The Ultimate Clamp? The Kupo Super Claw

Kupo, Taiwan based studio accessory manufacturer, has a new small, lightweight but very powerful clamp it calls Super Claw. In a recently released video the company shows the clamp and what it can do.

A clamp might not be the sexiest piece of gear you can buy but, it can be a life save in many situations and in other cases it is simply helps to make your life easier ans simpler. There are many uses for such a small powerful clamp – it can be used to hold a monitor, a small LED light, a GOPRO camera (in the video you can even see it connected to a motorcycle and it can hold the gear while being connected to a light stand, tripod the side of a table or any tube or surface with a thickness of 13mm-35mm (0.5-1.4 inches).

Another interesting feature which seems to distinguish the super claw from other clamps is the rubber pads which are not connected using low quality glue (as many low cost clamps do but with with a mechanical interlock mechanism). The maximum load of the clamp is about 6kg or 13.2 lbs – pretty nice for such a small unit.

For connecting accessories to the clamp has both a 3/8″ female socket on one side and a 1/4″-20 female socket on the other (so you can connect two things at the same time – as long as they are not over 6kg).

What seems a bit unclear at the moment is how the Super Claw is different than the existing Pincer Clamp Kupo had on its site for several years (both look similar but the Super Claw seems to have a larger maximum load (6kg vs. 5/5.5kg).

As for pricing, the Pincer Clamp cost about $25 (and the Super Claw isn’t listed on the company site at the moment but if it is indeed a newer model it should cost around the same).

Update 6/4/2015: we had a talk with Kupo and they were kind enough to explain to us exactly what is going on. There is indeed a new version of the KCP-730B (previously known as the Pincer Clamp). So what is new with the new Super Claw vs. the older Pincer Clamp you ask – here are the 4 main points:

Smaller size (78m vs. 82mm in length).
New pads – with physical grips instead of glue.
Socket position – in the jaw instead of on the body (better load – 6kg vs. 5.5kg).
Central eyebolt – stainless steel vs. steel (rust prevention).

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Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.