Review: Elgato’s Multi Mount should be in every streaming setup

Elgato is a brand that gamers the world over are familiar with. Now part of the Corsair family, Elgato’s product lineup continues to grow and has, in recent years, branched out from the traditional gamer-focus to encompass all kinds of content creators.

I’ve reviewed a couple of such items in the past, like the Green Screen and the Key Light, and these are both great examples of the strength of Elgato’s ecosystem. The latest to cross my path is the Multi Mount, which to look at isn’t remotely glamorous. But could be absolutely game-changing for your setup.

So what is the Multi Mount? Put simply, it’s a monopod that clamps to your desk. Really, that’s it. It’s so simple it makes me wonder why there isn’t more of this sort of thing about. The Multi Mount is basically the pole portion of the Key Light, with the exact same clamp and the exact same ball head with standard 1/4″ screw.

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It’s a chunky thing, yet it isn’t particularly heavy and the quite massive clamp keeps it firmly attached and any unwanted movement in check. And that’s with my Sony A7 mounted to it carrying a fairly weighty lens. There’s no wobble or instability of any kind, it’s ridiculously sturdy.

Like with the Key Light, it’s height-adjustable between 55cm (22 inches) and 125cm (49 inches), and the lower limit is probably the only criticism I have with it personally. When trying to use a camera as a webcam, it’s quite high up still, or at least compared to the combined height of my chair and I. If it were even 5cm lower at its shortest it would have been perfect. The ball head makes for easy adjustment, but the camera is still looking down a little.

That’s a personal thing though. Otherwise, it’s a pretty faultless product. There’s not much to it to pick fault with anyway! It’s even fairly reasonably priced, especially compared to tripods or monopods.

Made stronger by its add-ons

The real beauty to the Multi Mount is the other stuff you can pair with it. It’s the heart of a pretty flexible mounting system and while cameras are going to be one of the primary use cases, it doesn’t end there. For example, if you just want to elevate your phone, perhaps for some Instagram Live broadcasts or, say, to view your stream chat on when streaming, just pop on a smartphone holder.

The Flex Arm kit is the real gem, though. I don’t have one handy to test, but it’s essentially made up of four tubes that can all be angled in different directions in order to get the position of your camera/light/phone/tablet or whatever you have attached absolutely perfect.

This articulating kit can be manipulated any way you like, with one popular example allowing for a camera to be pointing perfectly straight down. Ideal to show off a keyboard while gaming or maybe to shoot a good old-fashioned unboxing video.

The weighted base you can add makes the whole thing mobile, too. Most folks will just mount this system to a table and leave it there, but the weighted base means you have even greater flexibility over how you use it.

Perfect addition to your streaming setup

The most immediately obvious target audience for this are streamers and paired with Elgato’s own Cam Link (or a regular capture card if you have a spare) you’ve got a safe, sturdy way to use a proper camera in place of a webcam. And with the extras available for more advanced requirements, it’s really easy to recommend.

The biggest issue, like with many Elgato products from time to time, is availability. It’s not uncommon to see stock shortages, indeed as of this review the official retailer for the U.S. Amazon, isn’t able to sell you one. If you can get hold of it though, it’s a really easy and effective way to up your content creation game.

So simple

Elgato Multi Mount

A simple idea that can make such a difference

It’s so simple it’s a wonder it hasn’t been done more, but this essentially adds a monopod to your desk and makes mounting a proper camera so much easier and so much neater.

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