Arri Magic Arm...
 

I picked up one of these curious devices in a bran tub sale thinking it would be useful to pin a lamp somewhere a stand can't go. And as yet, it only added weight to my lamp bag...

But...

Just tried using the clamp bit to hold onto a Z1 handle, then canted the arms over the top of the camera in a gentle curve, giving me the block as a hand-hold.

The result is a quasi-steadicam low-mode camera support with some impressive (for first trials) ultra low shots and close up crane moves. Tried daisy cutter chase moves, toddler-chase (always interesting), some ultra wide angle close-up work, and because you can bend it, the CoG and the hand-hold can be balanced. The total weight gives it stability without the pendulum movement.

If you see one of these Magic Arms at a good price, I'd recommend picking one up for the fun of low mode chase shots alone.

:)

A neat trick, to take this a step furthur; is to mount a small weight to the top end of that magic arm. Then hold yout camera normally by it's handle. - You basically get and upside down Steadicam without a gimble. You'll notice the camera's roll decreases dramtically!

- Mikko

<boggle> - I attach the magic arm to the tripod screw of the camera? Or I clamp onto the camera's handle and shoot upside down?

But either way, yup: there's a nugget or two of gold in them thar hills.

Not exactly a merlin, but as a tubbly little owl, there's room for experiment and practice.

Connect it to the handle so the wieght is above the camera & handle, then hold the handle - works great for improve lowmode shots.


Or you can do it below like you would a tripod or monopod to make a "shakycam" as we call it for normal ('high') mode.

- Mikko

This summer I shot and edited a series of outdoor concerts using a Sony PD-X10 with a fisheye lens on stage. The camera is so light when stripped down, and it doesn't have a handle on top, so I got the threaded camera mount for the Magic Arm and used it in the same fashion, as well as a shoulder mount and it also worked great for whip pans and getting up in the drummer's business without getting hit or in the other cameraman's shot.

The arm was also handy for attaching the camera to trees or posts and getting really creative time-lapse shots. The magic arm was invaluable to me this summer.