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Austria, Vienna
1 Level
687 Review
39 Karma

Review on Black Manfrotto 196AB-2 2-Section Single Articulated Arm - Camera Bracket Not Included by Bill Roberts

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Good alternative to more expensive Manfrotto guns

Manfrotto makes a range of "arms" - 196AB-2 is the cheapest (some of the "Magic Arms" can be 5-6 times more expensive), but it's not something to be ignored! I used a Manfrotto 237HD Heavy-Duty Flex Arm for the Super Clamp (black), but at certain angles it just can't hold any material (goes down), and for the "Heavy Duty" arm it's only for 1 pounds laid out. Looking at this I couldn't find any information about it or examples of its usage, so hopefully this helps - Each of the ends (black parts on the ends) of the bolt is one with a 1/4" FEMALE thread and one 3/8" female thread I mention this because the description is hard to understand - I get the impression that it comes with a 1/4" male thread (to allow you to attach something like a radio trigger/flash or a small camera If you wish to attach to this, consider a reversible male adapter such as female threads and provide male threads for connecting ballhead/camera/flash The ends of the studs work great in the Manfrotto Super Clamp! can be adjusted to a shorter length (this is the only area they can be trimmed) Loosening one of the knobs gives GREAT freedom - you can get almost any angle/for m get you need. I was very impressed with this, I found it easiest to fix the 2 levers and only leave about 1 free (central?), attach and then fix. it is below. Even 1 free hand gives a lot of freedom. The arm supports the weight much better than a flexible arm - even when tested with weights above the "allowed" it seems to hold well, but I still wouldn't recommend it just to be on the safe side. The arm itself is fairly light (about a pound). It doesn't fold too compactly (each arm is about 1ft long and the 3 handles make it a little bulky, but it's not too heavy to carry around. Because the ends have female threads, you can mount it on top of a tripod or tripod. For that I can definitely recommend the price.I will buy a few more for small flashes.

Pros
  • Brilliantly made
Cons
  • Vanishing