Flashpoint 10' C (Century) Light Stand

I don't give a lot of five star reviews, but the Flashpoint C stand deserves it. I have used a lot of C stands - mostly Avenger brand. I was a bit hesitant at the affordability of this stand and all of the features. I was worried the stability or quality would suffer because of the added features - boy was I wrong. If you are looking for a lightweight stand for your speedlight, this isn't it. C stands are supposed to be heavy and in my experience scary to use. I have had my hand or finger squashed many times with the old-school C Stands, and this is resolved in the Flashpoint version with the addition of inner springs, a great touch! I love the fact that the stand comes with the boom arm the knuckle and baby pin. What this means is that most lights you would use on this stand are accommodated right out of the box. Just setup the stand attach the light and your all set. I use this stand with my profoto D2, Photoflex Flexflash 400 and Starlight 600. The larger Photoflex Constellation continuous lights also work perfectly on this stand. Use and features: The padded grip is nice, and feels luxurious compared to the old Avenger stands. I like that the boom arm is included. Be aware that there is no bag included (which is not unusual at all) and this stand is super heavy. The knuckles can be tightened down hard just like the old Avenger stands. The 10 foot height is great and even with heavy lights at that height, the stand was stable and not "tippy". Pros: Heavy sturdy good quality stand Boom arm included, works with most strobes and as a gobo arm right out of the box Base is removable and the whole unit breaks down for easy travel (did I mention this stand is heavy?) Works with or without the boom arm. Risers are spring loaded (awesome feature) Legs lock into place when opened Cons: The only real negative which is an inherent negative with C stands is that they are heavy. Conclusion: Still with me? awesome! if you found my review helpful would you help me out and mark it as useful. I love this stand. As I said in the introduction, I don't give a lot of five star reviews I am very critical of my photo equipment. This stand for the price and quality is a great find. I'm sad that I waited this long to push the button and buy one from Flashpoint.

I now have four of these with two more coming. Love these stands! Well made, heavy, and durable. The grips are medium/light heavy duty, but work great. What I mean by that is, if you held a Hollywood grade grip in one hand and one of these in the other, you would instantly see what I'm talking about. However, that being said, I haven't had any problems at all. I've had an eight pound light at the end of the grip arm 11 feet over head with no issues. For the money... you can not find a better deal anywhere. And, if the grips are an issue, these stands are fully compatible with ALL century stand accessories. The turtle base (Which require both hands to open, you can't just roll them open off the leg) are standard size and very sturdy. The main stand stem has a junior pin bottom that slides into the turtle base with a baby junior pin top so you can place a light right on the stand. It also has internal springs for accidental drops (don't do that though). You will not be disappointed.

This is a very robust light stand. It is also very heavy; which is a good thing and a bad thing. The good news is that I no longer worry about a light tipping over. The bad news is that I'm not going to be tucking this thing under my arm and walking with a load of gear. Did I mention that it's heavy? It is so heavy and adaptable that it can be used for duties other than holding a light. Adding a ball mount lets me use it to hold a camera when I do product shots in my studio. I am able to position the camera to shoot down on the product, and with tethered shooting it really speeds up my work. It is a good product at a good price.

This c stand is 100% worth purchasing. I purchased one, but will most likely get 2 more in the future. It is very heavy/ sturdy and the assembly was easy. I will have no problem with adding my strobe and modifier to it. I do plan on getting some wheels for it eventually so it is easier to move around.

This thing weighs a ton! This is my first heavy duty light stand. I'm impressed with the weight and build. However, it did not come with any sort of instructions. I'm not sure if I'm opening the legs correctly - it takes a lot of force to get them to open, as they "lock" into closed position. I feel like I'm forcing them open. The first leg is VERY hard to open and then the two others are easier. It definitely feels like there must be some sort of release, but it isn't evident. There also doesn't seem to be any way of locking the legs into open position, so I just randomly space them equally apart. This is a bit problematic, because as I move the stand around, the legs can shift, leaving the stand more vulnerable to tipping because the feet aren't equally distributed. Perhaps I'm not opening them correctly - if someone would care to provide some instructions, that would be appreciated! LOL! Instructions would have been VERY helpful! It does seem very well-made and heavy duty though. I've only used it once so far, and I see that it would be soooo much better if it were on wheels, as it's very heavy, awkward, and unbalanced to lift and move it when you've got a head on the boom. I found that the legs moved and I had to fix them in the midst of the awkwardness. I'm going to check into putting wheels on it.

I've worked in music recording studios for many years, and one thing I've long lamented is the lack of quality mic stands. Sure, you can purchase a quality mic stand, but it will cost you an arm and a leg. I hate buying cheap junk, so I tend to overbuy so that I won't have to purchase stuff more than once. Words can't adequately describe the mixed emotions I had when I ordered this as my first flash stand. On the one hand, I was perplexed at what arrived on my doorstep--a massive, HEAVY box. Could this really be the flash stand I ordered? Yep. And while I was ecstatic as I unpacked and assembled this piece of machinery, I was also a bit angry that the audio world has no equivalent for mic stands anywhere close to this quality, never mind the price range. If this was sold as a mic stand, it would cost at least 4 times as much. I'm absolutely blown away by the quality of this stand. In fact, seeing as it would be very simple to simply swap out the boom arm, I'm going to order these as mic stands from now on. This is absolutely amazing for the price. I'd say I'd pay twice as much for this, but I don't want them to suddenly jack up the price, so I'm going to say it's priced "just right." :-)

Heavy main pole. Comes with baby pin and knuckles and a boom arm which has threading for accessories (3/8 on one side, and I believe 1/4-20 on other). It also has a nice insulated pad to protect your hands from freezing/burning in weather. It also has a spring at the bottom of each section to prevent it from slamming closed. The unexpected bells and whistles that were a nice surprise, but it is heavier than most C stands. The base removes, so it seems more oriented for the photographer who owns one or two, than for the movie set that would be throwing a few dozen on a truck, but works well for either. I use it for flagging and holding a boom pole. Edit: over time, I've lost the plastic inserts on the legs. Recommend gaff taping those to prevent loss.

This Cstand is the best value for money. C stands are not very complicated, thus not worth spending too much money on them. This one even includes the baby pin, which almost no other one includes. This one is robust, and has the foam grip which is very useful for moving it, might not seem like much, but very helpful.