Boom Arm & Weights

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Kev
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Hi

I have a number of heavy duty light stands, so just want to buy a boom arm and weights to hold a lencarta smartflash 200 with an 80cm octa.

I have had a quick look on the lencarta site but looks like they only sell the boom arm kit.

Are there others to look at the don't cost over what lencarta sell the kit for?

Thank you

Kev
 
i am also looking for a boom arm. For a fairly heavy light and a large modifier. It's hard to know the actually capabilities of the boom. And whether the counter weights would be sufficient.

I'd say have a look at Pixapro, https://www.essentialphoto.co.uk/
They are good value.
 
I've used the essentialphoto boom arm, it works well, I tend to balance out the light at one end with a bag at the other with some water in separate bottles, hence it can be adjusted to suit, I also add a sand bag to the base of the light stand for added insurance.

Chris
 
Thank you both, will check out what they have.
 
There may well be others that are around the price of the kit Lencarta sells, however I don't think they'll be any cheaper. You tend to find the boom arms sold as kits, as the fitting on the top of the stand is a lot more robust than a simple lighting spigot - to handle the rotational force. They also have wider footprints than a light stand, and come with wheels - which make it harder to tip over as lateral forces (from someone knocking it) just pus it across the floor rather than pivoting it around a one of the feet. I have one that's identical to the Lencarta one https://www.lencarta.com/studio-boom-arm-with-casters and it's held up well for years. I paid over a £100 for mine though from elsewhere. £84 is a good deal. The counterweight is sufficient for most jobs and I've had a Lencarta Superfast 600 (3kg) and a 120cm octa (~1kg) on the end. The counterweights are around 5kg I think, but as you tend to have more pole extended at the light end, it won't be perfectly balanced. This is ok as long as it's not too much out of whack and the you remember which is the heavy end. You do need to be very deliberate about handling a boom like this though -try to arrange the light so it hangs naturally in the position you want it rather than relying on the wing-bolt on the light to stop it rotating on the end of the arm. Note - the Lencarta boom arm (and many others) allows the spigot to attach to the arm in two ways - straight out, and at 90 degrees to give more options for hanging the light. Align the arm with one of the legs. Be careful when taking the light off as the counterweight will pull the whole thing over. Do as Chris does and add sand bags over the crossbars or wheels.

You'll have less problems with a Smartflash as they don't weigh as much, and an arm like the Lencarta one will hold that up just fine. For the best boom arm experience see below the Safari II - the light that brings balance to the force :p The light side and the pack side balance out :) I use the Safari on the boom (well this extension arm on a C-stand mostly tbh as it takes less room than a regular boom stand) most of the time for this reason - if I don't need an all Superfast setup for freezing motion.

The third way of supporting a light overhead which I now use almost all of the time for heavy lights is to use a background support (two background stands with 3m crossbar) and attach the light to the middle of the bar with a super-clamp. This is a much more stable and safe arrangement.


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Basically, what Owen said.
It's about speed of working, ease of adjustment etc but, above all, it's about safety, not only of equipment but also of people, and it just doesn't make sense to get a boom arm attachment that fits onto a light stand.
 
Thank all for all the answers, Owen thank you for a very detailed answer.
 
I'll just say that the proper boom tilt head (like on the Lencarta) is much nicer to use than the grip head type (c-stand) clamps are... the sliding weight is also a nice feature.
Yes it is - but I'm strapped for space (and sometimes I'm lazy and the C-stand is already there ) :p
 
I'll just say that the proper boom tilt head (like on the Lencarta) is much nicer to use than the grip head type (c-stand) clamps are... the sliding weight is also a nice feature.

There are several good booms designed for C stands but just using an extension arm doesn't make it a boom arm proper even if it can work. I've got no complaints with a Kupo steel baby boom, it's compact, relatively cheap, sturdy and versatile:

IMG_20180128_172752.jpg

Not that I'd recommend one as a starter, works well if you already have grip equipment but not a cheap choice otherwise.
 
Yes, we know that they are available to fit onto ordinary light stands - but crack cocaine is available too, and that isn't either safe or a good idea either :)
The fact that the counterbalance weight is only 2.5kg should be telling you something...
 
Thank you all for the suggestion, at the moment I think the Lencarta ones is the best one for me, juts deciding if I really need it.[emoji848]

End up buying bit and then not making time to use it.
 
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