UPDATE 12/1/2011: I just launched my new website today which has all the details on version 2 of my VML Bracket including detailed pictures, a blog outlining the process of creating the VML Bracket, and online ordering. The website address is http://www.vmlbracket.com.
As most of you who own a AB/Paul Buff Vagabond Mini Lithium already know, the clamp that is included with the battery pack is basically worthless. And while the idea of the clamp is a nice thought, it simply doesn’t work as well as we all would like.
One of the more common fixes is to attach the battery pack to some sort of super or nano clamp using a threaded stud screwed into the 1/4” insert in the back of the Mini Lithium. But, unfortunately, the Mini Lithium wasn’t designed to be mounted in this way as there is no internal support around the threaded insert to support the weight of the battery pack. Eventually the plastic surrounding the threaded hole will break...it’s just a matter of time.
As a professional photographer who uses the Mini Lithium quite extensively, I have tried nearly every solution I could find for alternative methods of securely mounting the Mini Lithium to a light stand with no success. Some of the solutions were too labor intensive, some weren’t stable enough, and some could eventually do harm to the battery pack.
I began to get frustrated that no one (including AB) had come up with some sort of true mounting bracket for the Mini. Simply wrapping the battery pack sling around a light stand knob just wasn’t working anymore. So....I decided to design one myself, and have it fabricated. The design is simple...basically a sturdy L-bracket that securely holds the Mini Lithium and attaches it to a light stand. Also incorporated into the back plate of the bracket are three holes for attaching a super or nano clamp to the bracket at varying heights. The bracket comes with all the necessary mounting hardware including an 18" heavy duty velcro cinch strap, allen wrenches, and a knurled stainless steel thumb screw. See the pictures below:
Images of Version I of the VML Bracket can be found here
I’m not trying to “sell” these brackets on this forum, but wanted to start to let people know that there’s an alternative now to mounting the Mini Lithium that is far superior to anything else that’s out there.
Thanks Beni and Ken for the compliments! Yes, I agree Ken...there are a lot of solutions that work "acceptably", but not many that offer a true stable and sturdy solution for attaching the VML to a light stand. While I'm not claiming that my bracket is the end all be all of mounting solutions for the VML, it is however superior to anything else that's currently available. Thanks again for your compliments, and please let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas that you'd like to see added to the VML bracket!
What are you trying to achieve with this bracket? Are you having problems with VML falling off with the stock clamp? I run around motocross tracks with a VML clamped to a light stand and haven't had it come off. The only issue I have is it rotates around the stand as I move it. It doesn't seem that your bracket will stop this without the use of a Nano clamp. For the price of your bracket plus a Nano there has to be a cheaper, simpler solution. I'd suggest a bracket with a concave groove running top to bottom down the center line. Line the groove with a non-skid material like an adhesive backed neoprene then ad a clamp, similar to the stock type ( but big bigger and more robust), in the center of the bracket rather than at the top like the VML comes with. Overall this will probably cost less, and be smaller, than your bracket plus the $30 for a Nano.
I'll grab a piece of sheet metal and try to bang out a crude prototype this week.
hondageek, as most people who use the VML will attest (and as you basically pointed out in your post), the clamp that comes with the VML just isn't sufficient enough for any kind of photography that requires moving the light stand (with attached VML) from place to place without the VML falling off. If yours is just spinning around the light stand and isn't falling completely off, the consider yourself one of the lucky ones. I haven't been lucky enough to have the VML stay on a light stand with the supplied clamp that comes with it.
What you have suggested sounds reasonable in theory. I have about a dozen prototypes that I've created over the last year, one of which is similar to what you're describing. Anything can be fabricated. The trick is to design and fabricate something that is not only functional, but that won't cost the photographer an arm and a leg to buy. If I were willing to sub out the fabrication to a metal shop in China, then designing and producing a bracket with more bells and whistles than you could shake a stick at wouldn't be an issue. But without getting too political, I'd rather keep jobs here in the US than to outsource the work to China just so I can make a few more bucks. Just my two cents.
Feel free to send me some pics of what you bang out this week and we can compare notes. Thanks for your input. I appreciate the feedback, as it's only going to help me design a better product for those of us who love our VML's but hate the supplied mounting solution!
Neat but.. What do you do when you need to change battery?
It looks like you need to dismantle everything including removal of the wing nut and VML in order to get to the battery as the bottom shelf prevents you from just sliding the battery off/on.
Wouldn't it be better with a smaller bottom shelf/bracket ?
Bolting the VML to the bracket makes sense - but not having to dismantle it all everytime a battery change is needed..
ukphotographer, yes you are correct...in order to change out the battery, you have to unscrew the wing nut (6 turns...3 seconds), unbuckle the velcro strap (2.4 seconds), take the dead VML out of the bracket (2 seconds), insert a fresh VML into the bracket (2 seconds), re-buckle the velcro strap (2.4 seconds), and insert the wing nut back into the VML (3 seconds)....so a total of 14.8 seconds. Give or take a few.
The other option would be to have one bracket for each VML you have. Personally, I never take my VML's out of their brackets. When one dies, I just unbuckle it from the light stand, grab the fresh one with bracket attached, and buckle the fresh one to the stand and away I go. It's a personal preference, but for most people changing the VML out isn't going to be that big of a deal.
Looks like a decent solution if you move the stand around quite a bit. I would suggest using kickstarter.com to promote the launch of the product to generate interest. I would recommend that you ought to package the bracket and clamp to make it more of a kit but that might increase the cost a bit.
Hi c2thew, thanks for your input and suggestion of using kickstarter.com to promote this bracket. I am planning on putting it up on there as soon as my second batch of brackets are finished, which should be in 2-3 weeks with any luck.
Yes, initially I thought the same thing (to create a kit with a super clamp included with the bracket). But, unfortunately, you are correct...it's very cost prohibitive to do that. I am, however, working on a few more solutions for mounting the VML bracket to a light stand which I hope to introduce soon.
onetrack, thanks for your input! Believe me...I wanted to make this bracket as simple as I could. But, the reality of the VML is that it isn't made to use the threaded insert or the plastic strap slots for anything other than what they were designed to do. And even then, their function (strength) is limited. The reason that my bracket is designed the way it is, is so that the strain can be taken off the VML's threaded insert as much as possible by providing a "shelf" (the bottom of the bracket) for the VML to sit on. So, the only strain that's placed on the VML itself is the wing nut that basically just keeps the VML from moving from side to side (in conjunction with the velcro cinch strap) on the bracket.
actually, you might be able to take most of the weight off of the screw area by fabricating either a rubber bumper for the base of the bracket so that both the screw threads and the base come in contact at the same time. this will take the stress off of the screw and reduce the chances of the female screw mount from breaking off of the vagabond mini itself.
c2thew, that's basically the way the current design is now. The wing nut is inserted through the back of the bracket into the VML's threaded insert, while at the same time the VML is resting on the bottom of the bracket.
I've gotten a ton of feedback over the last few days, and I'm currently working on an updated design that's going to incorporate some of the suggested improvements I've received as well as a more robust attachment point for a super clamp.
Yes, I agree Ken...there are a lot of solutions that work "acceptably", but not many that offer a true stable and sturdy solution for attaching the VML to a light stand. While I'm not claiming that my bracket is the end all be all of mounting solutions for the VML, it is however superior to anything else that's currently available. Thanks again for your compliments, and please let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas that you'd like to see added to the VML bracket!