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19mm rods - differences?

Arthur Woo

Arthur Woo

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Aside from the quality of material use to make 19mm aluminum rods (the only thing I can think of is resistance to flexing) - is there anything else to consider? For example some companies charge $70-100 for a single rod, whereas some of the Chinese/Indian brands are as low as $25. Why would I pay $70 more for an aluminum stick? These rods will be the basis for a shoulder rig (handles, bridgeplate, etc)
 
For most uses it won't matter much. If supporting a big lens you'll probably want good stainless steel ones with sufficient wall thickness to minimise flexing, especially if handholding and your hand grips are attached to the same rods.

Flexing is also a factor if mounting follow focus motors - although usually aluminium rods will be fine as long as they are clamped in two places.

Some of the super cheap rods MAY not be precisely 19mm diameter (too large or too small) which can cause difficulty when clamping. No way of knowing for sure without buying them.
 
ericyoung said:
snip:
Some of the super cheap rods MAY not be precisely 19mm diameter (too large or too small) which can cause difficulty when clamping. No way of knowing for sure without buying them.
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FYI IIRC 19mm aren't exactly 19mm - I believe they are smaller. Can someone with more rod knowledge confirm this.
 
Michael Hastings said:
FYI IIRC 19mm aren't exactly 19mm - I believe they are smaller. Can someone with more rod knowledge confirm this.
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From what I understand, the holes that the rods fit into are exactly 19mm, which means that the rods themselves have to be a hair smaller. So yeah, if you just order 19mm rods from McMaster Carr or Alibaba or the like, you could end up with rods that don't work.
 
Wy wold you use metal... :)

I love those guys...dragonplate.com they sell all kind of carbon stuff. and their carbon 19mm tubes are low priced and weight about a 1/10 of a stainless tube with the same flex.

email to service at draonplate.com and ask for camera rods. And choose how long you want them. Trying to cut them yourself will cost you a saw, literary.
 
I have a pair of Red 19 mm carbon rods and I absolutely love them, to me they are much better than the aluminum/steel equivalents. Having said that, to many people a rod is just a rod.
 
Where is a good/quality place to buy 15mm SS rods? I got burned with Indi/China rods.
 
I just contacted DragonPlate and they said that they won't do custom lengths for quantities of less than 100....! 19mm rods are not available pre made like the 15mm rods....
 
Björn Benckert said:
Wy wold you use metal... :)

I love those guys...dragonplate.com they sell all kind of carbon stuff. and their carbon 19mm tubes are low priced and weight about a 1/10 of a stainless tube with the same flex.

email to service at draonplate.com and ask for camera rods. And choose how long you want them. Trying to cut them yourself will cost you a saw, literary.
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My reasoning is completely unrelated, and possibly really stupid, but I used to be into cycling and saw some carbon bike frames get trashed when impacted. Metal ones survived - banged up but left intact. LOL

Not to say that I'd be tossing my rig in front of a car but it left an impression in my head.

These look great though, will definitely get some of the 15mm for my LWS
 
Jean Déraps said:
I just contacted DragonPlate and they said that they won't do custom lengths for quantities of less than 100....! 19mm rods are not available pre made like the 15mm rods....
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I think I've been on this forum too much, found this on another post from 2008...lol

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I originally had configured my Red with Carbon Fiber rods, and was disappointed to learn that these were not being produced or distributed by Red when my number came up. As it turns out, 19mm Rods convert to .748 inch rods. The closest imperial version will be .750", or 3/4" Rods, which are not so difficult to come by. I ordered a 48" length of .750"OD Carbon Tube here:

http://www.dragonplate.com/ecart/pro...pID=691&cID=42

Then cut it in half for two 24" CF Rods. Total cost with shipping, not including hacksaw or assembly time, was just under $60. The outside diameter slips perfectly into the Red 19mm clamps. The difference between .748 and .750 seems to be negligible for this application.

For my purposes, they work perfectly. I've definitely shed significant weight without the steel rods, and they seem extremely strong with no noticeable flexing. I can't imagine a 19mm cinematographic rod application for which they would not work perfectly. But acknowledging that there must be limits to the scope of my imagination and experience, it is of course possible that these will not be the perfect solution for your needs...
 
Have ordered Alu and SS 15mm rods form 4 companies in China and each time the rods were not even (14.91mm to 14.98mm) and ALL had tooling marks (6 gripping dings) from the lathe head chuck, drop dings on the lip, weird anodizing, and the SS were oval...
Now looking at http://store.redrockmicro.com/12-15mm-Iris-rods-professional-grade
 
Cinevate seek some good 19mm carbon rods thought the longer lengths appear out of stock now.
 
15 mm solid rods are great - 19mm rods are unnecessary with weight of Dragon or Epic. Same accessories cost less in 15mm version. I suggest Redrock Micro for rods.

Carbon fiber are dangerous because they don't flex, they break, and when they break they explode (and cause serious injury…)
 
Robert Ruffo New said:
15 mm solid rods are great - 19mm rods are unnecessary with weight of Dragon or Epic. Same accessories cost less in 15mm version. I suggest Redrock Micro for rods.

Carbon fiber are dangerous because they don't flex, they break, and when they break they explode (and cause serious injury…)
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That is my fear Rob, that they can shatter when going beyond their limit. Thanks for confirming, I guess I wasn't being 100% paranoid. The reason why I'm looking at 19mm rods is because I picked up a 19mm bridge plate for a steal, it was too good of a deal to pass up, so I figured I would try to put together a run n gun shoulder rig for cheap.
 
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