Photoclam Multiflex - Arca Swiss C1 Cube clone

[more photography]

I did some more digging through my files. I had received a PayPal request from master@kipc.co.kr

I believe they have one person who translates English. It can take several days to get a response (unless you know Korean). Also be sure your spam filters allow email from Korea.

Probably Kerry is out using his cameras. He will probably respond as quick as PhotoClam.

I'm still very happy with the head. Good luck,
Jeff Keller

Thanks Jeff

I think my provider is bloicking any emils to PHotoclam. However would prefer to deal with Kerry, for obvoius reasons. I will await the response, and thanks again.

[Aahx]

I tried to get one of these through Kerry this last December. He told me then he was not going to carry them at that time because of a patton dispute. Though I could find nothing online regarding such so I then contacted the company via there direct email and asked for current price. They responded to me within a week in clear english asking for zip code to get shipping cost estamate. Then on my reply said I wanted to order one. Two or three days later I got the paypal request for 995.00 (for head) + shipping which was 29.00 or 39.00. I accepted it and then recieved the head within four days following payment. The email was the one here on the forums, and there contact with me was very proffessional and to the point. Just be paitent with them as you will not get an imediate "same day" reply.

I will check at home later (at studio now) and see what email it was I used to contact them. As I did not use my studio email for the transaction.

[more photography]

I tried to get one of these through Kerry this last December. He told me then he was not going to carry them at that time because of a patton dispute.

Hi I got a similar email, Patent Dispute, and Kerry will not be selling the Multiflex.

That explains everything, it is clear Arca-Swiss have sold or receiving any royalties onthis from Photoclam, but I would still like to get one.

[shadowleaves]

I got mine today! $985+shipping. Expensive yes, but works like a charm! Great quality and precision.

[watanabe]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but this seems to have the most number of people who have experience with a multiflex.

Mine arrived last week and I've been really excited to use it, but couldn't as I didn't have a QR plate that would work. My PZ-39 from Kirk showed up today, so I attached that to my Norma and then placed the whole shebang on the new gitzo gt5531s that I bought along with the multiflex.

I was (am) sad to find that both panning platforms(the one which attaches to the tripod, and the upper one which attaches to the camera) will not lock down completely, they're not totally loose, but a nudge on the camera's rail will make the whole assembly move.

Is this common? Do I have a bad sample? anyone encountered this behavior in their's and found a fix?

I opened up the bottom of the assembly, the 60degree rotation part, and I can see that the piece the 3/8" screw goes into is not rotating, but the piece around that, the one which interfaces with the screw plate through a circle with grease, is moving...

thoughts?

[Jeff Keller]

The locking screws for the two panning platforms have small heads and thus it's difficult to apply much force. When my head was new it was quite difficult (perhaps almost impossible) to completely lock the panning. However it definitely took more than a nudge to move the head. I probably never had either panning swivel completely locked but never worried about it moving either. After a year of use it is noticeably easier to completely lock the panning action. I still seldom completely lock both panning swivels, normally only completely locking the top one.

I feel that the grease they used (and how much) made it very difficult to completely lock the panning action but gave it have a very high non-binding resistance. I actually like the head to work that way. I believe with use, the amount of grease on the friction surfaces has decreased making it so that it is easier to lock down the panning action.

Not knowing how much of a nudge it takes to move your head it is hard to say if yours doesn't lock because of the grease or if there is something else going on. If you can tighten yours enough that it would take a significant accidental bump to mis-align your picture I would recommend just using it as is, since it will probably get easier to completely lock with use. If you can't tolerate it the way it is now, you could look into removing some of the grease but use caution because it isn't obvious how to add grease back in.

Jeff Keller

I was (am) sad to find that both panning platforms(the one which attaches to the tripod, and the upper one which attaches to the camera) will not lock down completely, they're not totally loose, but a nudge on the camera's rail will make the whole assembly move.

Is this common? Do I have a bad sample? anyone encountered this behavior in their's and found a fix?

[watanabe]

Thanks for the reply, looking into the assembly (without taking anything apart) I agree that there does seem to be quite a bit of grease in there, and that does seem to be the cause of my problem.

I tend to do 16 minute to 1hr exposures, which is why I erred on the overkill side with my tripod selection, as it is now it is possible to move the camera by exerting(hardly) force through my left hand pinky, on the little hex rod of the sinar compendium lens hood. Which leads me to believe it would not be up to snuff against even light wind for the length of exposure I am going for, or evening inserting a film holder without being very careful about it.

Sent a mail off to 'Cindy', the master(at)photoclam.com person, asking for a possible solution or replacement. Will update here with any response.

[VictoriaPerelet]

For those who does not mind making adapter plate, here's another "affordable" version of Cube like design

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

[watanabe]

Just got off the phone with Cindy. She was sitting next to one of their engineers and translating the problem back and forth.

Once they understood what my issue was, they suggested trying to tighten the panning knobs, I explained I had done so as tight as I could using my fingers, and asked if they wanted me to try using (!) pliers. They said no.

During the course of the phone call Cindy explained that they were surprised that I was having this problem, as (it seemed like she was saying) every unit is made as it is ordered, and then tested to make sure it's working.

She offered, without my suggesting, sending me a new unit, which they would personally retest again to make sure it worked.

The whole phone call took 10 minutes (they called me, after I provided them my cell # and ideal contact times) and I was very pleased with the level of support provided. It may be a knock-off, but at least they are backing it up the way I would expect a $1000 knock-off to be.


Victoria: if I had known about those sooner I may have tried to make my own adapters, have access to 3 CNC machines at my school, although I have no idea how to use them yet.
Following up on Victoria's lead: http://www.kohzueurope.com/Manual-St...a96a99d.0.html

[Ellis Vener]

After going back and forth on this I think I'm just going to stick with my Majestic 1600 and Arca-Swiss B2 heads and putthe money towards a quad processor Mac Pro tower The Majestic is neither small nor light but it does the job very well. The one thing I wish it had was a geared lateral tilt. Mostly these days I use the big heads to support a Really Right Stuff Ultimate Pro panoramic rig carrying a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark 3