Manfrotto 173HOB Mini Boom Arm, Black - 59" (1.5m)

Comments about Manfrotto 173HOB Mini Boom Arm, Black - 59" (1.5m):

We use this boom arm to hold our AZDEN SGM-2X microphone by the shock mount that came with it. The microphone is connected by a 25' XLR cable to our Canon XHA1S. The boom arm itself is very sturdy; I worry about losing the rubber caps on either end of the boom pole because they come off easily, though, so you might want to keep an eye on them.

The biggest problem we've had with this boom arm is that the threads aren't long enough for our microphone's shock mount to be put on all the way without wobbling a bit; there's a bit of room without any threads, about as much as space with threads actually. Our shock mount didn't have sufficient room to put a nut on top, so we had to put a thick washer on the boom arm's screw, then attach the shock mount. This is very annoying to have to deal with.

The biggest issue this causes other than simple inconvenience is that if we twist the boom arm counter-clockwise about 60 degrees, sometimes the shock mount twists the other way and loosens. Our microphone could probably survive a fall or two, but we shouldn't have to worry that that could happen. Maybe it's just the shock mount that came with the microphone, and if we bought another one, it would work better. I've had it loosen before when it was pretty close to vertical while I was resting too; it's easy to fix but still annoying.

Bottom line, I would not recommend this to people as a mic pole, unless I am convinced that our problem is just the shock mount that we got with our microphone. I'm sure it works great holding a light, but we already have light stands and we've only really got a crew of 1 (me) and sometimes 2 if the director needs to hold something, so that wouldn't help us very much.

Comments about Manfrotto 173HOB Mini Boom Arm, Black - 59" (1.5m):

It does what it suppose to... strong arm can hold up a light~