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Scout Arm?


Alan Rencher

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Hey guys,

 

As always I love reading all the new materiel on these forums, and I love your input when I have a question. I bout a Pilot a few months back, and I was wondering if anyone knows if I would be able to upgrade to an arm used on the new Scout. It almost doubles the payload of my existing arm. Would I have to retrofit it? Does Tiffen even sell the arm by itself? I looked on their site, and there was no mention of the price of an arm. I know I can call them, but I just had the thought now. Thanks guys.

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Hey guys,

 

As always I love reading all the new materiel on these forums, and I love your input when I have a question. I bout a Pilot a few months back, and I was wondering if anyone knows if I would be able to upgrade to an arm used on the new Scout. It almost doubles the payload of my existing arm. Would I have to retrofit it? Does Tiffen even sell the arm by itself? I looked on their site, and there was no mention of the price of an arm. I know I can call them, but I just had the thought now. Thanks guys.

 

 

Why do you want to carry twice what the gimbal is rated for? it's not what the arm can carry, it's what the sled and gimbal can carry

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Alan-

 

I'd do this test first: load up your Pilot with a heavier camera (or just add some weights to it - very securely). You will have to add some weight to the bottom of the sled as well to keep the gimbal in a good position.

 

Balance the rig on the stud, and check for vibration and flex, especially in the stage. Do it in both regular and long modes. Give it some bumps while watching the image in telephoto. Compare to the regular performance of your Pilot.

 

If you perceive no problems, then you might consider approaching Tiffen about buying a Flyer arm a la carte (they sell a lot of their stuff that way, and/or you may find one used somewhere).

 

But you also have another issue: your Pilot vest may flex too much under the increased load, making it harder to operate. It's a system of parts that all have to work together.

 

In this particular case, you don't need to worry about the gimbal, but the gimbal certainly could be an issue in other rigs when you double the load. A lot of the other components also will be just fine, but you should be concerned with the whole system being up to the task.

 

My advice: It probably makes more sense to sell the Pilot and upgrade if you need to carry the weight, but I understand the lure of just getting a stronger arm. Alas, it's not that simple.

 

Jerry

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