Ultra Portable lightstand. 386B Nano Clamp

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May 142009

Ever find yourself skiing,snowboarding or biking with a 40lb pack? Chances are your bag is full of speedlights, cameras and lenses with 4 lightstands hanging off the side just waiting to crack you in the side of the head at every turn.

This winter when I started to slimline my gear a bit in an effort to save my back, I decided that i needed to find some super lightweight lightstand solutions.  I tried out some $10 tripods from ebay, you know the ones, shiny and silver , made from 1/2 mm think aluminum.  Lightweight they are, but they are still too bulky if you have a few of them.

In the end, the solution was pretty simple.  Why take a stand at all if I already have skis and ski poles (or bike handlebars and tree branches depending on the season).  All I needed was find a way of attaching the flash to my ski tip or ski pole and then I can just stick that wherever I want.

Enter the Manfrotto 386B Nano Clamp.  Most photographers are familiar with the ubiqutous Manfrotto Superclamp.  This thing is bombproof and very sturdy but also far too big and heavy to be considered portable.  Last year Manfrotto came out with it’s little brother, the 386B. It only weighs 110g but is rated to hold 4kg and it fits in the palm of your hand.  On one side of the clamp is two threaded holes, 3/8 and 1/4.  Then all you need to buy is a camera stud or spigot like this one. Having both 3/8 and 1/4 threads on it gives you some flexibility in what you attach.

If you carry 3 or4 lightstands, I wouldn’t necessarily replace all of them with these.  But you could almost certainly replace 2 of them.  The 386B clamp is extremely solid and well made (hence the slightly high price) but it will easily hold a couple of flashes.  For more flexibility you could also add a very small ballhead onto the stud to help with aiming the flashes.

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  • http://www.jeremybales.com Jeremy Bales

    Yes Dan. These things are great. I’ve mounted an Alien Bee with that exact same set-up minus the flash shoe. I’d definitely consider mounting my Ranger A head with one of these under the right circumstances and with the cable rip-tied up.

  • Dan Carr

    Hey Jeremy,

    Yeah i’d trust this thing with my Ranger head for sure. They are solid. Also useful for mounting pocketwizards in weird places to get better reception.

  • http://fritzrenner.comcomingsoon! Fritz Renner

    I recently added a metal camera mount to the top of one my Armada ski poles making it a monopod I always have with me. I simply bought the right size threaded bolt and took out the screw that was holding on the strap. Then I took a nut and tighted it on the inside of the grip using a rachet extension. Works great I would highly recommend it!

  • Nick

    ^ I’d always thought of doing that, using a pole as a monopod. And i was thinking about stuff like this yesterday, clamping flashes to trees and such.

    Now only if somebody can attach a ballhead to their pole…

  • http://dancarrphotography.com/blog/2009/12/06/ikan-cheese-stick-jr-articulating-arm/ Ikan Cheese Stick JR & Articulating Arm at

    [...] video shooters but what can stills photogs use this for?  Well with the addition of the Manfrotto 386B Nano Clamp you have yourself a very versatile little setup for positioning a flash wherever you need it.  [...]

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