I need a bunch of light stands, suggestions?
 

Hey gents!
I need to buy 10-15 light stands capable of holding a 1000w fresnel or diva light. Got some huge stands and some tiny stands, but very little in between. There are 100's of them out there, can anyone suggest a good bang for the buck? Was looking at the Manfrotto 1052 but open to others.

Thanks!

There are some Chinese based vendors who advertise on the eBay who stock other items they don't list. If you send a question via the "ask a question" function, for a sale of fifteen they may give you a good price.

The apparent build quality seems good. C-stands from the same source appear to share some modular hardware like tube-ends and thumbscrews. The 1-1/8th" spigot hole on the specimen I received was a tapered shape, therefore the lamps spigot does not drop all the way into the hole but stops short about halfway in.

I don't know if this deviation from an apparent industry standard is deliberately intended for quick setup and locking by wedging action of the spigot end against turning in the hole, or if it is a manufacturing/design error. I have notitified the vendor who supplied one to me of this.

For practical functionality it was of little consequence to me as I added a stop bolt in a threaded hole provided. This limits the penetration of the spigot end into the hole at the point where the thumbscrew above it engages in the channel in the spigot end which prevents the lamp from pulling out in the event of a topple and catch and the stand falling the rest of the way onto the foot of the catcher..

The vendor I bought from was Steven Studio.

I buy all my light stands from Norm's in Hollywood - normsgrip.com. The ones I wanted were out of stock, but he said if I'd wait 5 minutes he'd weld up some new ones. I think they were about $70, the steel ones go 12', the aluminum a little shorter. I won't ever buy elsewhere again.

I own Norms, Matthews and American Grip light stands besides my Arri kit stands and some small Matthews travel stands that I bought for my travel kit. Out of all of them, the American are built the best but are the heaviest. The Norms and Matthews are fine and the Arri kit and travel stands are also good but flimsy in comparison.

What is your main priority, quality or lightness and cheapness? Kit stands and stuff like Manfrotto are fine if you are traveling or are cash poor but American is by far the best you can get. But they are heavy and not cheap.

Dan

i bought a stack of manfrotto QSS 12' triple riser stands and a pair of matthews "digital" triple riser 13.5' stands. I love them both. the matthews are pretty beefy, but not insanely heavy for their height. I put a diva on them without bothering to bag them (at lower heights or indoors). The QSS stands fold flat (cool design) and clip together so you can pick up a big stack of them with one hand. As "kit stands" go, i'd recommend them (at least, the 12' version. the shorter one seems kinda weaker). The are two different worlds, but both pretty good worlds. I dunno if either is right for you, but I'd consider both worth a look.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/636420-REG/Manfrotto_1004BAC_3_1004BAC_3_QSS_Air_Cushioned.htmland
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/443233-REG/Matthews_387032_Digital_Triple_Riser_Sky_Hi.html