Adapting lights for standard stand stud?

[Scott Lovejoy]

Hi all,

I have 2 Century Fresnels that I'm assuming were originally used for theater (they have massive C-clamps on what I think is called the "yoke"). I want to use these for film because they both work, even when the yoke is turned around (so that they're are no longer hanging lights). Is it possible to buy the female end to that goes onto the standard Lowel or arri stand? It's hard to search for it and the Lowel site seems to have all the male ends but none of the female. Any help, including an ID of what this piece is called would be much appreciated.

[Perrone Ford]

Go to Hollywood my friend...

MSE - Matthews Studio Equipment

Matthews Grip. If they don't make it, they know who does. Awesome company.

[Jonah Bierlein]

Hi,

The Arri part is called a 16MM Stirrup Socket(5/8" Baby Stand Block). It might work on a Century depending on the yoke, stirrup whatever it is called. This one cost about 35 bucks at a random online site.

Here is a pic:

[Jonah Bierlein]

This one at filmtools.com might be better (cheaper at least):

Filmtools TVMP / Bale Block: 5/8" Socket to 3/8-16 Socket

[Bill Davis]

Newsgroup regular Richard Andrewski's company CoolLights sells a very nice yoke to baby stand adaptor for under 12 bucks.

Cool Lights Light Stands and Grip Hardware - Cool Lights USA (first item)

They're VERY heavy duty and should last forever.

[Nino Giannotti]

Careful, those Century fresnels were very heavy and 5/8 mount might not make it. I have two 2k Century fresnel that were also used on a studio configuration that are huge, even the 1k were almost twice the weight of an Arri 1k. Stands that only have 5/8 studs usually don't support well and are dangerous with heavier loads. You might seriously consider 1-1/8" pin on your lights and get heavier stands with the 1-1/8 female receiver.

[Scott Lovejoy]

Originally Posted by Nino Giannotti

Careful, those Century fresnels were very heavy and 5/8 mount might not make it. I have two 2k Century fresnel that were also used on a studio configuration that are huge, even the 1k were almost twice the weight of an Arri 1k. Stands that only have 5/8 studs usually don't support well and are dangerous with heavier loads. You might seriously consider 1-1/8" pin on your lights and get heavier stands with the 1-1/8 female receiver.

This was an unspoken fear I'd had. Those Century lights were the first I'd laid hands on, and when I got to film school and saw the Arri fresnel kit (2 650s and 2 300s) I was amazed at how tiny they were. I'd love to spring for one of those kits, but right now I have to deal with what I have, but perhaps with larger studs.

[Jonah Bierlein]

What size are your lights? How much do they weigh?

I have Arri 2Ks that use 5/8 and they weigh 16 lbs. That is about the max I would use that size for. The stand is usually the bigger concern, a lot of stands with 5/8 are not strong enough for that much weight (at least not if you have to go very high).

What are yokes made of: flat steel, tube, etc.?

[Richard Andrewski]

Originally Posted by Scott Lovejoy

This was an unspoken fear I'd had. Those Century lights were the first I'd laid hands on, and when I got to film school and saw the Arri fresnel kit (2 650s and 2 300s) I was amazed at how tiny they were. I'd love to spring for one of those kits, but right now I have to deal with what I have, but perhaps with larger studs.

I can't speak for other stand adapters but I think you'll find that most like the Mathews or Avenger and my Cool Lights one have an inner hole that's 5/8" (16mm) and the outer diameter of the adapter is 1 1/8" (28mm). The reason this is done is to make the adapter more utiliarian and act either as a baby female or a junior male. If you didn't know this, you'd just think we were making the adapter more thick than it needed to be but thats the real reason is so it can have use in either place. Looking at the Filmtools "Bail Block" I can't verify that it has an outer diameter of 1 1/8". It would have been smart of them to post that if it was though since that is a feature of many of these kinds of round adapters. Square ones like the Arri 16mm model or our the one we use on our tungsten fresnels 650w and under would not work obviously.