse.
 
HorseFilms said:
What I did with the paint pole was pretty simple. Since the paint pole is designed to have a paint roller screwed on the end, I bought a paint roller and yanked the handle off the rest of it. I then drilled a hole in the end of the handle that is big enough to hold a 3/8" carriage bolt. You can screw a shockmount on the end of the bolt. It all fits perfectly and you don't need to rely on any tape.
Click to expand...


yeah exactly. I wanted to do that but didn't want to spend too much time on it. I just used the tape for the hell of it, but it is definatly secure enough the way it is. I just basically made the origial threading smooth and then made my own threads on the end by screwing the mic mount on to it. But horse's idea is probably the more professional way. :laugh:
 
To be honest, with the pole I got, the threaded end is metal, so it would've been a hell of a lot more work to file that down. So I actually went with the easy way in my case.:laugh:
 
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Mine is something similar to this but instead of pressing the button I have somehting you twist and mine is all silver.

And it was easy to smooth off the threads with the dremel allowing me to screw on the mic clip, knowing that I'm not going to use it on a mic stand; so it can stay on there forever. I was trying to find a bolt that would thread my mic clip but the threading seemed very fine. I couldnt' seem to find one that worked.

My 'pole' also extends to some 24 feet ; it's crazy... I guess for some up in the tree audio capture? haha :thumbsup:
 
reflex... I'm curious as to the minimum length of your pole... also how many sections? 24' IS incredible... About the only thing I've got like that is a pruner's pole and it's close to 10' long at it's shortest length.
 
I will have to measure it when I get home ( at about 8:30 ish ) i think it's around 8 feet collapsed, with just one section that extends. Well I"m about 5'10" and it doesn't seem to long for me collapsed. and I tried using it at full extension and I could handle it fine. It's aluminum so it's not heavy.
 
I don't want to be a smartass... okay, yes I do... but hopefully you have a good sense of humor...

If the pole has one section that extends... and it's 24 feet long extended... and only 8 feet collapsed... is there a little round door at the end of the 8 foot section that leads to a parallel universe... with the extra 8 feet sticking into it?

8 + 8 = 16 + extra 8 feet from parallel universe = 24

C'mon you should be laughing with me... you set yourself up for that one...
 
haha, actually i measured last night. Its 7 feet collapsed with about a foot of that is the inner 'pipe' sticking out, so when extended it's about 14 - 15 feet. Sorry about that, wasn't paying attention. I must of had 24' stuck in my head from something I was working on.
 
LOL... thanks for laughing WITH me... okay so if it's 7' collapsed it can't be over 13' extended 'cause there's always at LEAST a foot of pole that must overlap. This is a good time to point out what a bargain the Gitzo 7680c carbon fiber pole is for $235 (adorama)... I know that sounds like a bit of cash for a stick... but remember that it does 33" collapsed and 12.5' extended... and as you can tell... a pole that long seems like a mile...

Just wait until you see one of the booms that really is 24'... that will freak you out. It looks like a magic trick... that's why I flipped when you said you had a boom that long. The longest practical boom I could ever see needing is 16'... and really the 12.5' will probably get you through 90% of your shots anyway.

I've been using a 9' pole and it's just THIS year that I've decided to get a 12.5'... A 9' pole will cover anything CU or MCU with ease... it's only when you want to show full length bodies and some headroom that you'd need longer... and of course sometimes I let my gear determine how the shot is set up... and people think it was planned that way!
 
thanks to all

thanks to all

OK, I have learnt a lot whit your post. Thanks
 
Did you guys spray paint you boom poles black? If so did you run into any problems with the locking mechanisms sticking? Also, does anyone know if it's possible to get a thread tap with the same thread pattern as a painters pole? Maybe you could tap threads into a small round piece of aluminum and then tap the 3/8 threads into the other side as an adaptor.
 
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