cgardner
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Dedicated FM
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The AB boom is just an extension arm. The friction / toothed locking mechanism at the stand when loosened will cause it to tilt (desired effect) but will also release tension holding the boom arm causing it to slide (undesired consequence of loosening it. The interlocking tooth design of the tilt mechanism requires it to be loosened quite a bit to adjust it exacerbating the problem. Then once you change the angle of the boom you usually need to change the angle of the head vertically and horizontally with two additional knob adjustments. So you need to take three separate actions to move the light. This problem isn't isolated to AB, most of the cheaper booms share a similar design.
At the next price point, such as the Matthews boom, the boom attached point and tilt point are separate and a simpler friction brake-type mechanism which makes the boom easier to tilt, but adjusting the head is more or less the same.
The Redwing uses a parallelogram design. When the boom is properly counter-weighted the parallelogram design allows the SB to be articulated into any position by just grabbing it and moving it without a lot of knob twisting and walking over to the stand. But you'll pay $400 - $500 for that convenience.
For your application you might want to investigate a Bogen Super Clamp and extension arm. Its part of an entire very cleverly designed system of lighting accessories which allow a flash / flash head or camera to be attached almost anywhere:
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