Thought this item would make a rather handy little tool for the bag, so I went ahead and made the purchase, even though the cost stung a bit.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com …Snake_Arm_with_Super.html
Load capacity is listed as 8.8 pounds and I had my doubts, but it's a trooper, although fully extending the arm sideways with 8.8 pounds of pricey equipment on it is pushing a boundry IMO. Needless to say though .... it's pretty darn stout.
At the BH site it says that at one end of the snake are two 5/8" spigots with 3/8" and 1/4"-20 thread on the ends, but mine came with 3/8" thread on both. No biggy, just soze ya no. I did remove one of these spigots and replaced, so I would have at least one spigot with a 1/4" thread, this just makes it a bit more versitile IMO. These spigots are on there somewhat tight, as some soft glue was used on the threads, and it is 3/8" thread that these spigots use to screws into the head.
At the tail end of the snake is a 5/8 male stud ( No threaded end). I currently have no reason to remove this stud, and my impression is that it is possibly not meant to be romoved, so I'll leave it at that to be on the safe side, thusly a modification will not take place here , lest it be an addition to the stud itself.
There appears to be no plastic at all on the snake - thank you Manfrotto!
I'm sure most know about the super clamp, but I've never owned one, and now I know what I was missing. Everyone should own a few of these without question.
At any rate, here are some uses for the snake and clamp.
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The Snake is like butter as far as positioning it, just loosen it up while holding the head, move it around to where you want it, tighten down and yer done.
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I decided to use the Manfrotto quick release system almost exclusively with the snake, a kind of one size fits all approach.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com …323_RC2_System_Quick.html
In this case I might be using the tablet with DSLR Controller, and removing the tablet is a snap for clicking the shot without shaking the tripod. Remounting is also a snap.
A little off topic, but the tablet holder in the pic is
https://secure.highpointscientific.com …or-iPadTablets-52096.html
Probably overpriced for what it is, but it's small, fits most any tablet, even ones with leather covers, light weight, and it's made of metal (cold to the touch), although you would swear it was plastic looking at it up close and personal. There is rubber in the locations that touch or grab the tablet.
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Simple little stand alone pod for holding the 600ex-rt, easy to aim with a ball head shoe mount. It's a bit of a balance act.
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Figured this would work well with my other tripod using a 500mm, should be far enough from the lens to avoid the eyeball mess (hopefully).
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One could potentially use the snake for macro. The camera will shake for quite a while though, as there is a bit of flex to the tubing of the snake. An auto focus lens such as the 100mm, with DSLR Controller and the snake will do the job here quite nicely for table top use.
All in all, I'd have to give the Snake a thumbs up. I'm sure there are a host of other scenerios for using this, and expect to run into them over time, like using the snake to balance my Steadicam Merlin?
