I recently bought a pair of light stands, one of which I like a lot, and another that I’m a bit disappointed with. The one I like is the Impact Multiboom Light Stand and Reflector Holder. The other is the Cowboy Studio Top Quality Aluminum Adjustable Light Stand. I have to say that I found the Cowboy stand not to be very well made. The photo below shows the main problem; one of the clamps doesn’t close all the way:
This photo shows the problem with the upper clamp failing to close fully.
This doesn’t actually prevent the telescoping pole from being locked down. It’s just that it doesn’t feel secure since there’s no appreciable change from the locked to the unlocked position. The lower clamp locks down as expected but the upper one is as closed as possible with my unit.
The other issue with the Cowboy stand is that it’s much smaller and lighter than the Impact product. Here’s a photo that shows the two stands together so you can compare the size and sturdiness:
Sometimes, small and light is what you want but, for my work, I most often prefer something sturdier. Also, note that the smaller Cowboy stand has a slight bend in it while the larger Impact stand looks nice and straight.
The main reason I bought the Impact stand was for its ability to support a reflector. It works well for that. It also works well as a mic boom. There are some good reviews of the Impact stand elsewhere so, for those who want more details, I’ll just refer you to those posts:
- Impact Multiboom Lightstand & Reflector Holder on Dan Carr’s blog
- Impact Multiboom Light Stand and Reflector Holder Review on Nasim Mansurov’s Photography Life blog