Tall light-stand recommendations!

O

OldCorpse

Rockin the Boat
I need to place a cam high up at the side of a road. I was thinking about how to do it most economically. Unfortunately, there are no 'natural' or man-made things like trees or electric poles around. So, I was thinking of using maybe a tall light stand. The one downside of a lightstand is that unless you have a pretty even terrain, you can't really adjust the legs (except stuff like sliding-leg c-stands). Fortunately, this is going to be a flat road, so I think I can pull off something like a light stand. Obviously, I'd prefer to do it cheaply, since it's a one time deal, I'd rather not be stuck with some super niche product. I own a 9' Manfrotto boom arm. So my idea was to get a cheap tall stand like this:

Impact Heavy Duty Light Stand, Black 13'

Hard to beat for, like, $50. So my idea was to put a grip head at the top of the light stand, and angle up my 9' Manfrotto boom arm, and counterweight + sandbag it, and I should be able to get my cam up like maybe 20'. Any other ideas? Or other light stands to recommend? I see also the same Impact Heavy Duty Light Stand 13' but aircushioed for like $20 more (I don't really care about air-cushioning), or for the same $70 an equivalent looking Creative Light (don't know what the difference is from the Impact one):

Creative Light 13' Light Stand

Open to any other ideas too. Hopefully 1) Not expensive 2) Quick to set up / break down.
 
What kind of camera are you rigging? Those stands will not be enough to support anything larger than a handycam at full extension plus a 9' arm. Maybe something like a Hi-hi roller or a mombo combo. Both can get past 20 feet. They are very expensive to buy ($300+), but about $8 to rent per day from Wooden Nickel here in LA.

Also, many stands have adjustable legs, they're called mountain legs. One of the legs can slide out to straighten the stand on uneven terrain, like a mountain, stairs, or roof.
 
Just a GH3 - pretty small. Hmm... at that low a price of rental, maybe you're right, it just doesn't make sense to buy... I mean, I need it for three scenes - so probably a couple of days max.
 
Yeah, definitely go rental. Wooden Nickel is the least expensive place around. I don't think the Impact stand will be sturdy enough with the weight of a camera at full extension, you'd get lots of flex. You also might want guy wires if it's a particularly windy day.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top