NEEWER 25"/62cm Horizontal Tripod Center Axis with 3/8" Screw, Aluminum Alloy 360° Rotatable 180°Vertical Adjustable Tripod Extension Boom Arm for Camera Macro Overhead Photography (Load up to 22lb)

How have I managed without one of these for so many years? It makes some hard jobs so easy. I am thinking especially of the difficulties when photographing a page from a very large book, or a photo, or many other items for which the camera needs to be placed above the subject, pointing down. With a very large item, to get the camera centrally placed above it, the tripod legs intrude into the edges of the image. However, with this boom arm, problem solved!It screwed straight onto the top of my tripod, from which I had removed the ball head. I could have screwed the camera onto the end of the boom arm, but the profile of the arm is not round, so it cannot be rotated, so I mounted the ball head taken off the tripod onto the boom and initially put the camera onto that, so that I could rotate the camera to exactly horizontal. Though the tripod used had a centre column, adjusting the height of this precisely for copying work is difficult, so I then mounted a Novoflex Castel-L focussing slide onto the ball head and the camera onto that. Precise focussing was then easy. Getting the camera exactly above the centre of the image was also easy, thanks to the boom arm.IMPORTANT! Before attaching the camera to the boom , I hung a bag containing a weight similar to the that of the camera onto the other end of the boom arm.I did a quick, simple test with a photo as subject. A quick grab shot with the phone gives an idea of the setup to copy this object.This boom arm was an item from Amazon Warehouse, returned by a customer, and the description warned that the box was damaged and there were some scratches. Well, the previous purchaser obviously found opening boxes a challenge and so managed to do a lot of damage to the box. However, this is just a brown cardboard box for use when posting the item, so the damage was not particularly important. (See pictures of the box in someone else’s review.) It’s difficult to see how the previous purchaser managed to scratch the boom in two places, however he/she did. However, this was less obvious than I had feared, and as the purchase price was a fraction under 53% of the normal price, I decided that this was reasonable and that the Amazon Warehouse description was fair.On the boom arm that I received, the bottom socket for mounting the boom onto a tripod is ⅜ inch, not ¼ inch, as reported by one reviewer. The arm comes with a small instruction manual in English and Chinese, and the English (at least) is printed far too small to be readable comfortably. It indicates that the item is supplied in parts and has to be assembled by the purchaser, however, the one that I received came already assembled. Was this done by the previous purchaser? Given his/her incompetence at opening cardboard boxes, this seems unlikely (although perhaps this might account for the minor scratching on the boom). More significantly, the shape of the polystyrene in the box seems to indicate that it is supplied already assembled.Would I buy one of these at full price? Now that I have handled it and used it, I can say a firm YES. It is well designed, well made and works extremely well. Incidentally, in the one that I received the ⅜ inch to ¼ inch adapters are made of metal, not of plastic as stated by one reviewer.

Generally really good product... But better suited to mirrorless/lighter systems. It probably does just about work for 11kg in some weird configuration, but it wouldn't be a great idea. For me the limiting factor is as much the tripod setup it's supported on (Manfrotto 055CLB here) as much as anything. Buy for a relatively cheap option for your overhead shooting needs, but don't expect it to be professional level.

In his spare time my husband does lots of product review videos which involve taking some overhead shots too. We tried lots of crude ways to get this to work but it wasn't really helpful and needed lot of effort. So I was very pleased when this came up as we wanted something more professional and stable. I must say this is exactly what we needed. We already had a really nice tripod so all we needed was the cross arm. The cross arm is really very sturdy and durable and has some weight to it. I really like the fact that it has 3 mounting heads to connect various devices. It gives us the flexibility to attach the camera and lights. It does take some time and effort to understand how to use it but once you are set then its fairly easy. Overall a good product. Would have really helped if it came with a carry bag.

Does the job and works fine BUT the central gimbal cannot be micro adjusted as the locking mechanism has a ratchet plate, so you are limited with the movement ratio up and down. Some form of friction plate would be much better with a locking option.

Good value: Well made, seems a high quality item (time will tell). Attached it to my manfrotto tripod and does the job of holding a Canon 5D Mk II with a 100mm macro (quite a weight) to take photos of negatives on a light box.

I'm using it to hold a mirrorless camera over a negative holder to digitally photography negatives. The arm has a very long reach and is stable, I do use a counter balance in a small shopping bag.

This is essentially a boom arm that fits to your tripod and enables you to move your camera into positions that are impossible (or very difficult) using the tripod alone and, particularly for me, the ability to point the camera towards the ground for macro photography. Attachment of your camera requires use of a ball head adaptor, which is not supplied, but you are likely to have one in the rest of your kit if you are anything like me. You may need more than one to attach more equipment.The arm is fairly heavy, although it is well made and the parts all move smoothly and lock well when tightened in place. A locator, situated at one end of the arm, enables all parts to be removed, if required, but also stops anything falling off inadvertently during use as you have to press the release tab to lower the stopper. This safety feature appears to be good quality, although I have learnt to never make assumptions after a tripod malfunction years ago, so check everything as you go along.I am using this with a heavy-duty tripod; you need a good quality one that will be sufficiently robust to hold the weight of the arm plus your equipment. I didn’t find the instructions included in the box were particularly helpful, but there is nothing like hands-on experience gained during use to understand how to use this. Levers and screws are smooth and the bubble level is helpful when ensuring you don’t shoot at an angle. I have a camera at one end and a light alongside so that I can ensure my subject is well lit and the set-up has worked well so far.A soft, drawstring bag is included, which is adequate for storage and transport needs, but it is only just long enough to hold the rod and feels a little bit mean when just a cm extra would have provided ample space. It is nevertheless an excellent piece of kit and means that I can finally tackle a project I have been putting off with ease.