Are cheap magic (articulating) arms worth it?

[Adam J. Craig]

I see lots of eBay™ listings for arms that seem to be the same (construction wise) at the $200+ arms I see at local film supply stores.

Link: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=magic+arm&_sop=15

Is the order of magnitude difference in price worth the value? Does anyone here have experience with the cheap arms on eBay™?

 

[Drew Baird]

I spent $30 on an arm recently. It lasted about one month supporting only the weight of a zoom H4N. It may be worth it to spend the extra cash.

 

[Nick Junkersfeld]

Go with a NOGA for about $140, well worth the investment.

 

[James_Mills]

I have a large NOGA and a small knockoff that I bought from Samy's that works almost as well. I just put in a bid on the one you linked because I love that clamp that comes with it; I'd purchase that on its own anyways so might as well give the arm itself a try too. Doesn't hurt having an extra, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Paul Hazlett]

I have three of these sets and they are not the best, but work for certain applications. I use them for small HD monitor or tv logic 5 inch. of the three one clamp broke and one arm broke,but at this price I still did not pay over 100 and have 2 working sets. dont expect alot out of these and you will be fine.

 

[James_Mills]

Well I won a bid of only 11 dollars for it and they told me they can't send it to me lol, that they don't have it in their inventory currently. I call bs but oh well

 

[Patrick Tresch]

I have one that looks like this one. It broke after one normal tightening... The ball cup don't hold pressure as it's made of an odd metal.

Pat

 

[sander kamp]

Lately I am giving these a try: http://kamerar.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/11-tough-friction-arm

It says on the arm 'world's toughest friction arm' but on the first job one broke because a horse kicked the camera. I do believe though that without horses kicking it it is pretty tough and it does hold really tight.

I never tried the NOGA ones but I had RED magic arms and they are good but they break as well if you tighten them really hard. And they start to rust after some time.