The Super Clamp: One of the Most Useful Tools in a Photographer's Toolkit

It is certainly not the sexiest topic to talk about, but for any photographer or videographer working with any sort of lighting or studio equipment, the super clamp is a highly useful tool that will come in handy over and over again. This great video will introduce you to super clamps and show you some of the many things they are useful for. 

Coming to you from Daniel Norton Photographer, this helpful video will teach you all about super clamps. Super clamps are, well, just that: clamps that hang on to things. They can clamp on to almost anything (poles, tripod legs, doors, stands, etc.) and can be used to hold lights, shelves, cross bars, plate glass, cameras, and more. For example, if you are a food photographer who needs to shoot a bunch of flat lays, instead of getting up on a ladder and trying to hold the camera perfectly parallel to the surface, you can use a super clamp with a tripod head and adapter to mount your camera to a boom pole to get the angle just right, then tether the camera. You are then free to change the layout without having to constantly climb up and down a ladder. That's just one of the many uses; check out the video above for more on these cheap and useful accessories. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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5 Comments

Thanks! I ended up with a couple of these and was not sure how to use them.

One extension on my tripod broke while on location once. A C-stand, clamps and adaptors and I was back ready for the shoot without wasting anyone's time. I bring with me a big box with grids, barn doors, clamps, baby stand, arms... The game is, never let down or delay the client.

The Manfrotto Super Clamps are amazingly useful in so many ways. The ones to watch out for are the off-brand copies. They look just as good but are nowhere near as sturdy. Calumet used to sell their own copies of them and the rubber material on the inside of the clamp surface would deteriorate over a very short amount of time.

Far greater profit margin than the Manfrottos but the retail price was only a few $ less than the real thing but nowhere near as good.

When I shoot on location I bring a number of Super Clamps as well as the smaller Manfrotto Nano Clamps as part of what I call my "Oh-Sh*t Kit". One never knows what will be needed at the last second.

We have 2 bogen 2900 the other 5 is ebay fakes. Excellent stuff all of then. We use them with flashes in the dj booth if on a stage aimed down to the dance floor. We also use them to mount a 2nd flash on a light stand if another photographer needs. Great stuff