Download “How to Estimate a Shoot” today and start making more money.
Hi this is Jay P. Morgan. Today on The Slanted Lens we’re going to talk about clamps- the basic clamps and the ones that I love. Now this is not super glamorous stuff to talk about. But it’s the basics that we use every single day that we’re on set. One of my listeners wrote in and said, “Tell me about clamps.” So we’re gonna talk about six different clamps. The clamps that every body uses and a couple you might not have heard of before.
The A-clamp is a very basic clamp. It’s known by lots of different names and you can use it for lots of different jobs. You can by them for around three or four dollars, depending on size, even from the hardware store. That’s the clamp I recommend everyone buying to start out. I use the teeny ones to attach gels to lights, you can use them to tighten up clothes etc. Everyone should have a piece of rope with a bunch of these hanging from it.
Next is the super clamp. There are different versions of these. It’s basically a jaw that clamps in an offset fashion so it’ll attach around a pipe very nicely. You can even put these on a c-stand or regular stand. You can put a pole in it and attach your camera, lights or other things to it. It’s a very versatile clamp.
Then we have a Cardellini. This clamp is simply a post with a 5/8-inch receiver on it, and jaws that attach. I like this one because you can it’s not very big and you can get into some smaller spaces with it.
The platypus is a great clamp for reflectors or bead boards. The downside of these is you have to have a c-stand or it’s really difficult to use, because it doesn’t have any way to attach it to a regular stand.
The adjustable gaffer grip is made by Kupo. It’s basically the same concept as the a-clamp but it is, as the name suggests, adjustable. So it’s good for clamping onto bigger items. It gives you two 5/8-inch areas that you can clamp a light to. Either down below it if you’re going to clamp, or out the back which gives you two different places to attach it. You can even use it for a 2×4. It’s very useful.
We also have a regular old c-clamp. These just go onto any surface you’re trying to put them on. The biggest downside of these things is that they’re big. It’s hard to get your hand in there to tighten tighten them in smaller areas. And they slip. They roll unless you clamp them really hard, whereas some of the other clamps have rubber and things that hold it on tight. These are like muscle grip equipment. They get come bigger, there are huge ones. You can put big lights on them. And but they’re really an effective tool, just a tough one to use.
Last we have a chain vice grip. You can wrap the chain around things. I use them to stabilize things all the time. These are great to tie things together that aren’t exactly parallel. But they’re just a big piece of equipment to haul around. So not always easy to use.
So if I was going to put together my beginning kit of all these kinds of clamps this is what I’d do. I would put ten a-clamps, three of the super clamps, and one platypus. And the reason being is this- the ten a-clamps just to clamp everything. You can do anything you need to with them. Then you have three of your super clamps. Two to hold up a backdrop, one to use for a light. Then that platypus is gonna hold your bead board, it’s gonna hold your foam core, it’s gonna hold some kind of reflector for you.
Hope you learn something new today. Leave questions or thoughts in the comments below. Thanks for watching.
Keep those cameras rollin’, keep on clickin’.
-Jay P.
Find these clamps at
Wonderful overview, but what about the ever popular C-47 clamp (clothespin)? For next to nothing, a handful for holding gels and other small, light applications frees up your A clamps for bigger jobs.