The DIY C.I.A. (previously know as: The DIY Flexible Flash Arm)

As a huge fan of DIY camera equipment, I'm always trying to come up with stuff that's well-thought out, performs a specific task, helps to solve some of the problems involved with location photography work, and doesn't cost an arm or a leg to build. Using some simple hardware and parts -- stuff that's easily available at any Home Depot or Lowe's -- a whole bunch of thingamabobs can be built that help make "on location" photography work a lot simpler... Heck, not only simpler, but quicker, more efficient, and -- most importantly -- which help to create better looking images.

Unfortunately, my latest DIY project is not something that can be built strictly with basic Home Depot parts. In fact, a bit of Google searching is needed in order to find the key element to my "DIY Flex-Arm Strobe Mount," though that Google searching itself will become a bit of an idea factory -- something that points towards other useful items that can be built in the future.

What you see at the top, side, and bottom of this page is my basic prototype for a clampable/bendable flash mount. In my initial posting from earlier in the week, I was calling this the "DIY Flexible Flash Mount." Obviously, this is not the most catchy of names (note: useful stuff should always have a catchy name), and so for the rest of this post I'll drop the phrase "Flexible Flash Mount" and instead refer to this project as my DIY "C.I.A." (i.e.: Do-It-Yourself "Clamp-It-Anywhere"). In fact, until the U.S. Government gives me some sort of cease and desist order I'll refer to this device as simply the "C.I.A."

Basically, what I've done in building the C.I.A. is that I've taken a standard 6 inch Pony Clamp (these are also known in the film and video world as a "#2 clamp") and mounted a six segment long section of loc-line onto one end of the handle. For those who aren't familiar with loc-line, it's a type of flexible industrial hosing that's often used in machine shops to blow cold air or liquid coolant onto metal parts as they're being drilled, cut, or formed. As luck would have it (for me), the world headquarters for loc-line is just a five minute drive from where I live.

Continuing on... I then set an inch long 1/4-20 bolt into the last segment of hosing, holding that bolt in place with about a tablespoon's worth of epoxy. The bolt needs to stick up from the end of the hosing/epoxy by about 1/4 inch -- just enough to allow a hot shoe adapter (or even a small point 'n' shoot camera) to be mounted onto the end of that last segment of flexible hosing.

All told, the actual construction time for my C.I.A. (again, "Clamp It Anywhere") was about twenty minutes, though there was a 24 hour waiting period necessary to allow the epoxy holding the bolt to properly set and dry.

Soooooooo... How well does it work? Quite well, actually.... The biggest limiting factor with my homemade clamping device seems to be weight -- more specifically, the weight of whatever is being mounted at the end of the flex arm. My Vivitar 285's seem to be right at the limit of what the loc-line material can hold without drooping. Just a 285, solo? No problem... A 285 with an E-bay trigger handing off? Hmmmmmm... Starts to get a little bit droopy... A 285 with an E-bay trigger and a snoot of some sort? Very, very droopy... On the other hand, the flex arm has no problems at all holding a solo SB-600, SB-800, SB-24, etc...

Seeing as how what I've built is basically a prototype, I'm going to spend some time during the next few weeks and attempt to build a slightly more robust version (using thicker hosing) to see if something can be made that will hold a Vivitar 285, a snoot, and a heavy triggering device (such as a Pocket Wizard).

Here's a very, very rough estimate of my building costs...

Standard 6 inch Pony Clamp -- $3.99
Six Segments of Loc-Line -- $4.25
Loc-Line "Base Mount" -- $4.00
One Tablespoon of Epoxy -- $1.00?
Various Bolts and Washers -- $1.00? (I had a bunch of these just hanging around in my tool kit)
PhotoFlex Hot Shoe -- ?!?!?!?!?!? (I "borrowed" this from a PhotoFlex umbrella holder)

Approximate Total Cost -- About $14, plus the additional cost of a borrowed hot shoe. Not too shabby when you get right down to it. More importantly, the C.I.A. allows strobes to be mounted in areas where it doesn't make much sense (or it's impossible) to get a light stand up.

Comments? Feedback? Ideas? Improvements? I'd love to hear them...

Matt