So you bought some lights. Now what? For our Deals of the Week, we found three options to get your lights set up and shining.
Lighting a scene can be hard, especially if you don't have any stands or grip heads. If you just bought yourself some fancy lights but forgot everything else, we've got you covered. We dug through our Deals of the Week to find a cushioned light stand for general use, a versatile C-Stand for those hard-to-reach places, and a grip head that can pretty much attach to anything you want.
All you'll need are some sandbags, and you're in business.
Manfrotto Alu Master Air-Cushioned Stand
This 12-foot Manfrotto Alu Master Air-Cushioned Stand is a lightweight support with an impressive load capacity. A clever design feature called QSS (Quick Stack System) allows the stand to fold flat, enabling several stands to be clipped together to save space in the studio or on the road. The Alu Master also comes with a 5/8" (16mm) "Baby" stud, a 1/4"-20 screw, and a 3/8"-16 screw.
The highlight feature of this stand is the air cushioning between extensions. This ensures a soft descent of fragile equipment when the locking knob is loosened. It also keeps the rookies among us from pinching our fingers when we're tearing down our lighting setups. Manfrotto is a solid brand that's seen a lot of success over the years, making this a light stand that needs to be on your shortlist.
Impact C-Stand Overhead Shot Kit
The C-Stand is a staple of any production. If you don't have at least one, you're working with one hand tied behind your back. This 10.75-foot Turtle Base C-Stand Kit from Impact is comprised of a chrome C-stand, a 2.5" grip head, and a 40" extension arm. The stand features a patented locking mechanism that allows the legs to swing out and lock into place for easy setup and collapse flat for storage.
The included extension grip arm fits neatly into the stand's removable 2.5" grip head, allowing you to offset the stand and cantilever flags, gobos, or lights out of the way of the action. The stand has a low center of gravity which allows for the mounting of heavy equipment without tipping. The legs are also perfectly shaped for saddlebag-type sandbags.
The kit is also often used as a short boom arm, and a small camera plate if you want to add some video capabilities to your grip gear.
Impact Hex Stud Grip Head with Super Clamp
Sticking with the theme of versatility, this little grip head can attach any light or flag to practically anything you can think of. A staple on any production set, B&H has put together a Hex Stud Grip Head with Super Clamp to offer production gear with sturdy metal construction, a high load capacity, and 5/8, 3/8, 1/8, and 1/16" holes to accept almost any size flag, cutter, scrim, and more. The integrated 5/8" hex stud fits into the Super Clamp's receiver to mount the head onto poles, pipe, truss, etc., up to 2.5" in diameter.
With how much it costs, buying a few of these for your toolkit is a no-brainer.
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