Light Stand suggestions

I am looking for some suggestions for light stands for around 12 to 15 pound head weight. I currently have some Manfrotto and Buff stands and while they are fine for lighter weight lights, I always have some fear when using them with heavier heads. Since I don’t have a studio the stands will usually be used outdoors. This means that while they don’t need to be a pound or two, I can’t carry fifty pound stands up and down the hills with heads attached. Looking to spend between $175 and $250 per stand. So, any suggestions?

Thanks,

Jerry

I would look at Matthews Roller Stands, the online retailers post the maximum loads so you can compare. Don’t forget to add set weights for added stability. If I’m shooting outside and the C Stands won’t work, I use the stand from my Super Boom and a couple set weights.

The key to the support of heavy weight atop a light stand is not the weight of the light stand itself, but it is all based upon the diameter of the footprint of the legs when they are spread. That is the key characteristic that makes the entire assembly more stable... the miniscule difference between a 2lb light stand vs. a 4lb light stand is insignificant. Choose maximum footprint diameter as the criteria for your choice

Putting weights at the ends of *each* leg helps, but you need FIVE pounds of weight for every pound of load at the top because of the leverage factor! Yet that is not easily achievable in portable situations...lugging sand bags is not fun, especially when you are trying to counterbalance 15 pounds at the top.

Outside, any wind blowing that strikes a softbox exacerbates your problem, and you really need an assistant to hold the stand to keep it from falling over due to the wind. Or guy wires going down to stakes in the ground.

While most of my stands are rollers, if you are shooting at the top of hills then you can skip the wheels—but not steel construction, wide footprint, and a way to stake the lighting to the ground. Reference products in your use category are the Matthews Hollywood Combo and Beefy Baby stands. These have leveling legs if that matters and they fit your budget (if not your weight ideals).

Ref:
https://www.bhphotovid​eo.com …od_Combo_Steel_​Stand.html
https://www.bhphotovid​eo.com …ood_Beefy_Baby_​Stand.html

Beefy Baby double-risers holding my backdrop:

I was looking for a similar outdoor stand with leveling legs, ended up with this Kupo stand with square legs..

https://www.adorama.co​m/kuks140611.html

Same load rating as the C stand (22 lbs) but half of the weight. Not as solid as a steel baby stand, but noticeably sturdier than my 11' Manfrotto aluminum stands. The build quality is very nice.

Couple pics of vs C stand and Nano..

If you can avoid using a boom outside, I'd agree with Lotto.

Kupo's 195S Baby Kit Stand W/ Square Tubular Legs
3 risers, 4 sections. Dia.: 35mm, 30mm, 25mm, 20mm Leg size.: 22mm x 22mm Aluminum material With 1 leveling leg & Welding stand top
Footprint diameter of 112 cm, 44 in. 3.3 Kg.

On my comparable (Alu) MSE B387490 (capacity; 11 Kg) I can stretch bungee/shock cord from the centre column, just above the tripod base, to a ground screw. The bungee can be loaded to the equivalent of 25 Kg. That's not a recommendation; it's just what I do,

Look for spread leg stands... The spread-leg tripod style stands are available from different brand/models in a narrower/wider diameter footprint. For example, for a 12' stand you can find products with footprints from about 43" diameter footprint to 78" diameter footprint.

Thanks so much for the posts and even more for the images. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Jerry