3 Legged Thing Camera Desk Mount System review: say goodbye to your tripod

I’ve long been a fan of 3 Legged Thing tripods. The British-based company makes some of the best tripods for photographers, the best travel tripods and the best tripods for videographers on the market. I’ve owned a sturdy, full-height 3 Legged Thing Winston 2.0 for three years now, and it’s one of the best carbon fiber tripod kits that I’ve ever used. Winston and I have become firm friends! But there are times when any tripod can be a bit awkward. Content creators sitting at a desk and presenting to camera might well not have room to set up a tripod on the other side of the desk, if it’s positioned against a wall. And if you’re taking product shots of anything and everything for sale on the likes of eBay, when it’s placed on a table, a tripod can be less than ideal.

Available in three different kits to suit varying needs, the 3 Legged Thing Camera Desk Mount System (CDMS) is designed to clamp to any desk or table, and to support your camera or smartphone. The range of adjustments for positioning makes the system enormously versatile, with included or optional arms enabling you to add photographic lamps, microphones, monitor screens and other accessories. The kits are also ideal for creating auto-cue presentations and for making video tutorials, as well as for videoconferencing and making content for the likes of YouTube.

3 Legged Thing CDMS: Specifications

3 Legged Thing CDMS: Price

Typical of 3 Legged Thing products, the CDMS looks and feels of excellent quality. The upright telescopic pole and optional arms aren’t made from carbon fiber but are engineered from aerospace-grade magnesium alloy. For my money, that’s a great choice as the material is very sturdy yet fairly lightweight, and less expensive to manufacture than carbon fiber. The net result is that the most basic CDMS-V kit that comprises just the center pole with table clamp and ball head retails for just $35/£27. Next up the ladder is the CDMS-1A kit, which includes the same pole plus a single arm, for $50/£39. The range-topping CDMS-2A kit with center pole and dual arms (enabling articulation) costs $60/£47. The single and dual auxiliary arms are also available to buy separately at $23/£18 and $30/£23 respectively. All in all, so long as you’ve got a sturdy table or desk to mount them on, you’re getting very solid and versatile support for relatively little outlay.

3 Legged Thing CDMS: Design & Handling

I like that the 3 Legged Thing CDMS comes in three different kit options, and that either the basic or articulated arms are not only included in the two pricier kits, but are also available to buy separately. That keeps all my options open. Let’s start at the bottom, so to speak. If I only want a pole that I can fix to a table or desk, for supporting a camera, phone or other single device, the basic CDMS-V kit with just the center pole is all I need.

The center pole has a clamp for fixing it to a desk or table, complete with protective rubber pads – nobody wants to damage their furniture. The clamp operates on a simple screw thread, turned by a comfortably large 4-spoke handle, and is permanently attached to the center pole. The pole itself has three telescopic sections, enabling an operating height range of 40-85.5cm / 15.7-34". The maximum height is therefore more than double the minimum height and I find the overall range easily caters to all my needs.

Up on top is a mini ball-head with a standard 1/4"-20 screw for attaching a camera or other accessories, like an LED lamp. There’s a single locking screw to clamp the ball head in place after making positional adjustments, with neither an adjustable friction damper nor a panning release. That’s pretty much what I’d expect from a compact ball head with a 1kg load rating. One thing I would have liked, however, is a quick-release plate for easier attachment of cameras and other accessories. Even so, the direct attachment with no quick-release plate helps to keep the size to a minimum.

Going one better than the basic kit, the mid-range CDMS-1A kit includes the same center pole but adds a horizontal extension arm. This attaches to the center pole via a secure clamp that’s quick and easy to use. You simply open the clamp, pop it around the center pole then screw it up tight.

The single-piece arm has a fixed length of 42cm / 16.53" and can only be used as a horizontal boom, although that in itself offers plenty of versatility, especially as the arm comes complete with the same compact ball head as the one that’s fitted to the center pole.

The range-topping CDMS-2A kit again includes the same center pole but this time features an articulated auxiliary arm. The articulated arm comprises two separate sections, the first of which is identical to the one supplied in the mid-range kit. The second, additional arm has a 1/4"-20 threaded socket at its base, instead of a pole-mounting clamp, and the same compact ball head at the top. You can therefore join one arm to the other with the benefit of a fully adjustable joint in the middle. This gives a much greater range of length, height and angular adjustments.

3 Legged Thing CDMS: Performance

The material used for the construction of the center pole and both of the auxiliary arms is aerospace-grade magnesium alloy, with a smart black anodized finish. Each section is sturdy and highly resistant to unwanted flexing or vibrations, while being fairly light in weight. Naturally, resistance to vibration is also dependent on the sturdiness of the desk or table to which the center pole is attached. The comparison with carbon fiber in terms of performance, finish and cost is that of the 3 Legged Thing Charles 2.0 and the 3 Legged Thing Winston 2.0 tripods, which are essentially the same but made from magnesium and carbon respectively.

Indeed, the magnesium tubing for the center pole and arms is identical to that used in some 3 Legged Thing tripods, which have a much greater maximum load rating. The limiting factor here is the compact ball heads which, as I’d fully expect, only have a 1kg load rating, due to their relatively small size. That’s perfectly in keeping with the purposes for which the kits are designed.

Another feature shared with 3 Legged Thing tripods is the twist-action clamps for releasing and locking each of the center pole sections. With three sections in total, there are therefore two clamps, which operate with smooth precision. Minimal rotation is required to release each section, and they lock really firmly to avoid any unwanted sagging.

Equally adept at supporting a full-sized camera or a mobile phone on a mounting bracket, I tested the kit with a Sony A7 II with a kit zoom lens, that weighs in at 920g / 2lb. Going for broke, I also used a Nikon Z 6II camera body and Z 24-70mm f/4 S lens, which have a combined weight of about 1.2kg / 2.6lb. That’s a bit over the specified maximum load rating. Even so, I found that the center pole and ball head gave really solid support for either camera, even with them being mounted in portrait orientation without using an L-bracket like the 3 Legged Thing Lexie, which results in the weight of the camera being off-axis. Suffice it to say that performance is excellent right up to and including the maximum load recommendation.

Next up, I used the dual arm kit for supporting various accessories, including a Godox Ving V860III TTL flashgun for stills and a SmallRig RM120 RGB Video Light for video. These are rather less weighty, at around 530g / 1.2lb and 200g / 0.44lb respectively but again, even the jointed auxiliary arm as well as the single-piece horizontal arm gave consistently solid support without any sagging or vibrations.

3 Legged Thing CDMS: Verdict

I really like that the 3 Legged Thing Camera Desk Mount System is available in a range of kits to suit varying needs. What I like even better is that all of the kits are so quick and easy to set up, and that they give such stable and steady support. They’re a godsend to content creators working at a desk or table, giving the kind of versatility and flexibility that helps the creative flow. For the price, I’m sold, 100 per cent!

Alternatives

From the popular budget brand, the NEEWER Extendable Camera Desk Mount with Ball Head is priced at around $29/£29. It’s a fairly basic desktop stand without auxiliary arms but typically well priced to suit bargain-hunters.

The SMALLRIG Camera Desk Mount is a fairly basic bit of kit, from the same company that makes camera grips for the Nikon Z fc and Zf, the latter given away as a free accessory with the camera when Nikon launched it. It’s priced at around $30/£35.