You dream it, we’ll build it. When I first heard Devin’s request for an ultralight arca-swiss clamp, I said yes. The only problem was that I didn’t know what an arca-swiss clamp was. I bought the items Devin is currently using with our Stool Ultripod: Peak Design Capture Clip & Minifocus “Fish-Bone” Arca-Swiss Clamp. He wants me to innovate the clamp by removing everything unnecessary and bringing it closer to ultralight, minimalist perfection. This blog series is the process of what goes through my mind as I think of product innovation ideas. The first step is the best part: play with it.
Let curiosity take over. What is it? How does it work? What makes it good? What can be improved? These are questions I like to ask when I’m playing with something I want to make better. My initial impression is that the design is quite beautiful. They’ve already minimized the weight significantly and there’s not much more to take away design-wise. I weighed the clamp at 1.73 ounces. I can see there’s a 1/4-20 female screw which is the industry standard for photography equipment. This means it’ll fit on any tripod. It looks like it’s screwed in probably using a 3/8-16 which is the other industry for photography equipment. It appears the thumb knob is turned using another 1/4-20 screw with a spring sleeved over that pushes the clamp plate out when loosening. There’s a bubble level at one end and it’s made of aluminum. It’s generally a great item but it does have some design flaws.
My second impression is that I can see what Devin was frustrated by. It’s too long! It’s almost 4 inches in length (3.75inches precisely). This unusual shape makes the item hard to pack or stuff in a shove-it pocket when the tripod already has an irregular shape. Even with our suggestion of clipping it to the outside the pack using an ultralight carabiner, it still makes it awkward. The next thing is that the bubble level is completely covered when a camera is mounted on it rendering completely useless. What’s the point of that? My final qualm is the size of the Peak Design plate not matching the aesthetics of the unit. They don’t make a smaller version and nothing else seems to clip into their capture clip. Now that play-time is over, we can start innovating. Please stay tuned for the next product update! New posts every Mondays and Thursdays at 11am pst.