Light stand for outdoor photography?

[PJL]

I'm looking for a light stand that's inexpensive ($50 or under) for use with a speedlight and umbrella outdoors. Any suggestions? I've seen what Adorama and B&H have to offer and they all look the same to me.

 

[tirediron]

At that price point they are all going to look the same, and they are all going to be the same; cheap, flimsy with easily broken plastic "locks", etc. For $75-85 you can get a nice Manfrotto or Cameron stand which will be considerably more rigid, and as long as you use a few sand-bags on the legs, you'll be fine. Remember that umbrellas are nothing but big wind scoops, and that SOB Murphy will ensure that no matter where you shoot, the wind will be blowing right into your umbrella. I would check out Craig's List and see if there are any good deals there; you might be able to pick up a used C-stand for not a lot more than the $50 you want to spend.

 

[Big Mike]

For outdoor use, there are two ways that I might go.

The first one would be to get a big, heavy stand with a wide footprint. Even a little bit of breeze can blow over a stand with an umbrella, and the bigger the stand, the more stable you can be. Sand bags and/or ground stakes may be needed.

The second way, would be small light stands...mostly because I'm probably not shooting within 100 feet of my car...so I'll have to lug all the gear around. And, because it's outdoors and because of having to lug it around, it's going to take a beating. With small, cheap, light stands, you can basically treat them as a consumable product....you get 20-30 uses out of them and then have to buy more. But for $25, that might be workable.

But really, the best light stands for outdoor work are VALS...Voice Activated Light Stands.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5002/5244006991_00e11b9647.jpg
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[kfirg]

take a look about manfrotto 1052BAC

i use this light stand and i really love it.

Compact Stand 1052BAC - Baby Lightweight | Manfrotto

 

[hirejn]

I look for ways to save money while maintaining quality of work and light stands are one way to do that. I have the Flashpoint Pro stands and they're plenty robust for regular use. You can see them on the equipment list on my website. They were about $40, not the cheaper $17 ones. If that saves you $30 each, that's enough to buy another modifier, weight, light mount.

You should be using sand bags regardless of what stand you have just as a general safety precaution, so stability isn't necessarily the core issue. Any stand on its own can be knocked over. Yes, C stands may be more stable, but if something blows over and you didn't have it weighted down, the type of stand is moot, and if you don't have insurance even worse. Any stand with a weight is difficult to knock over even in a strong wind. And if the wind really is an issue, consider not using large modifiers. Safety must come before the photo and sometimes sacrifices are made or the shoot is rescheduled.

Also, I like the air cushioned stands so if you unlock a pole without catching it the gear doesn't crash down. I do think there's a benefit to the C stands, but whether they're an absolute necessity depends on what gear you're putting on the stand. For regular stands, I think money can be saved. The Flashpoints are metal and realistically they'll take a good beating before you'd have to worry about replacing them.