Lighting stands

PerroneFord said:
Matthews Light Stands. Why fool around?
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By Matthews I'd assume we're talking C-Stands; and yes, they're pricey but strong, versatile, and last forever.

I actually think the Avenger C-Stands are a bit better, and we're seeing chinese knockoffs out there (some of which are lighter weight and flimsier).

You can also hunt on eBay for used Mole Richardson stands.

Personally, I use a mix of C-stands and tripod-style stands. C-stands don't transport as easily, they're expensive and heavy, and they can be overkill for flagging off a light. Many of the tripod-style stands out there are short (around 6 ft. max) and lots of 'em have that silly 1/4" male stud sticking up for consumer flash gear (you can cut the studs off with a hacksaw or angle grinder of course).

Also, cheaper tripod stands (say, not made by avenger or a name brand) often get loose over time, and a they won't stay "up" with much weight on them; you need to keep pliers and a screw driver with you to tighten the clamps on the damn things.

If you get some c-stands, shop around and get the "turtle base" stands (the center column separates from the base)- I think they're easier to transport (throw the bases in a long dairy crate and the posts in a stand bag), and adding a "butt plug" gives you a very low, but very strong stand for background lights, etc.

Looking around me right now, my kit is roughly:

4 C-stands (mathhews/avenger) with grip heads and arms;
2 Turtle-base C-stands (the post is removable)
2 "butt plugs" for the above (gives you a VERY low C-stand)
Abut 8 tripod-style stands of various heights;
1 tripod stand that's 16" max height for low lights;
Two Matthews Beefy Baby stands (very heavy duty 11' stands) for rigging high setups;
About a dozen extra grip heads;
About 8 various lengths (1' to 5') of 5/8 stainless tubing (for making booms with the grip heads)
8 or so Avenger Super-clamps (priceless)
A box of various superclamp hardware for rigging stuff up;
3 Mathhews baby pins (5/8 x 12") on nail plates, screwed to 18" plywood squares (cheap footlight stands);
About 20 "A"-shaped spring clamps, large and small;
And a telescoping background bar for hanging seamless, greenscreen, etc.

Building up a kit along those lines gives you a lot of options. The superclamps are great for adding gels or scrims to a light without using up a stand, too. (You join 2 together with a bar made for that purpose and attach it to the stand column)
 
I have a number of lighting stands from a variety of manufacturers, and they're all the same made-in-China models with different stickers attached. I don't think there is a "best". Just pick a model that does what you want it to do for a price that seems reasonable for you.

(Also guilty of using lighting stands as C-stands -- C-stands are too heavy to lug around.)
 
Michael Carter said:
By Matthews I'd assume we're talking C-Stands; and yes, they're pricey but strong, versatile, and last forever.
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Why would you assume that? I wasn't talking about C-Stands at all. Matthews (MSE Grip) builds light stands for anything from 200w hair lights all the way to 20k crank stands. But they are built just like the C-Stands. I have some of both. My Mambo Combo stand will put a 5k fresnel 24 feet in the air. But it weighs about 80 pounds!

http://www.msegrip.com/mse.php?show=products&cat=433

Michael Carter said:
I actually think the Avenger C-Stands are a bit better, and we're seeing chinese knockoffs out there (some of which are lighter weight and flimsier).
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I'd avoid knock-offs of any kind. There are enough quality stand manufacturers out there to have terrific choice. Avenger, MSE, Arri, Mole, etc.

Michael Carter said:
You can also hunt on eBay for used Mole Richardson stands.
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You can hunt for all kinds of brands. Just don't buy junk. A tungsten lamp burning at 400F after it's been on for 2 hours is not what you want to see falling to the ground on-set. Believe me. I had to spend an hour cleaning up a nasty mess when an el-cheapo light stand toppled taking a fluorescent fixture with it. They have Mercury in them. Not pleasant at all.


Buy decent gear. Please.
 
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PerroneFord said:
Matthews (MSE Grip) builds light stands for anything from 200w hair lights all the way to 20k crank stands.
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Yes, I am currently lusting after some Hi-Hi's... pyramid had some for CHEAP and I missed 'em.

Didn't mean to assume, C-stands being sort of ubiquitous though.

I wouldn't mind finding out that some of those $99 chinese C's with grip arms were sturdy and well made though; I bought one that turned out to be about half the weight of a matthews/avenger, but it's fine for flags/etc... wouldn't trust it with a 1k or anything.

Regarding the moles - their baby-sized stands seem to show up often on eBay; they're usually the tripod-style, but those are some butch stands and usually underpriced. I'd like to get a few, as the low-profile of their legs would work well when nested up with other stands. Used 'em forever in rental studios.
 
Michael Carter said:
I wouldn't mind finding out that some of those $99 chinese C's with grip arms were sturdy and well made though; I bought one that turned out to be about half the weight of a matthews/avenger, but it's fine for flags/etc... wouldn't trust it with a 1k or anything.
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I have a couple cheapo Chinese C stands, I have no stability problems putting up my ianiro 1K with doors. I would probably trust it with a 2k as long as there are a couple sandbags available. The only real problem I have with them is fit and finish on the grip heads, mine came with mold marks and the two halves don't really meet perfectly. They're not Matthews, but they're a decent bargain.
 
I was looking for an alternative to the cheapies and found a tripod style stand made by Savage that fits the bill. It's about $50 for a 13' stand. It is solid, stable , easy to adjust and better than other Chinese stands. I found it by looking over the sites that rate gear and , many, many people like them. Adorama and other companies carry them in various sizes.
 
Just remember, unlike any other piece of equipment, the light stand and C-stand will last forever. Don't buy cheap. If you buy a solid, professional stand, it will last longer then you will. The cheap ones will simply fall apart or wear out.
 
Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
Just remember, unlike any other piece of equipment, the light stand and C-stand will last forever. Don't buy cheap. If you buy a solid, professional stand, it will last longer then you will. The cheap ones will simply fall apart or wear out.
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I certainly agree with you in principle, but the chinese C stands I've gotten from ebay are pretty decent. They're clearly not as good as Avenger or Matthews, but for 110 bucks shipped, they are a hell of a lot of stand. They'll put 15 pounds of gear up 10 feet no problem. The spring load is a gimmick, the grip heads are mediocre and the chrome is iffy, but I've had them for 9 months, put them through a dozen or so productions and they are still solid. They've already paid for themselves vs. rental cost, so I'm happy. YMMV.

If only there were cheap chinese nesting apple boxes :/
 
Most of the C-Stands I've seen here in China range from adequate to great. We sell the great ones. As far as other kinds of stands, sure you can get junk from China, but not everyone is selling that. We spend a lot of time here finding the best available. Thus we have both great air cushioned and spring cushioned stands in many capacities. Any C-Stand will definitely be the king though in both sturdiness and capacity.
 
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Hey Richard - I didn't know you carried C-stands (I think you should consider separating out "stands" in your site nav??)

Good to know you carry those - I see the pricing isn't that far off of Matthews though, esp. your "normal" price - which will get you a 40" Avenger and a grip arm if you shop around. Are yours pretty comparable?
 
Yes I think I will separate out a few more categories so its not buried so deep.

As far as I can tell, they are very comparable in terms of build. For specs, ours is a 33" and thus comes in somewhere between their 20" and 40".

No complaints from any customers either. There are no plastic parts on them anywhere, all metal. Except for some rubber protection around the metal near the top.

Actually hardly anyone asked for it, but I'm kind of wishing we would have carried the arm and grip head as well but maybe next time we order some we will. Just to have a more complete offering.
 
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For C-stands or for "regular" three-leg, telescoping stands?

C-stands can kill you on shipping, so check place like Adorama.com that ship for free. If you're in a big city, check your local prof. photo & video stores - you may pay a bit more, no shipping though, and it's really good to get your face known in such a place. Google "century stand", "Avenger c-stand", etc. and see what you find.

You might find used ones on eBay, but individual eBay sellers are bad with pricing shipping on large items like that. In my town, you sometimes see stuff like that come up locally (Craig's list).

Check Pyramid Films (google it) they often have deals on used stands and their shipping is reasonable.

If you see a c-stand with spring or air cushioning, I'd avoid it - that's a consumer gimmick, not a useful feature. It's hard to find regular tripod style light stand without it these days though, unless you get Manfrotto or other pro stands. (Manfrottos are pricey, but man, they last).
 
One more thing on c-stands... pay a little more and get the kind where the shaft removes from the base (often called "turtle-base" stands). Way easier to transport, and you can get a "butt plug" (and junior-to-baby-pin) for the base that makes it a super-low stand. Also, my Avenger turtle-base stands are way more butch than my matthews one-piece stands.
 
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