Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Ok the tip of my Norman boom arm won't fit my alien bees. It's too big

mounting on 3/8" (811779), 1/2" (811744) and 5/8" (811793) stand tops which would be right size tip?

In the pic it looked like I have 3/8" but wouldn't fit.. So what should i do? Should I go lowest or home depot would they have similar stand tip that I can use?

Our lights are designed to fit 5/8" nominal studs or smaller. Depending on how the boom arm is designed, you may or may not be able to find a suitable solution at a hardware store.

If you post a photo or a link to a photo of the end of the boom, we may be able to better assist you with specifics.

Sorry it took a while for me to post pics.. been busy






see how it couldnt fit... so its not 5/8" right? what size do you think it is?

Is the black piece threaded on, or does it have threads on the end in any way (male or female)?

i dont know

Anyone can identify my problem? I'm clueless and wish I got monfrotto boom arm instead but couldn't pass good deal but this is pain in the ass When I can't mount my ab properly I did use duct tape im afraid for it to fall and break.. The 70 I ch octagon is huge and heavy to secure the ab.

I'm not familiar with the Norman, but it almost seems as if it is missing something. It seems like there should be a threaded hole in the end of that pole so that you can screw in a standard mounting stud.

In any case, to work with what you have, you could add a SuperClamp near the end of the boom. It clamps securely to the boom (or other things if need be) and includes a normal stud that you can mount the AB to. You might want to get an extra long stud, separately, to give a lot of grip area for the AB.

http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-035RL-Super-Clamp-Standard/dp/B0018LQVIA/

It is a pretty standard item to have, so that you can clamp to stands, booms, structures, etc. A generally useful piece of kit, and once you have one, you will probably want another.

Also, independent of how you resolve this particular issue, it sounds to me like you may have some safety issues.

Ensure your light stand is properly stable and sandbagged at the base, that your boom counterweight is properly positioned to balance the arm.

If you "need" to use duct-tape to mount your AB and/or octa on a boom, then you probably shouldn't be mounting them to your boom, in my opinion, until you have the right mounting hardware. At the very least, you are risking damage to your gear, but worse, you could be risking injury to yourself or others.

When you mentioned an AB and a 70 inch octa on a boom with duct-tape, I actually shuddered. I am hoping I misunderstood and imagined something far worse than what you actually meant :shock:

Sorry, I need some clarification. Did you try various tip sizes or mounting block sizes? How did you try different ones?

Looks to me like the standard brass 5/8" "stand coupler" is missing from the Norman Boom. From the pix, it won't fit any studio flash