Finally got my heavy-duty lighting boom and stand

Robert - here's a photo of one of the wheels on the stand and another taken off.

Note the little aluminum block. It goes under the setscrew inside the rectangular cutout in the wheel's mounting assembly. The setscrew in the mounting assembly bears on the aluminum block, pushing it tight it to the leg. Also, the aluminum block has a little round projection that locks into a hole in the leg. The combination is extremely solid when assembled.

The wheels themselves have rubber tires and are mounted on rather sturdy ball-bearing assemblies. The wheels are approximately 3-1/8" diameter. The stand's legs are approximately .880" diameter.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

Thanks Skip,

That's great! I'll be posting a review with images of the piece of crap I got (and that I am returning). I normally am very careful not to buy junk and I rarely try to save money when I know what I need but this time I made a big mistake.

I was looking at the Amvona site and found what looked like a good boom and stand with wheels. As we know, looks are deceiving.

I'll save all the details for my review but for now let's just say I learned a valuable lesson and also can safely advise others not to buy from Amvona.. at least the stands and booms. I suspect the softboxes and other accessories are also cheap junk but that remains to be seen.

I couldn't be happier with this rig, Robert. As you have probably figured out, I don't like to buy (or make) junk tools. I want tools that will last until I don't need them any more and then will last another generation or two (or more) into the future past that point for the folks who inherit my tools.

Fortunately, one of my kids is a good photographer and the other is into mechanical things (a gunsmith by trade). Between them, they should be quite happy to get Dad's collections some day.

I know you are happy with it Skip. I made the mistake of not following your lead. I'm now looking at the setup you have and one other Bogen rig for around the same price.

TMR Design wrote in post #3764093
I know you are happy with it Skip. I made the mistake of not following your lead. I'm now looking at the setup you have and one other Bogen rig for around the same price.

I downloaded the Manfrotto catalog .PDF's from the Bogen web site. That provided a real wealth of information from which my ultimate decisions were made.

Of course, talking to the folks at AlienBees helped too. I originally wanted to get the Manfrotto boom without the stand and then put it atop a 13' air-cushioned AB stand. The folks at AB suggested that the load, if not properly balanced (which it cannot be during the time that one person is assembling the stuff on the boom), would likely rip the fitting out of the top of their stand. Their suggestion to get the Manfrotto stand was right on the money.

Thanks for your help Skip. Now I just have to return the junk I have and get a refund and then I can make a new purchase.

If you are looking for light stands the best I have ever used are Mathews, C-stands. They are great, and heavy enough to put just about anything on top. Try to find them used if you can the rarely break.

Les

Skip, that old school unit works great. I have had mine for so many years and it keeps on ticking. I like the length of the boom extension.

I made one mistake of not tightening the weight properly. It fell and dented my wooden floor. It also broke the weight itself - the screw bent way out of shape; unrecoverable. Luckily, I see that 5, 10 and 15 lb. replacement weights are available.