Rode Mini Boompole

I do not work on film sets, therefore cannot say how it performs during location shots, however I use it in field recordings to record sounds that are out of my reach. Firstly it's not the lightest one - which in my opinion is a plus - it has a bit of weight to it and so it feels like I have more control over it. It allows you to feed an XLR cable through the pole - which you might want if you're booming on movie sets - I personally prefer good ol wrap around since the sounds that I'm recording are more unpredictable and I need to be able to undone everything pretty quickly. Locking mechanics is a bit on a tricky side tho. It does work and hold boom in place tho it's not the smartest one. It gets stuck occasionally and will need a bit of force to undone. the bottom bit is padded therefore no need for boom gloves. I think the amount of handling noise depends on a boom operator. My hands are a bit on a bigger side and I didn't experience and handling noise whatsoever. Good product but there's room for improvement

I've used the boom pole for community videos and recently in a short film. The locking mechanism is okay for each section (there could be a danger of over-tightening and thread damage but this hasn't happened to me). With reasonable care it's lasted for years and been reliable. Nothing has broken. It's not particularly heavy but I use it for short enough takes with a Rode NTG2. Nobody who's ever operated it for me has complained about it being too heavy. I have also used it for field-recording in order to avoid hand-held mic noises. It's light enough to be part of a field recording system along with the Rode Blimp, that is portable and not cumbersome.