CITI 400 PRO umbrella bracket broke in 1 min of DAY 1!

[LongLensPhotography]

I was just testing new unit.

Gently turned the knob to tighten umbrella and the whole clip cleanly broke and fell off. It appears to be made of literally junk. I wonder if all the rest of attachment is a ticking time bomb and whether my 600 PRO is affected. Notably I don't have a screw on that bracket at all!
Maybe that's the reason why some still prefer Profoto or Bron.

Absolutely p***es you off, at least wasn't on a shoot but initial testing at home.
I'm awaiting for pixapro response and hopefully a prompt resolution.

 

[Wellsyboy]

Cheap Chinese rubbish?

 

[LongLensPhotography]

Cheap Chinese rubbish?

the bracket certainly is.

However, my wallet may disagree with the "cheap" part.

 

[Gav.]

Poor design, single wall alloy casting won't take a side pressure clamp..

Hence I advised against you mod'ing your 600.

I've not seen the bracket, but if it's thin, the alloy/plastic may not stand up to a thumb screw for long.

Hope they replace your part, good luck.

EDIT -

The images I've seen online don't have that clamp there

 

[LongLensPhotography]

Poor design, single wall alloy casting won't take a side pressure clamp..

Hence I advised against you mod'ing your 600.


Hope they replace your part, good luck.

EDIT -

The images I've seen online don't have that clamp there

I will certainly leave 600 alone, it is a shame I can't use 160mm umbrealla on it. Next step up is a bloody para!

They have recently modded these with the screw apparently. Everything else is like the old thing including metal V shape pin inside which is no longer needed! A complete afterthought.

Anyone with half brain in a metal workshop could make a good bracket out of 3mm or 5mm steel sheet that would last forever. Shame I don't have any access.

 

[Gav.]

Anyone with half brain in a metal workshop could make a good bracket out of 3mm or 5mm steel sheet that would last forever. Shame I don't have any access.

It broke because it's only clamped one side, those 2 pins only prevent twist and don't support the clamp plate, if there is room for a bolt to be added where they are that will stop that from happening.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

It broke because it's only clamped one side, those 2 pins only prevent twist and don't support the clamp plate, if there is room for a bolt to be added where they are that will stop that from happening.

There probably is space. My worry would be that the whole of the handle is made out of this junk so you risk destroying the whole thing.

You will need stationary clamp and a stationary fast drill with very sharp bit and possibly even wet cooling when dealing with such crappy materials. I don't have any of that. Handheld drill won't do it

 

[Gav.]

It'll all be made from the same cast Alu' alloy.

Do you have any engineering firms local?

Hope you get answers/fix from them

 

[LongLensPhotography]

Pixapro wants the whole thing back. Hopefully this means a new one back. But it will have same junk bracket.

I will need to find a workshop probably in Birmingham to make these sort of things. Hopefully without a 3 figure price tag or JLR "quality"!

 

[LongLensPhotography]

Just thinking of it, I may just need to use the big umbrella in horizontal position using AD-B2 and 2x AD200. The cheap thing is by far the best here.