M Carter Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 This grew out of a discussion over on DVX user, thought I'd add it here if anyone is interested.A poster asked "what is the best c-stand" and my reply was "usually, not a c-stand".C stands are designed to get small lights and flags into a maze of light stand feet. They're not intended for overheads or big 2K fresnels. They tip easily, they're hard to pack, and the way the column meets the base at a single point makes them even more prone to tipping. For some reason, "c-stand" has become a sort of knee-jerk must-have for people starting to build a kit. I like having c-stands, but especially on a tight budget, I'd shop for stands that are more versatile, can hold more weight with greater stability, are easier to pack, and could reasonably be used for, say, an 8x8 overhead in calm conditions, and (hopefully) cost the same or less. Something that can take an XL softbox or a big octagon without 3 sandbags and prayer.I'm comparing stands here to the Avenger Turtle-Base (unless you are 100% studio, you really don't want 1-piece C-stands - I feel they're a pain to pack). And turtles do give you the floor-stand option with a butt plug. Yet I'd take a Beefy Baby over a c-stand any day, in most cases. So - Stands in the $200 or less range you should consider. In the US, all the stands below can be found with free US shipping. There's probably a few more choices out there, but here's what's top of my radar:BEST VALUE:Matthews Steel Kit Stand 25 lb load, 37" footprint - 9.5 ft. tall(Actually better height, load and footprint than the Beefy Baby)$87, free shippingNot as heavy steel as Beefy Babies (and thus lighter to pack)... and, DUDE, eighty seven bucks!! That's two c-stands!!THE KING OF AFFORDABLE STANDS:Kupo Master Combo HD $15688 freaking pounds max. load!55" footprint! ELEVEN FEET high.baby pin AND junior receiver.Leveling leg!Cons: a very very wide footprint (very stable) that might be overkill on a tiny set.OR SAVE A FEW BUCKS:Kupo Master Combo Alu Senior Stand $14426.5 lb load at a maximum height of 12' 4".Footprint: 46" - still pretty big.Aluminum construction, a triple function universal head and a leveling leg.THE KNEE JERK C-STAND, (most agree) THE BEST VERSION AVAILABLE:Avenger turtle base c-stand $1699.8' feet height, 3' footprint, 22 lb max load, baby pin. Anyone who puts 22 lbs. on a fully extendedd c-stand may be asking for trouble though...If you shoot strictly in the studio, you can save some money and get 1-piece (non turtle) c-stands. Which are a pain to pack.If you use turtle base stands, you should invest in some butt plugs at $20 or so each. Makes a great floor-level stand.Or buy the narrower turtle base and a butt plug.BEST ALTERNATES TO THE C-STANDIn addition to that $87 Steel Kit Stand...Matthews Beefy Beefy Double Riser $1738.5' height, 22 lb max load 33" footprint. An industry standard. Essentially same price as the best c-stand.(Was manufactured with a 12' aluminum column for some time, and those show up cheap on the used market - I wouldn't extend those fully or use in the wind, as the column is weaker than steel. I have two of the aluminum stands and I feel the column could buckle with enough stress. Great lightweight stand to get smaller flags up very high though, great for big softboxes at reasonable heights.)Matthews Beefy Beefy Triple Riser $20312 ft height, 20 lbs max load 33" footprint. A killer stand.WANT WHEELS ON A KILLER STAND?Kupo Junior Roller $19917 lb max load - 45" footprint - 8.8' highWith super useful and good-sized braking wheels - bigger wheels than the Matthews roller in fact, which don't have brakes (well, mine don't).(Avenger roller is same price, 1 foot shorter, only 28" footprint.) The giant footprint of the Kupo roller suggests it could be used for smaller overheads in calm conditions if big height isn't needed.This type of stand is a dynamite thing to have - I use them for microphone booms, they're sturdy and reposition fast, rarely need sand bags. Nick Hughes, Chrad, Xavier Plagaro Mussard and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tupp Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thanks for the thoroughly informative rundown on stand deals! When someone says "C-stand," they usually mean a C-stand with a grip head and a grip arm. So, C-stands are generally used for grip applications (to hold flags, silks, nets, etc) -- not for electric. On the other hand, many have certainly used C-stands to boom/cantelever 2k Mighty/Baby-Junior fixtures. When a truck and crew are available, I prefer the typical, heavier baby and junior/combo stands. However, when I have to carry gear by myself, I opt for the lighter stands, of course. By the way, it might also be good to price Lowel stands. Lowel switched fabricators from Pic to Kupo long before Kupo was "cool," and Kupo mimicked the Lowel stands on some of their own light-weight offerings. Don't know what has happened to Lowel pricing since they were bought by Tiffen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeys Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Gah, all the Imperial units. Luckily B&H offers metric.This list seems to be geared towards bigger productions though. I'll admit to using fairly small LED lights myself... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Carter Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Good points - though this was really "inspired" by newbies who seem to think c-stands are the only pro stand out there.And every stand I listed has a baby pin and will take a standard grip head & arm; the juniors have pop-up baby pins with Jr. receivers, and would have you prepared for that first 1.2k HMI you buy from eBay.@Ieeys, I'm in the US and used US links and only posted items with free US shipping, but many of these should be available on your side of the pond. I have plenty of $50 black steel light stands, many that came with flo's, etc, and they're handy and lightweight. Once you try to boom even a small card with 'em, not so great. Again, I'm suggesting people new to all of this become aware that their heavy-stand dollars can be better spent than just c-stands. For the same investment (or a few bucks more, or even a good deal less) you can get a lot more stand with more versatility.There are times on a complex shoot (especially product shots) where only a c-stand will fit in that maze of tripod-leg stands - that seems to really be their intended use. Those of us with a product background have been there - the jewelry tabletop with a forest of chrome all around it, a stylist and client trying to get their heads in with a camera on an arm and a giant softbox overhead... I've even loved those little "mini" c's at those times - with the 18" footprint!This shot took every light stand I owned (film days, shot on EPP) - and I ended up grabbing two microphone stands (products on individual sheets of glass, etc) andrgl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrgl Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 This shot took every light stand I owned (film days, shot on EPP) - and I ended up grabbing two microphone stands (products on individual sheets of glass, etc)Just finished working on shooting something convex and reflective (nightmare.) Can't imagine how insane that'd be with film. Had over 20 shots make up each comp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Carter Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Just finished working on shooting something convex and reflective (nightmare.) Can't imagine how insane that'd be with film. Had over 20 shots make up each comp.Film really separated the men from the boys. I did a two year portfolio project, 35mm 320T tungsten film pushed 3 stops, then duped (in my enlarger with a flash unit taped to the condenser) to 8x10 velvia or EPP (the shot above is the same technique). Multiple exposures on glass sheets with a different focus point for each layer, and different lights for each exposure. Three to five exposures per frame. No comps of course, Photoshop still shipped on floppy discs back then (I learned Photoshop from version 2.0 - came on like seven floppies and the manual was like a phone book!) - one shot (with brackets). I went through a lot of tungsten Polaroid pack film (which only came in 64T but I was shooting 320T at 3000 asa). Polaroids shot with a Nikon and Forscher fiber-optic back and layers of ND. Bracket like hell and cross your fingers. Came out gorgeous.The worst part about film shooting? Trying to sleep after a $20k shoot with the film at the lab, no snip tests til morning. You try to sleep with that hanging over your head!What happens when you push 320T 3 stops (don't worry, it's no longer manufactured): andrgl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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