Rode Boompole Professional Microphone Boom Arm,Black

I’m really happy with the RODE boom pole! High quality and lightweight. It’s aluminum so you have to be careful not to over tighten. I greased the threads and that helps not to cross thread. Extends 10’ which is a far as I need. The ends are removable to feed the wire through and looks very professional and no wire in the way. No sound from the wires at all when moving around. Very sturdy when fully extended and holds the RODE VideoMic perfectly. Can’t go wrong with RODE!

Product came as described, it's very lightweight even extended to the full 10 feet with a shotgun mic attached. The shipping started out a little slow because it wasn't shipped right away , but it arrived the first day of the estimated arrival date, so no complaints.UPDATE: After having this boom pole for a few years (2 I think) The gold connector that connects the shock mount to the boom pole has stripped, rendering it useless. I have contacted Rode because I cannot find another connector anywhere online so I am going to see if I can at least purchase just that part instead of another boom pole. I will update after I have the answer.UPDATE II: I was able to get in touch with RODE and I must say they are one of the BEST companies I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. I asked them about purchasing the connector and they asked for my address and sent a new one for FREE. No shipping, no charge at all. They said 7-10 business days and I had my replacement part in about 4 or 5 which REALLY impressed me. If nothing else get this boom pole just for the excellent quality, affordable price and UNBEATABLE customer service. I will now by a RODE customer for life!!!

Looks well thought out, there seems to be confusion as to whether or not an XLR cable can run through the center. It can, and there are provisions on each end to allow the cable to come out. Only took a few minutes to unscrew the ends, drop the cable through and then reassemble. I used a straight 15 footer, it would probably make some sense to try a coiled cable i the future. Seems rugged, time will tell.

Quality pole with poorly designed locks - counter intuitive when compared to most pole designs. To lock the pole, the larger tube is not locked in place and will spin when you try to lock the finer tube coming from it. Thought this was a broken design and returned the first pole for a replacement. Once you get over your nervous breakdown and figure it out, it is a very sturdy pole and well built - albeit falling supremely short in the locking engineering. Kind of surprised Rode let this engineering oversight get by when the fix is so simple in manufacture.

Online information about this boompole is inadequate, so I thought I would write a quick first impression review.I just purchased the Rode Mini Boompole as a handy little boom for run and gun audio. It will mainly be used with my new Tascam DR-100 portable digital recorder and external XLR mics, mostly Rode NT-4 stereo and a Sennheiser MKH 40.My other pole is a Gitzo, but not carbon fiber. So I am working with cheap gear, not the fancier booms that full time production audio guys use.The Rode Mini Boompole is made from aluminum tubing. It arrived with evidence of residual manufacturing oil. I wiped it down with no bad effects. I'd characterize build quality as better than a lot of indy filmmaker gear, which features a lot of improvisational engineering - dollies made with skateboard wheels and such. Machine work on locking collets is good looking and everything works well. When you disassemble the pole, as I did in an attempt to load a mic cable internally, the machine work in thread cutting is not as polished. But it is completely acceptable in a $100 item that works very well.The Rode Mini Boompole appears large enough to feed an XLR connector internally, but this turns out not to be the case. The pole's throat is slightly too small, which appears to be a design oversight. Still, the smallest extension on the mic end of the pole is much larger than my Gitzo, which is barely large enough to thread a permanent cable before the XLR connector is affixed.The Rode Mini Boompole does have machined channels at both ends where a permanent internal cable could be installed if desired. It also comes with velcro straps used to secure a cable externally, which is what I did when mounting my Rode NT-4 stereo mic.I like the dense open cell hand grip material covering the entire first section of the pole. The rubber end at the base is a bit under engineered, if someone is going to rest the pole end on the ground during breaks in production. Just a flat disk of rubber less than a quarter inch. I would expect something a little more rugged and robust.So far, I have only used the boompole in a noisy environment (high school football). Even without a suspension mount on the Rode NT-4 stereo mic, I did not notice any handling noise, even though I was listening and testing a bit. Likewise, using the supplied velcro straps to secure the mic cable externally did not seem to cause problems.My initial reaction about weight was a bit of concern, but this turned out to be no problem, even with the largish Rode NT-4 mounted using an internal 9-volt battery in lieu of phantom power off the recorder.In general, I enjoyed using this boompole. My application is fairly casual, no long tiresome booming. For quick sound grabbing, this is a nice addition to my kit at very low cost. I'm happy with the purchase, and would recommend it to others.=====UPDATEI've had the boom a couple of years, and I like it better now than when I first got it. Why? Totally new application - running a boom camera. Running a Sony DSC-HX9V attached to the Rode Boom makes for spectacular shots rivaling crazy expensive cranes and jibs. But the entire setup is super lightweight. I bought my HX9V at Amazon.For this application, I recommend the full length 10' Rode Boom Pole.A couple of key accessories make this work:Giottos MH1004-320 Mini Tripod Ball Head. This is a tiny ball head that is all you need to connect the HX9V to the Rode Boom.The trickier part is monitoring. The HX9V outputs video via HDMI while recording, so monitoring is simply a matter of rigging a monitor to the boom pole.I have a SmallHD DP6 monitor which I attached to the Rode Boom using a Manfrotto Magic Arm and a Manfrotto Super Clamp. This adds considerable bulk and weight, really too much for extended use and also the bulk really makes it difficult to move through crowds without bumping into people.However, the spectacular lens and image stabilization of the HX9V make for very compelling video. So much so, I am going to purchase a SmallHD DP4 EVF monitor for this rig. The Manfrotto mounting hardware has to go, however. I was not able to find anything through normal channels, so I started looking through bicycle specialty retailers for handlebar mounts. I've decided on a product called "RAM Mounts Roll Bar Mount Kit." It looks very compact, is sized correctly to grip the Rode Boom Pole with a band, it has two articulated ball joints, and a tripod screw that should be perfect for the SmallHD DP4. Plus, I'm hoping the whole device will be rugged and strong since it is designed for jarring off road mountain biking.A package of Bongo Ties, available from Amazon, used for cable management of the HDMI cable, completes the package.Nothing is perfect, and it would be great to have remote control of the HX9V, especially start / stop recording. That's the only major downside of this rig - the fact that you have to haul the camera down to start or stop recording, which adds a bunch of garbage footage to the beginning and end of every shot. Still, I like it.One other thing to keep an eye on is EV compensation. The HX9V does not have manual exposure control, which may sway some people to choose the NEX-5n or NEX-7, and the camera tends to overexpose 1/3 to 2/3rds of a stop. I spend too much time checking EV compensation while shooting; I need to figure out how to lock down this setting.FWIW - I actually think the inexpensive HX9V is a better choice for this application than an NEX-5n or NEX-7, which are much more expensive cameras. I plan to buy an NEX-7 soon as it becomes available, but with other applications in mind. Riding the boom pole, the small sensor of the HX9V offers more insurance of sharp focus. Plus the HX9V 1080p 60fps video is spectacular slo mo, apparently the same as the NEX, though I yet have the NEX-7 and have not tested.The HX9V is spectacular as a pole camera, and also as a handheld steadicam, frankly, another application for which I bought a $12 pistol grip from Amazon. Surprisingly, the audio from the built-in stereo mic is decent also, especially considering the pole cam is frequently used to get in very close quarters shooting where it would not be possible for a cameraman to normally be. One suggestion on audio - add a packet of Rycote Micro Windjammers to your kit to block wind noise. I had to fudge mine about a bit, cutting the adhesive patches to fit the stereo mic on the HX9V, but I think the end result is going to be good, though I have not yet tested outdoors.One final thing: be sure to get a spare battery or two for the HX9V because this is an addictive way to shoot. The HX9V batteries can only be charged in camera, so you cannot charge while you shoot. Because the camera cannot be remote controlled, I tend to overshoot, and the batteries do not last terribly long. If I were a wedding videographer, I'd take at least 3 batteries to every shoot.

Very durable. I really wish the cord was able to feed through the pole or had a cord extension/connector built into it to attach a longer cord. But other than that it’s worth the buck.

Good

Great product. Solid and well made. Easy to manage and has a comfortable grip. You can put the cable inside the pole if you wish so no wrapping wires and dangling cables. Bonus.