Small Rig Magic Arm & Manfrotto 502 Video Head - Can You Trust a Friction Arm?

Friction arms, like the Small Rig Magic Arm, are great for mounting accessories like my AndyCine C7 monitor to a tripod head. But a not-so-robust connection could spell disaster for your monitor if it fails at the wrong time. Luckily, disaster was averted by the last ditch efforts of a steadfast little sliver of metal that clung to my hapless monitor as it dangled helplessly over the concrete pad. In this video, I'll show you how I removed and replaced the damaged threads on the Manfrotto 502 video head, reattached my Small Rig Magic Arm and was ready to go again.

[cannibalholocaust]

Manfrotto don’t seem to give much guidance on these accessory ports from my cursory glance. They should give max weight recommendations, which I assume the problem. I’ve been trying to find a way to mount a red dot sight to this exact head for binocular and telescope use.