This week I set out to highlight one of the oft-overlooked essentials: the humble clamp. To my surprise, we carry a dizzying array of clamps for a every conceivable purpose and situation.
A Clamp
The old A-shaped standby with the most literal (and memorable) name in all of grip, these spring-operated pincers are a quick and easy solution for many lightweight attachment needs. They come in three sizes; small, medium, large and are great for hanging a bounce board or keeping a seamless from unrolling.
C-Boom
This clever grip device clamps to a roller and allows you to boom a C-Stand. Basically anything you could attach to a C-Stand, you can now boom. You can add an arm to the C-Stand for your most outlandish gobo needs.
C-Clamp
Our strongest clamp, this tool is similar to the C-Clamps you can find in most workshops and hardware stores, but with added pins to mount lights welded onto the spine.
Duckbill Clamp
The Duckbill is the ultimate holder for foam core, bounce board and reflectors. It’s wide mouth easily grips thin objects while distributing the pressure so the board doesn’t get chewed up.
Gaffer Grip Clamp
New to our rental arsenal, the Gaffer Grip is similar to Matthellini clamps (see below), but with a spring mechanism that makes them faster and easier to use. The spring mechanism isn’t as secure as the Matthellini screw set so they work best with small lights and bounce boards. The jaw width is adjustable so you can attach them to anything from 0 to 2.5 inches.
Matthellini Clamp
This clamp is ideal for gripping onto round square or rectangular tubing. They are ideal for car rigs, putting lights just about anywhere and as a single clamp solution for hanging backgrounds. Adding to its versatility, the Matthellini is also strong enough to support most lights.
Super Clamp
This versatile lightweight clamp is a quick solution to hanging small items. It’s interchangeable pins make it a very adaptable grip. In studio they are most often used with J hooks to hang backgrounds but on location they can hold most small items, like cameras, speed lights, umbrellas. They work best when attached to poles, tripod legs, railings, tree branches that are at least 2 inches thick.
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Anna Fischer is a Freelance Photographer and Photo Assistant. Her work can be viewed on her site.
