DO NOT PUT YOUR LOAD FACING OPPOSITE YOUR LONG LEG ON A C-STAND!!! The extra leverage provided by the sandbag is so much less than the leverage of having a solid contact to the ground directly underneath your load. Even then, always bag the tallest leg of the c stand even if it is towards your load.
Thank you for your comment. Leg underneath the load is correct. I put the sandbag on the back leg because with if you put the sandbag on the leg that is under the load then the stand can roll right or left without a bag on the back side.
Absolutely wrong information on the big leg away from the weight. The Big Leg goes under the weight and the bag goes on the big leg. Doing it as described in this video will leave absolutely no support under the weight, and you are relying 100% on the C-stand and not mostly on physics.
See my comment above. That cuts the reach of your boom and becomes to inefficient. I have done this on set for 25 years and it works. I know others say the opposite but that is how I work so I get the maximum reach form the boom and the leg does not cut that reach down.
After using those self-fill sandbags for a few years with SAND in them and finding that inevitably sand would leak out - I discovered it is much better to fill them with crushed stone. Similar flexibility of sand, but now, no messy leaks!
Regarding bags in a C-Stand. I thought the proper way to 'balance' the load was to put your load & arm over the long leg, so as to give it the most centered gravity. If the sand bag should be on a leg opposite to the load, doesn't it mean it should be on a different leg? I find the Avenger brand CStands seem to better heights on their C Stand feet for this reason. The middle tier leg for most sand bags is still possible.
Hi Daryl, thanks for your comment. If you have the weight over the long leg then you are losing a good amount of reach for your boom, which defeats the purpose, imo. I've been doing it the way I mentioned for 25 years. I use the sandbag to counteract it and haven't had an issue. Thanks for watching.
This is exactly the topic I was searching for this morning, four years after you made the video! Thanks for making and leaving up this video on these important fundamentals (they might not seem important until the lights come crashing down...).
Hemmm... normally, on C-stands, one leg has to go UNDER the extending pole at the side, so the bag can't go directly opposite to that (the legs are 120 degrees from each other). One thing I never understood: why the bags have to be black? I thought that having them on a more visible color would be better. There is a real reason or is just "fashion" ?
I get this about the leg all the time. The manufacture tells you to put the leg toward the weight and under the boom. This does cause the stand to be more stable and less likely to fall over. The problem is that you just cut the reach of your boom by the length of the leg. If the boom is sticking out 4 feet and you put an 18" leg under it then its now only sticking out 2.5 feet. It is so inefficient that it negates the reason for a boom. I put the leg on the opposite side of the boom and put more weight on it. Now I get maximum reach with the boom. As for color its black so they will hide more easily.
If you need a boom, use a baby boom. Even 25-year vets make mistakes. Unless you're a robot. Then there's just no excuse... you're off to the scrapyard! ;)
Great vid and tips as always - I picked up several bags recently and filled with pea gravel in ziplock bags. Is there a formula for the light/stand vs bag weight or just play it by ear? Thanks
No, it just depends on how heavy the light is. If you boom you'll need a heavier bag, or maybe even two. If it's straight up you'll need less. Thanks for watching, Matt.
Bag weight varies. I love the rock steady bags by Photflex. They are empty and you fill them with water bottles or gravel when you need them. Great to travel.
Where do you find the sand bags with the handle that goes across the bag rather than along the length of the bag? I cannot seem to find any of the type you prefer. Oh, and by the way I love the humour sprinkled into your videos.
Hello! I'm trying to sort out my lightstand problems since my shoot through umbrellas keep on getting fcked up due to wind blowing it sometimes, but I don't want to bring an additional weight of sand bags to photoshoots. I only commute via bus and I don't have a car. I have a similar light stand on 2:38 with knobs for height adjustment. I'm wondering if I could use my backpack and hang it up there instead to make it more stable? Do you think that could work as an alternative for sandbags? Thank you for the help! :)
Absolutely use a backpack. You can add filled water bottles to it to help. You can also purchase empty sand bags that you can put water bottles in or add dirt, rocks or sand to them at the location where you shoot. bhpho.to/3Rfv68d
Hi, i hope someone sees this question, i fear that if i put the sandbag the way is shown in the video i can break one of the 3 pieces of metal that connect the legs to the base, is that a valid concern or im worrying without need
I'm well away for sandbags and won't need any for a while, but I wish I'd seen the handle thing before I bought them. I put builders sand in very strong plastic bags inside the bags then there is no chance of any leakage at all and I always get someone else to carry them.
This is a great video! I'm very much a newbie, but I still can't find a RU-vid video that illustrates how to balance a boom arm with a sandbag! Do I continue to remove sand from the bag until I've created a sufficient counterweight? If so, where do I dispose of the sand if they're shooting indoors on location in an apartment building? Are there certain techniques that will create a counterweight sandbag quickly?
Most boom arms come with a counter weight. And you move the counter weight closer to the stand or further from the stand to create the balance. A sandbag is too heavy to put on a boom.
Hi! Thank you for this video! Do you have a link to purchase the sandbags that you demonstrated that work better? The second sandbag you showed. I want to make sure I get the right ones.
Hi Sasha, thanks for watching. Check out the website for our affiliate links to each of the bags. Thanks! theslantedlens.com/2017/studio-equipment-sandbags-quick-tip/
Hi, What size and brand of sand bag do you use on C-Stand so it doesn’t touch ground? I bought 4 sand bags thinking they are standard size but they still touch floor even on highest leg.
Hi JAS, thanks for watching. You can find our affiliate links to the sandbags here: theslantedlens.com/2017/studio-equipment-sandbags-quick-tip/ You can find them filled or not filled.
That is correct unless you are booming a box over a full figure and then the leg negates the reason for having an arm because the leg sticks out almost as much as the arm and you can see it on the floor.
1. How about Four 1-Gal ZipLock Freezer Bags, Some Wet Sand from the Beach or Home Depot and some Plastic Shopping Bags. Double wrap the Ziplock Bags for spillage. So make that Eight ZipLock Freezer Bags 2. One Funnel, Six 1-Liter or 2-Liter Water Bottles and some Wet Sand from the Beach or Home Depot and some Plastic Shopping Bags! Voilia! And if you really don't want to spend any money what so ever. You can go dumpster diving and find all this in any standard Apt Dumpster. That's Only if you're really desperate.
Well in all my years as a lighting technician & gaffer, we never placed sandbags the way that you do, and when using a C-stand, the large leg should be directly under the lamp to counteract the imbalance. Sand bags are better place sideways around the column of the stand and not over any of the legs. For bigger units, a separate bag on every leg of a three legged stand, and maybe even more depending on the circumstances. We would send anyone back to C-stand school that used & bagged C-stands that way LOL
