The VagaBase ...

Warning: Vagabond Mini Lithium content!

One of the unfortunate design choices we see in the new Vagabond Mini Lithium is the placement of the battery cartridge release tab on the bottom of the VML:

Nice. I'll mostly like end up mounting a VML to the lightstand almost always since it doubles as a sandbag LOL

Dave, I love all the DIY stuff you do... and I think your new "base" is a god idea... BUT -- I don't see why it would not be easier to just have a better way to attach the battery to the stand. I am not sure why you would want the battery on the ground. If there was a simple clip type attachment -- it just seems more simple to me, as well as I always want any batteries off the ground in case of moisture.

KurtGoss wrote in post #11642242
.. BUT -- I don't see why it would not be easier to just have a better way to attach the battery to the stand. I am not sure why you would want the battery on the ground. ...

First of all, Kurt, you're assuming that the VML is being used to power a monolight and that there is a stand to attach it to. This may not be the case. Too, the VML clamp will not fit around the 35mm diameter first riser of many Avenger stands; the stands I most frequently use.

Then there's the situation where the VML is powering multiple lights. Look at the VML in the setup photo from David (dmward) in this post:

https://photography-on-the.net …p?p=11618292&po​stcount=52

Sometimes it's just quicker and easier to sit the battery on the floor and work around it. However, I would agree that when a VML is powering a single monolight mounted on a VML clamp-friendly lightstand, that would be the way to go.

Dave F.

Neat Dave.
I'm not nearly the DIY guy you are, and wouldn't be nearly as good at it if I tried.
I was thinking about getting some of these stick on rubber feet like the ones on your Vagabase and just stick them on the VML.

Now even doing that may be IP infringement.

Um... doesn't the VagaBase block and/or "enclose" the ventilation slots? It would seem important to keep the ventilation slots unobstructed.

Am I missing something in the design?

Mark

Mark Booth wrote in post #11642702
Um... doesn't the VagaBase block and/or "enclose" the ventilation slots? It would seem important to keep the ventilation slots unobstructed.

Am I missing something in the design?

Mark

No, you're not missing a thing. The ventilation holes haven't been drilled yet. At the end of my VML stress test the other day that saw the pack produce over 400 pops at 15-second intervals, the inverter case was barely warm (88-degrees F measured with an IR thermometer). I'm not worried about thermal problems.

Dave F.

KurtGoss wrote in post #11642242
I don't see why it would not be easier to just have a better way to attach the battery to the stand. I am not sure why you would want the battery on the ground.

When I'm charging them, I would prefer to keep them vertically as it take less space on the shelf.

I was thinking I'd just break the tab off and use duct tape to hold the battery in. More professional looking that way.

And before someone yells at me let me tell you a true story. Back in the 70s I was at Helix picking up an Arriflex movie camera for a job. Got talking to the salesman who told me that an network cameraman had picked up a brand new Arri sound camera (about $20k then) -- unboxed it right on the counter and took out some emory paper and started on the corners of the case so the alum/brass or whatever would show through the crackle paint. The salesman asked him what he was doing. His reply, "Man, if I show up at a job without wear on my camera everyone will think I'm a neophyte."

So, duct tape holding stuff together has to be a pro move.

dmward wrote in post #11642894
... told me that an network cameraman had picked up a brand new Arri sound camera (about $20k then) -- unboxed it right on the counter and took out some emory paper and started on the corners of the case so the alum/brass or whatever would show through the crackle paint...

David, as someone who treats his equipment like Faberge eggs, your story is going to have me waking up screaming in the middle of the night. Oh, the horror!

Dave F.

dmward wrote in post #11642894
I was thinking I'd just break the tab off and use duct tape to hold the battery in. More professional looking that way.

Mark

Dave,
Over the past 40 years my gear has gone through a lot but never that.
I even put a seat belt on the arri while hanging out of a helicopter, just to make sure it won't fall if we hit turbulance.

Mark, in the airplane business they call it hundred mile an hour tape. So its even good for fast moving photogs.