I wanted to get boom arms for two of my light stands. Now, these stands are not specifically meant to hold the arms, but oh well. They're "heavy duty" stands (even though they're very light), and go up to 13'.

I was wondering if anyone had any boom arm recommendations. . .good bargains, if you can recommend 'em.

From Charles Papert

Speaking of stands, I just got a couple of Bogen/Manfrotto boom stands (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=152012&is=REG) on a recommendation from Chris Gyoury. At $139, you get a unit that can function as a regular heavy-duty light stand, then by flipping a lever it magically turns into a boom stand, allowing you to hang a small backlight or angle a fluorescent such as Matt has built like one would on a C-stand, but in a much more portable design. Very, very nice. Comes with a fillable counterweight bag also!

Yarrgghghg. How bout just the boom arm itself, separate from a stand? I've seen some on ebay, but they're all telescoping extensions, and this dude at a local camera shop told me that they weren't meant for too much weight.

http://db.manfrotto.com/product/templates/itemalone.php3?itemid=1568

Josh
What kind of stands do you want to mount the boom to?

Those manfrotto combo stands that Rob mentioned are great i have one and Matt bought a herd of them. At $140 for silver and $160 for black they'll carry 33 lbs on the boom or 22 lbs on the stand. The sand bags will also hold 8 cold beers. (I had no sand to fill them one day)

I was bored and reading some catalogs this AM.

look up the Avenger D570, D600 and D650
they're all add on booms for light stands

What stands you have now?
What light you will put on boom
How far do you want the boom to exstend..
What kind of counterweight do you want - is this something you will want to transport?????????????????????????????????????????????????

The stands I have now are called "Bash" stands. . .they're no well-known brand that I know of. They work fine alone, and will support a 650 fresnel at their full height (though they like to slowly wave back and forth, weigh them down, kids!) but it seems the weight of the boom arm is just too much; they try to bend at the joints. . .the joining of each section, that is. So it seems I need a heavier stand now, or just to buy the combos you guys mentioned.

Avenger A475B

the ultimate convertable boom.


$200 at BH and worth every penny with an empty sand bag.