Century Stand Alternatives

[RichardHerold]

my friends and I are looking to invest in some stands to hold scrims and flags and potentially booms. The problem is that we have a limited budget and are wary about investing in cstands. are there any cheaper alternatives that will do the job? we won't be supporting anything too heavy.

 

[puredrifting]

Not sure why you would be wary of buying C stands? They are the best tool ever made for doing exactly what you need to do. Just buy used, if you can find them. Sometimes used C stands are plentiful, other times, they can be difficult to locate.

Light stands with arms can work but have a larger footprint, are flimsier as far as build and not as safe because they are not designed to hold items with offsets like C stands are. And good light stands aren't any cheaper than C stands. Crap light stands are but you get what you pay for. Don't buy Amvonas from Ebay, they are junk and people who have them and think that they are good have typically never used a real Matthews, American, Norms or Modern C stand. The fittings are crappy and rough, they are flimsy and fall apart and they are not THAT much cheaper than real C stands.

Dan

 

[fde101]

Depending on how heavy is "too heavy" (and a good point above about the arms), CoolLights (www.coollights.biz) has some decent tripod-style stands. Just watch the weight ratings on the site; they vary from one stand to another (along with size and such).

Another thing to bear in mind is that if you are shooting outside, many C-Stands can adjust for non-level terrain, which the tripod-type stands won't be able to do. Most sandbags (important) are designed for use with C-Stands and you might need to be more creative when mounting them (please do) on other types of stands.