Light stand recommendations

Mintchocs

Mintchocs

Messages
1,045
Name
Clint
Edit My Images
Yes
I am looking to purchase a couple of light stands to put off camera flashes on possibly with soft boxes in the future. Stability and decent quality. Budget? Well that depends !! Any suggestions on a multiple flash bracket would be welcome as the ones I have seen on the net don't seem to secure the flashes that well and I would hate to lose an expensive flash because of a cheap fitting.
 
The Lencarta stands are abargain, about £30 for a stand some others charge nearly twice that for.
 
I've got a manfrotto nano and a nanopole. They are excellent for speedlights with small modifiers umbrellas and softboxes at least up to 60cm octas and they'll extend to about 190cm + adapter which I find to be enough for most subjects. I consider adding the 1052BAC that will take more payload with only a slight increase in weight. I find the manfrotto stand to be of significantly better build quality and lighter than Chinese made stands. Instead of multi flash bracket I'd consider one of the speedlights on steroids, godox AD200 or AD360.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Stability of a flash come down to a few things (generalising), base area of the feet i.e. the greater it is the more stable, height of the stand, as it gets higher it can get less stable and the surface area of whatever is attached i.e. put a big modifier at the top and in the wind it becomes a bigger sail and also something more likely to be bumped in to. One of the simplest things that can improve the stability is weight acting down at the base of the tripod - sometimes only the best will do, just added one of these to my collection https://www.productiongear.co.uk/ma...aby-double-riser-with-rocky-mountain-leg.html but price vs stability etc. I bought one of these a few years back https://shop.photomart.co.uk/light-stand-jb-3000.html? and happily use that with a full studio head and 150cm Octabox indoors
 
Weighing lightstands down is pretty easy though not always pretty. A couple of 1,5-2L bottles with water, an Ikea or potato bag with stones or similar found on site or your gear bag etc.
 
Some good stands here. I think I've used them all except Mike's Monster.

The basic Lencarta stand is a solid job and great value. Likewise the Lencarta RedLine stands that look very similar to iLux, and have the advantage of a detachable spigot that can also be fitted at right-angles - I sometimes find that very handy. The Manfrotto Nano folds down small and the legs can go down flat to the floor, so less easy to trip over. The Nonopole version is cool, good on uneven ground, but if you're working outside with a softbox, even the sturdiest stand will blow over without extra security.
 
mike weeks said:
It is about 14Kg so Ballast not required and has a bigger footprint than my c stands so a pretty stable unit, add in the Rocky Mountain leg and I have something that overcomes a lot of issues

Mike
Click to expand...

It says 5.7kg on the link, but that's still 3x a decent normal stand. Weight is obviously good for stability, but it's really about leverage - height x footprint. Get it a gust of wind under an umbrella and it can still do a Mary Poppins, but without the elegant landing.
 
I may have misinterpreted the OP but I do find such heavy stands to be somewhat overkill for speedlights.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
HoppyUK said:
It says 5.7kg on the link, but that's still 3x a decent normal stand. Weight is obviously good for stability, but it's really about leverage - height x footprint. Get it a gust of wind under an umbrella and it can still do a Mary Poppins, but without the elegant landing.
Click to expand...

Sorry that should have read 14lbs,

Mike
 
Another user with the manfrotto nanos for speedlights. I usually put my bag on the feet to hold it down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top