Does a Light Stand With Integrated Umbrella and Flash Holder Exist?

[FluidKnowledge]

I'm looking for an ultra portable light stand and umbrella set up for portable portraits wherever I go. I know there are individual light stands, umbrellas, and flash holders but you need to assemble each piece on site, which is a major pain and waste of time if you move around to multiple locations.

Is there a light stand with an integrated umbrella and Flash Holder that simply collapses down in one quick motion? And equally fast to set up in one quick motion?

If not, why hasn't somebody created this product?

 

[Schrodingers_cat]

Is there a light stand with an integrated umbrella and Flash Holder that simply collapses down in one quick motion? And equally fast to set up in one quick motion?

Possibly, but not that I are aware of.

If not, why hasn't somebody created this product?

My guess is no demand.

Ever thought about doing a Kickstarter project ?

 

[FluidKnowledge]

Maybe I should design my own if this doesn't exist. I know I'm not the only one that wants to minimize gear and set up time.

 

[Schrodingers_cat]

Maybe I should design my own if this doesn't exist. I know I'm not the only one that wants to minimize gear and set up time.

There you go

 

[kli]

Uh... I just use compact umbrella swivels. They live on my light stands full time. Just throw the stands in the bag with the swivel attached. No need to disassemble.

Amazon has tons of cheapies with the spigot, so you don't even need a lightstand, just anything with a 1/4"x20 thread.

 

[FluidKnowledge]

Uh... I just use compact umbrella swivels. They live on my light stands full time. Just throw the stands in the bag with the swivel attached. No need to disassemble.

Amazon has tons of cheapies with the spigot, so you don't even need a lightstand, just anything with a 1/4"x20 thread.

I have one of those flash foot clamps from those spigots. I use Sony so the flash foot doesn't even fit well in those clamps. Those clamps don't have a proper L shaped channel to hold properly onto the lip of a flash foot. Those clamps primarily hold a flash by friction clamping with a wedge instead of by shape. It is a very poor clamp. And Sony flash foots are plastic and have exposed thin contacts so they will easily get damaged by those clamps.

 

[Ellis Vener]

I am not sure if FlashZebra.com is still in business but maybe they have some type of flash/umbrella/stand adapter for Sony that will work for you?

Loading…

flashzebra.com

 

[Sailor Blue]

Here is what you need.

Adorma Westcott 5-Section Aluminum Alloy Light Stand 7425

Adorama Westcott Metal Adjustable Shoe Mount Umbrella Bracket 5015

Adorama Westcott 43" White (Collapsible) Satin Umbrella 2011

Great example of a portable kit.

DPReview - The ultimate portable light system by daddyo.: Studio and Lighting Technique Forum

If you will be shooting outdoors pack some sand bags with double zip lock bags inside. Fill the zip lock bags on site with rocks or use bottles of water, etc. This is to keep the light stand from blowing over - umbrellas are great sails.

 

[FluidKnowledge]

Here is what you need.

Adorma Westcott 5-Section Aluminum Alloy Light Stand 7425

Adorama Westcott Metal Adjustable Shoe Mount Umbrella Bracket 5015

Adorama Westcott 43" White (Collapsible) Satin Umbrella 2011

Great example of a portable kit.

DPReview - The ultimate portable light system by daddyo.: Studio and Lighting Technique Forum

If you will be shooting outdoors pack some sand bags with double zip lock bags inside. Fill the zip lock bags on site with rocks or use bottles of water, etc. This is to keep the light stand from blowing over - umbrellas are great sails.

 

[tugwilson]

Uh... I just use compact umbrella swivels. They live on my light stands full time. Just throw the stands in the bag with the swivel attached. No need to disassemble.

Amazon has tons of cheapies with the spigot, so you don't even need a lightstand, just anything with a 1/4"x20 thread.

I have one of those flash foot clamps from those spigots. I use Sony so the flash foot doesn't even fit well in those clamps. Those clamps don't have a proper L shaped channel to hold properly onto the lip of a flash foot. Those clamps primarily hold a flash by friction clamping with a wedge instead of by shape. It is a very poor clamp. And Sony flash foots are plastic and have exposed thin contacts so they will easily get damaged by those clamps.

Yes, Sony's hotshoe design means that the flash foot is not suitable for mounting on normal umbrella swivels. Even if you replicated the design if the Sony hotshoe you'd still have the problem of those Sony compatible speedlights that have plastic feet which are prone to damage if the stand is knocked over.

The only solution I can think of is to use a Godox S-Type bracket or the Phottix Cerberus.

 

[Gato Amarillo]

Uh... I just use compact umbrella swivels. They live on my light stands full time. Just throw the stands in the bag with the swivel attached. No need to disassemble.

Amazon has tons of cheapies with the spigot, so you don't even need a lightstand, just anything with a 1/4"x20 thread.

I have one of those flash foot clamps from those spigots. I use Sony so the flash foot doesn't even fit well in those clamps. Those clamps don't have a proper L shaped channel to hold properly onto the lip of a flash foot. Those clamps primarily hold a flash by friction clamping with a wedge instead of by shape. It is a very poor clamp. And Sony flash foots are plastic and have exposed thin contacts so they will easily get damaged by those clamps.

An integrated stand/mount would probably use the same type of clamp.

I used Sony for a couple of years and never had a problem with the side clamp style shoes. I did have a couple of slide in shoes where they would not go in far enough to be really secure.

Like the poster above, I just leave the umbrella adapter attached to the stand most of the time.

Gato

 

[flyinglentris]

I'm looking for an ultra portable light stand and umbrella set up for portable portraits wherever I go. I know there are individual light stands, umbrellas, and flash holders but you need to assemble each piece on site, which is a major pain and waste of time if you move around to multiple locations.

Is there a light stand with an integrated umbrella and Flash Holder that simply collapses down in one quick motion? And equally fast to set up in one quick motion?

If not, why hasn't somebody created this product?

If you don't mind hand holding your flash, either at the end of a extend cord (shoe or PC Sync) or using RF (Pocket Wizard?) and use just the Wescott shoe/umbrella bracket (mentioned by SailorBlue), you'll have a very portable flash/umbrella device. Hold the camera in one hand and the flash/umbrella in the other.

It's not all uncommon for a photographer to hand hold flash and camera w. or w/o the umbrella. You can't get much more portable than that.

--
flyinglentris in LLOMA

 

[kli]

Uh... I just use compact umbrella swivels. They live on my light stands full time. Just throw the stands in the bag with the swivel attached. No need to disassemble.

Amazon has tons of cheapies with the spigot, so you don't even need a lightstand, just anything with a 1/4"x20 thread.

I have one of those flash foot clamps from those spigots. I use Sony so the flash foot doesn't even fit well in those clamps.

Ah. Well, if you're shooting Godox, you could always get non-Sony speedlights, update the firmware (if they're TTL) and just go from there. If you don't need TTL, a TT600 (non-S version) is $65 and has a metal footplate that works well with the metal clamps.

Or you could replace the little thumb-screw type clamp with a Frio (which is also plastic). It's supposed to be faster and lock more securely than the little thumb-screw type clamps. Someone on Amazon says it works with their Sony gear in the Q&A, and one review mentions using it on a HVL-F60M.

 

[definedphotography]

Here is what you need.

Adorma Westcott 5-Section Aluminum Alloy Light Stand 7425

Adorama Westcott Metal Adjustable Shoe Mount Umbrella Bracket 5015

Adorama Westcott 43" White (Collapsible) Satin Umbrella 2011

Great example of a portable kit.

DPReview - The ultimate portable light system by daddyo.: Studio and Lighting Technique Forum

If you will be shooting outdoors pack some sand bags with double zip lock bags inside. Fill the zip lock bags on site with rocks or use bottles of water, etc. This is to keep the light stand from blowing over - umbrellas are great sails.

That's not what I would call portable. You are basically carrying around a large suitcase where you have to grab and assemble everything at each location and then disassemble and pack when the next location may be just 50 metres away. That takes lots of time. You might as well have a full studio setup for the effort.

eh? You don't need a big bag to carry around that stuff and its pretty light weight. Most of those things you can stuff into pockets on a backpack.

When you need to move to another location, lower the stand, and let down the umbrella, Carry it to the new location, pop out the umbrella, raise the stand and you're ready to go.

Be lucky if that takes a minute.

 

[Sailor Blue]

Here is what you need.

Adorma Westcott 5-Section Aluminum Alloy Light Stand 7425

Adorama Westcott Metal Adjustable Shoe Mount Umbrella Bracket 5015

Adorama Westcott 43" White (Collapsible) Satin Umbrella 2011

Great example of a portable kit.

DPReview - The ultimate portable light system by daddyo.: Studio and Lighting Technique Forum

If you will be shooting outdoors pack some sand bags with double zip lock bags inside. Fill the zip lock bags on site with rocks or use bottles of water, etc. This is to keep the light stand from blowing over - umbrellas are great sails.

That's not what I would call portable. You are basically carrying around a large suitcase where you have to grab and assemble everything at each location and then disassemble and pack when the next location may be just 50 metres away. That takes lots of time. You might as well have a full studio setup for the effort.

Yes, you could do what you say, disassemble and repack before moving, or you could just move the stands and lights the same way as you move your regular stands and lights.

Personally I would just collapse and remove the umbrellas then lay them and the stands across the open suitcase, pick the whole thing up and move it all at once to the new location. Setting up again would take a lot less time than making multiple trips for your studio lights and stands, etc.

I only have a single light kit with a similar collapsible stand, umbrella adapter, and a Westcott collapsible white umbrella. I pack all that plus my hot-shoe flash, flash meter, shaving kit, and up to a weeks worth of clothing into a wheeled carry on bag.

I call that extremely portable.

 

[stateit]

Sailor Blue wrote:

...I pack all that plus my hot-shoe flash, flash meter, shaving kit, and up to a weeks worth of clothing into a wheeled carry on bag.

Shaving kit? And there was me thinking your avatar image was a self-portrait...

 

[Sailor Blue]

Sailor Blue wrote:
...I pack all that plus my hot-shoe flash, flash meter, shaving kit, and up to a weeks worth of clothing into a wheeled carry on bag.

Shaving kit? And there was me thinking your avatar image was a self-portrait...

Close, but not exact. This was just the best avatar I could find.

I used to be a sailboat owner and sailor and I do have gray hair and a gray beard but I keep the beard more neatly trimmed and shave to shape the beard.

 

[charbsindxb]

Not to take anything away from this thread or your idea, but it literally takes less than 2 minutes to put a flash on a light stand, pop open an umbrella and put it in to the holder.