Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

There's a post on POTN about the VML mount coming off the inverter. I use a super clamp myself also to mount the VML to the light stand. Looks like I'm going to stop doing that now. Time to get some bungee cords.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/sho ... ?t=1096409

There's a Velcro product - I believe it's called One-Wrap. I got a big roll of it at Home Depot for maybe $7. It's meant for wrapping around coiled power cords etc. Has hooks on one side and soft loops on the other for the entire length of the tape. It's a tiny bit stretchy. I attach the VML to the lightstand with the included clamp and sit it on a knuckle of the lightstand, then wrap this velcro tape around the lower part of the VML. I wrap it with the rubbery hooks facing in against the VML because there's more friction that way to keep it from sliding up or down. I use enough tape to overlap across the entire surface of the battery. When secured like this it feels 100% rock-solid. You can loop the Velcro around the VML carrying strap to keep up with it when not in use. Dirt cheap, weighs nothing, works great.

The main issue for me, holding me back from purchasing so far, is that the provided clamp is not designed to allow clamping at the lower part of the stand (where one would naturally want it, to help with stabilization).

Hanging it midway up the stand so the cg is higher is counter-intuitive to me.

Enough people have mentioned that they would like a better clamp, and the referenced example here shows that people are kludging together some other option in response, that I hope PCB will update the clamp design at some point.

Eventually, I'll get some whether they do or not. I just hate buying a brand new product and having to kludge it to make it work better.

Competitors have no clamp whatsoever . . . so how do you attach them to a stand? I suppose we could make VML bigger and $50 more and 2 lbs heavier . . . that would make 10% of customers happy and 90% unhappy.

Remember the adage: You can please some of the people all of the time, or all the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all of the time.

Bungee cords are cheap and easy.

It's not that useful to weight the stand down since it's so light. You'll need to add sandbags to the stand anyways....
Ball bungies for me, along w/ the strap on a knob.

I'm working on designing a back plate that would attach to the 1/4"-20 thread on the VML, have a 3/8"-16 centered attachment point for use with a clamp, also would have a bottom support that won't cover the inverter's vents, and lateral slits to further secure the VML with nylon straps. It won't be cheap to machine from aluminum, but will be very secure to attach the VML to any clamp. Plus I like making things, even if they are overbuilt and/or turn out expensive, but are sturdy and very practical. And all this from measurements from my friend's VML... I still haven't gotten mine :oops:

Here's a preview of the back plate I've designed:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marokero/s ... 781665112/

Not sure when I'll be able to have this machined (or how much $$$), but it's a good study :)

An update to the back plate design:


A few design changes, but still some room for improvement.


According to stress analysis, the area immediately to the left of the center screw hole is the weakest, but that's assuming a big load to bend the 1/4" thick 6061-T6 from which it will be made of. I hardly think the VML will EVER put that much stress to bend the plate.

I got a pricing on machining this plate for about $160 (a single one) :o Ouch... maybe I should reconsider making this thing :(

Not sure what you mean. They clamp on the bottom riser of my PCB stands, and I use the all of the PCB stands currently available. Regardless, it's not adding any stability.....not any I'd ever count on. It doesn't weigh enough.

I've never encountered any of the problems people have mentioned. They clamp to all my stands, and they stay put.

Regardless, if you don't like or can't use the clamp, it does come with a shoulder strap that will work on pretty much every light stand out there.

No need to kludge anything.

I just had a failure just like the posted photo. I'm going to get it fixed and then look for another method of mounting.

Any other links to photos of different mounting methods out there?

Thanks,
Scott