The articulating arm (a.k.a., "magic arm") holds its shape/angle very securely. I had no trouble using it with my light-weight mirrorless camera, as shown in the uploaded image. One benefit of using an articulating arm like this (as opposed to similar products that use bungee cords, etc) is that the arm makes it easy to position a camera away from the fence as shown in my photo, which gives you more freedom when aiming the camera.
However, I found a few shortcomings:
1) The device does not work on larger-sized wire meshes that I tried.
It worked fine on the ~62mm wide chain link fence in the uploaded photo. (The seller's description says 65mm is the maximum jaw width. So I was already near the limit, even though this fence mesh looked to me to be only "average" size - not unusually large.) But another fence I tried had larger meshes and I was unable to use this device. (I feel the manufacturer should increase the maximum jaw width to make this device more practical/versatile.)
2) The single knob of the magic arm locks and unlocks all 3 "joints", making precise adjustments of camera aim difficult and frustrating. (I do realize that all "magic arms" work like this.)
HOWEVER, I was able to easily overcome this shortcoming by just adding a small low-cost ball-head as shown in my uploaded photo. I make the final adjustments of the camera angle by loosening/tightening the ballhead, without affecting the other 3 joints of the magic arm. Problem solved. :)
As measured:
- The maximum length of the articulating arm: ~6 inches. (Not including the threaded 1/4"-20 bolts.)
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