Hi I'm not sure if this has been brought up before but I did do a search and found nothing.
If I have a lightstand, what would I need to be able to attach a boom arm onto it so that I can hang my BD on it. Is that even possible or would I have to buy a whole new setup?
Any stand can be used to hold a boom, but a minimum stand size, suitable boom arm, counterweight and sandbag are required for practical and safe use.
What stand do you have? What boom are you considering? What size head/beauty dish are you using? What is the fastest land animal?
A medium to large aluminum stand of decent quality (Bogen or better) would be the minimum. A steel century stand (double-riser) is preferable, and will give you a much safer setup. A simple side-arm on a c stand works perfectly for a beauty dish (with sandbags and maybe a counter-weight, too)
I got the LS3900 from alien bees. Its the 13 foot heavy duty lightstand. As far as a boom is concerned, I wasn't sure what would be a good fit for it. And the beauty dish would be the 22" BD attached to an AB800.
And the fastest land animal is the cheetah with a maximum speed of up to 120km/h. Or me after I've taken an 8 ball of speed...
JoJo, I've been trying to do the same thing with little luck, much frustration. First I bought the D600 Mini Boom arm for that same ab stand. Well, it turns out the D600 weights 8 lbs, 2X as much as the ab800 + BD. But then you counter weight it with the 15 lb sand bag and you've got 8+15+ ab800 + BD on this flimsy stand. Didn't seem safe to me so I sent the D600 back. Just didn't make sense either to have a 8 lb solid steel bar to hold about 4 lbs.
Next, just today in fact, in comes the Avenger A475B Baby Combi-Boom to solve my problems. Wrong! The boom bends like a rubber band with ab800 + BD on 1 end and the sand bag, about 12 lb on the other end. Plus, it just doesn't seem safe where you turn the nob to hold the poles from falling down. Seems like you need a pin of some kind. Also, the way you attached the ab800 doesn't seem safe either, again seems like you need a pin.
Sorry to take over your post like this but as you can see I'm boom challenged. Any one know if there is a "Boom for Idiots " book out there?
Robert, I read that boom thread of yours and was about to get a grip kit but was concerned that a 40" arm was not long enough. I want to do butterfly lighting with either the ab bd or medium sb.
if you want to do Butterfly light you would be shooting through the split in the lights or the light and bottom reflector. In reality you only need to off set your lights about 6 inches to a foot. this would be really easy with a grip kit. Just because you can go to 40 inches doesnt mean you should. Just keep that in mind. By keep the weight near the center you will use less weight in keeping is secure.
If you want a hair light thats 10 feet in the air and the stand out of the way of the BG then thats a different setup and will require a heavy boom.
hollow4 wrote:
if you want to do Butterfly light you would be shooting through the split in the lights or the light and bottom reflector. In reality you only need to off set your lights about 6 inches to a foot. this would be really easy with a grip kit. Just because you can go to 40 inches doesnt mean you should. Just keep that in mind. By keep the weight near the center you will use less weight in keeping is secure.
If you want a hair light thats 10 feet in the air and the stand out of the way of the BG then thats a different setup and will require a heavy boom. ...Show more →
Agree completely. Simple C stand with grip arm should be more then enough.
I think they are fine to put a light at a given height, a given angle, and keep the stand out of the shot, but I wouldn't use it to put a light over a models head.
I think they are fine to put a light at a given height, a given angle, and keep the stand out of the shot, but I wouldn't use it to put a light over a models head.
Ryan
That's what I thought they were. I mainly work on "location" so the c-stands are out for me.
RobertLynn wrote:
It looked like something that wouldn't work well ....
Looks can be deceiving.
C-stands work quite well outdoors. I depend on them. Aside from heavier lazy leg stands, I find that C-stands work outside much better than regular stands.
Next to flags, gobos and grids, the C-stand/grip arm combo may be one of the least appreciated and most misunderstood pieces of kit available to lighting neophytes.
C-stands are GREAT outside. The extra weight and the ease of sandbagging both help them not blow away.
And they make C-stands where one of the legs can be adjusted up and down for uneven terrain (one of the links above may show that particular stand; I haven't followed all the links).
