17Feb ActionPod the Flexible Gopro mount
You might have noticed the lack of posts this week. Things have been a little crazy with the laser testing and Valentines day. I did however manage to get one of these Actionpod’s by Dinkum in. This version is designed for lightweight items like LED panels or the Gopro hero 3.
The attachment clamp on this Actionpod is strong enough to smash a finger and requires a strong grip to open. With just a quick test I was able to lift a chair in the air a few inches using only the clamp. The flexible knuckles on the Actionpod provide a fairly ridged adjustment point for lightweight items like the Gopro hero 3. With a bit of effort you can separate the joints to add different attachments or change the length of the unit depending on your need.
The price of the Actionpod is about the same as a friction arm with a clamp. Both of these can be used to accomplish about the same task so the question becomes, which works best for you? I plan to spend a little more time messing around with the Actionpod before I post a full review.
February 18th, 2013 at 6:51 am
Will this hold a camera flash easy then?
February 18th, 2013 at 10:19 am
Yes.
February 18th, 2013 at 11:14 am
Um … that’s an almost exact ripoff of the Nasty Clamp. Just so you know. I’m sure the company must. — http://www.nastyclamps.com
February 18th, 2013 at 1:52 pm
Thanks for the heads up! Never heard of nasty clamp, I’ll have to check them out.
February 19th, 2013 at 10:28 am
Hey all – just an FYI, the ActionPod and ActionPod PRO were in development prior to NastyClamp being bought out in 2009 and has a patent pending. The cinematographer who invented the ActionPod came out with the “big brother” to this mount more than 16 years ago. It’s called the FlexiMount and was originally sold through PSC, Filmtools and Mole-Richardson, using the strong spring clamp and modular hose arm. The inventor also created a line of french flags using the same arm and clamp concept which have also been selling for that entire time. We’ve been aware of NastyClamp for a while and have had a casual chat to the owner of that company about the similarity in design – he confirmed the date he bought his product out and that it was based on the concept from the FlexiMount unit that he’d seen sold through PSC. We’re more than happy to accept imitation as the best form of flattery and feel confident our specifically engineered and tooled mount can more than hold its own but wanted to clear that up… 🙂
February 19th, 2013 at 12:11 pm
NOTE: to avoid confusion I’m the Operations Manager and co-owner of Dinkum Systems. Thought the company detail via the website address would come up with the post but it didn’t – figure full disclosure is always best…!
February 18th, 2013 at 12:17 pm
Looks like a somewhat cheaper imitation version of the ‘Nasty Clamp’ that has been around for awhile.
March 10th, 2013 at 8:58 pm
warning about the magic friction arm… I used mine with my shoulder rig a couple times before the silver lever just broke off and the whole thing became garbage. Wish I had seen Action Pod a couple weeks ago, I just ordered a different clamp that turned out to be big and over 2lbs that I will be using in place of the friction arm.