[Docrwm]

I got the Manfrotto Super Clamp with Standard Stud for Christmas - nice, thoughtful, gift.

Two problems are that:

• the standard stud isn't standard - it extends about an inch above the plane of the clamp itself. That means that the camera is sitting suspended in mid-air on a head the size of a dime with the 1/4in threads into the camera. Not good IMHO.
• the other is that the post for the 1/4 inch threads is about 1mm too long. That means that the camera doesn't even rest on the dime sized flat portion of the stud head itself but has a gap between the base of the camera and the head of the stud.

I like the clamp a lot. It's well made and holds with a very tight grip. The way the studs are inserted and retained is excellent IMHO. The geometry of the clamp makes sense for both flat surfaces like counters and edges of tables as well as round objects like pipes. It's the two studs that I have, both OEM parts BTW, that just don't make sense to me. I got the Short Reversible Stud (1/4 and 3/8th threads and shorter so it sits flush with the plane of the clamp body -037 Reversible Short Stud) too. I've tried them on several cameras and each of them had the gap between the bottom of the camera and the flat portion of the stud head. This allows wobble and torque that could break the threaded portion off from the base. It also means that the entire weight of the camera and lens are on a 1/4 inch brass stud about 3/8 inch long with no stabilization. Again, not good.


I guess if I could take a metal hack saw and trim the threaded stud back by 1mm or so. That seems like a PITA to do and its possible, likely with me, that I'll mess up the hardware and make it unusable. So, the other solution was to get an old fashioned rubber/plastic gasket from Home Depot. I got ones that have a 1/4in opening and are 37/64th's in diameter overall. They fit snugly and securely to the Manfrotto studs.



Other solutions are welcome.

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[LaurenOE]

This is what I use.

Manfrotto 208HEX Head Mounting Plate with Hex Stud - 208HEX B&H

or

Manfrotto 208 3/8" Head Mounting Plate with Lock Screws 208

I have them both.

[LaurenOE]

I also use one of these, but not in the way you are "supposed" to use it.

Manfrotto 143BKT Camera Platform for Magic Arm 143BKT B&H Photo

[LaurenOE]

Also, the threads on the clamp are there to use another clamp back to back and 90 degrees to clamp to each other.

Look carefully too, since the center thread is 1/4-20, but the other two are metric 5mm (if I remember correctly)

[Docrwm]

This is what I use.

Manfrotto 208HEX Head Mounting Plate with Hex Stud - 208HEX B&H

or

Manfrotto 208 3/8" Head Mounting Plate with Lock Screws 208

I have them both.

Those appear to solve the problem, my question really is - why is there this problem to begin with? Why not make the studs 1/4in or so shorter and have the camera fit flush to the body of the clamp in the first place?

[stormtech]

I'm glad to see this thread as I am about to order 2 super clamps. I will be primarily using them for mounting off-camera flash. Thanks for showing the added accessories Lauren - I was planning to do some more research to find the best solution for mounting my flashes with a swivel or ball mount.

As for your original question Doc - my first thought is that this might be made this way to properly accept the Magic Arm? I haven't look at the details of this thought yet - just throwing the idea out there.

[Docrwm]

I'm glad to see this thread as I am about to order 2 super clamps. I will be primarily using them for mounting off-camera flash. Thanks for showing the added accessories Loren - I was planning to do some more research to find the best solution for mounting my flashes with a swivel or ball mount.

As for your original question Doc - my first thought is that this might be made this way to properly accept the Magic Arm? I haven't look at the details of this thought yet - just throwing the idea out there.

Stan,
You may well be right. Problem is that they ought to make it primarily a platform for a camera - ya think? It's irritating that the studs that Lauren shows are around $20 each when the standard studs are $5 and if they were 1mm shorter would work BETTER than the ones with the disks.

[Lloydy]

I tapped the larger center hole to 3/8 and use a stud to mount a pan / tilt head, or ball head, firmly on the clamp without using the quick release, or modifying the OEM part. i can still use that with a flexible extension that is strong enough to hold something like a NEX.
I also drilled and tapped the end 3/8 so I could mount the head on there as well.
Having a head on it makes it much more versatile, it's a good bit of kit.

[stormtech]

Stan,
You may well be right. Problem is that they ought to make it primarily a platform for a camera - ya think? It's irritating that the studs that Lauren shows are around $20 each when the standard studs are $5 and if they were 1mm shorter would work BETTER than the ones with the disks.

Oh I agree. But with the Manfrotto gear that I have it all seems to be engineered quite well. That is why I mentioned my first thought being the engineering of this part of the super clamp is that way for a reason. Part of that reason, as I see with a lot of things these days, is to make you buy their accessories to enhance the profit.

I tapped the larger center hole to 3/8 and use a stud to mount a pan / tilt head, or ball head, firmly on the clamp without using the quick release, or modifying the OEM part. i can still use that with a flexible extension that is strong enough to hold something like a NEX.
I also drilled and tapped the end 3/8 so I could mount the head on there as well.
Having a head on it makes it much more versatile, it's a good bit of kit.

Now that sounds like a good idea - would work well for Doc's application as well as mine.

I've been looking forward to your thoughts on the Super Clamp since I knew you got one for Christmas. In the meantime I've been looking around at alternatives also for holding my speedlights. Here are a couple examples of what I found:

Flashpoint Clamp with 1/4-20 Stud CLAMPS
Flashpoint Clamp with Small Ball and Socket Head CP05

And of course there are the Super Clamp knock offs which I wasn't very impressed with:

You Tube

You Tube

Just a kid trying to hand hold his video camera while trying to show the clamps with one hand.......

At the end of the day, I think I will go with the real deal. I'm sure glad you brought this up though Doc as I would need to do some modification right away also.

[Docrwm]

Oh I agree. But with the Manfrotto gear that I have it all seems to be engineered quite well. That is why I mentioned my first thought being the engineering of this part of the super clamp is that way for a reason. Part of that reason, as I see with a lot of things these days, is to make you buy their accessories to enhance the profit.



Now that sounds like a good idea - would work well for Doc's application as well as mine.

I've been looking forward to your thoughts on the Super Clamp since I knew you got one for Christmas. In the meantime I've been looking around at alternatives also for holding my speedlights. Here are a couple examples of what I found:

Flashpoint Clamp with 1/4-20 Stud CLAMPS
Flashpoint Clamp with Small Ball and Socket Head CP05

And of course there are the Super Clamp knock offs which I wasn't very impressed with:

Super Clamp Review: Adorama ($17) vs. Bogen-Manfrotto ($27) - YouTube

Just a kid trying to hand hold his video camera while trying to show the clamps with one hand.......

At the end of the day, I think I will go with the real deal. I'm sure glad you brought this up though Doc as I would need to do some modification right away also.

Adorama TV did a spot on those two clamps back a while ago. They look fine for something light like a flashgun.
Flashpoint Clamps?AdoramaTV from Adorama Learning Center

[LaurenOE]

I'm glad to see this thread as I am about to order 2 super clamps. I will be primarily using them for mounting off-camera flash. Thanks for showing the added accessories Loren - I was planning to do some more research to find the best solution for mounting my flashes with a swivel or ball mount.

As for your original question Doc - my first thought is that this might be made this way to properly accept the Magic Arm? I haven't look at the details of this thought yet - just throwing the idea out there.

Ugh..don't spell my name as "L-O-R-E-N" the peeve of my life!



Loren = male
Lauren = female

I use the tiny 492 heads and the 037 stud to mount flashes to the clamps directly.

Manfrotto 492 Micro Ball Head 492 B&H Photo Video

As of this week, these are my flash's best friends!!!

Manfrotto 156BLB Black Mini Kit Stand - 4' 156BLB B&H Photo

[LaurenOE]

Those appear to solve the problem, my question really is - why is there this problem to begin with? Why not make the studs 1/4in or so shorter and have the camera fit flush to the body of the clamp in the first place?

I don't think anyone puts the camera directly to the clamp.
I've never seen that, and probably not a very good idea.

Why would you do that? I'm curious as to the application to do so?

You've probably got an idea?

[Lloydy]

This is my modified clamp showing the re-tapped center hole with a 3/8 stud.


I use a pan / tilt head on it, this is an ebay cheap s*** thing, but it's aluminium, light, takes my Manfrotto QR plates and is smooth and rock solid. I don't use it everyday, it's perfectly good.


The flexible neck is a good addition, this is a heavy(ish) old S1a and it will hold this without a great deal of problem. It'll hold my NEX or a flash with no problem. It wont hold my K10, battery pack and 50-135! . Tapping the center hole doesn't affect this mount at all.


I also drilled and tapped the end, it's not soomething I use a lot but it has made life easier on odd occassions.


Re-tapping the center hole will obviously alter the original design and the way it works with other accessories designed to fit in the original threaded hole, but I have a few of these and this is actually the only one I use.

Forgive the crappy pictures, I had to use a very old Canon compact as my batteries are on charge in everything else.

[Docrwm]

I don't think anyone puts the camera directly to the clamp.
I've never seen that, and probably not a very good idea.

Why would you do that? I'm curious as to the application to do so?

You've probably got an idea?

It just strikes me that if the camera bottom fit flush with the plane of the clamp top it would maximize stability and provide the most secure platform possible for the camera+clamp combination. It's use in three applications would be better if that were the case, for me - on a door to gain a height advantage in taking photos, on a pipe - like those used in chain link fence - where compactness would be at a premium, and mounted to a moving object where you would want to minimize vibration as much as possible.

The screw threads on the studs being longer than the receptacle thread depth allows for flex and torque thereby increasing the liklihood of movement and possible failure. It seems to me that plates fit snug to the bottom of cameras for several good reasons. It also seem obvious to me that the screws on plates for tripods are shorter than the receptacle thread depth on cameras for other, equally, good reasons. This tool does neither, thereby diverging from the norm and I have to ask - why?

[LaurenOE]

It just strikes me that if the camera bottom fit flush with the plane of the clamp top it would maximize stability and provide the most secure platform possible for the camera+clamp combination. It's use in three applications would be better if that were the case, for me - on a door to gain a height advantage in taking photos, on a pipe - like those used in chain link fence - where compactness would be at a premium, and mounted to a moving object where you would want to minimize vibration as much as possible.

The screw threads on the studs being longer than the receptacle thread depth allows for flex and torque thereby increasing the liklihood of movement and possible failure. It seems to me that plates fit snug to the bottom of cameras for several good reasons. It also seem obvious to me that the screws on plates for tripods are shorter than the receptacle thread depth on cameras for other, equally, good reasons. This tool does neither, thereby diverging from the norm and I have to ask - why?

Gotcha!