Manfroto Magic Arm (photography gear question)

[nathan clark]

This is a mount for photography equipment. I've had mine for a little less than a year. I'm tired of monkeying with the unit to adjust the tension so the locking lever is useable without allowing my DSLR to sag or snapping into place such that it screws up my settings. Has anyone tried the newer version with the set screw-thumb wheel? How about the heavy duty flexible arm?

Any other good alternatives for over the workbench photography? FWIW, mine is mounted to my old-timey workbench's sliding board jack.

Frank Ford, are you still usin the magic arm? If not, what are you using in its place?

[Frank Ford]

I still swear by the Manfrotto Magic Arms.  Mine have the central screw knob to adjust tension, and I had a problem with droop right away, so I added a leather (cut from an old guitar strap) washer at the joint, and that made a huge improvement.   You can see it in these photos:

We recently "inherited" a couple of the lever style ones, but I haven't tried using them yet.

[nathan clark]

Great, thanks Frank!  I think the knob makes more sense than the lever for my purposes.  I'll pick up one of those.