DIY 9.5ft Boom - 40 Bucks, 10 Minutes

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Written by N Maxell Lander Tuesday, 07 April 2009 19:02

Inspired by the Nick Turpin street portraits (that have been inspiring a whole hell of a lot of us lately) we at N Maxwell Lander Headquarters set out to find a cheap boom arm option. i had read that a lot of people took apart light stands to create a quick boom, and that some people used painting extensions poles. After investigating the extension pole, we just couldn't figure out a way to attach a flashgun to the end that didn't involve purchasing specific tools. the light stand however, didn't require anything beyong a drill (and i know some light stands just need a screwdriver.) I bought my light stands from vistek a few months ago and got the SLS Medium for the price of a small ($28). The other costs associated with this project include $2 for a pack of 4 rubber leg tips from a canadian tire, and $11.99 for the bicycle grips from a local bike shop (Urbane for torontonians, who were totally open to helping us figure out what would fit and brainstorming ideas). You could even cut the costs of the grips and buy 75 cent Plumbing foam, but we wanted it to be a little bit more badass, which it totally is! other than that, you need hairspray, and a way to attach your flash to the end of light stand (whatever you prefer). So here is, the DIY 9.5ft Boom.

Step 1 - Supplies

SLS Medium Stand, Rubber Leg Tips, Mini Ball Head w/ Flash Shoe, Rubber Bicycle Grips, Hairspray

 

Step 2 - Drill out the Rivet at the bottom of the stand (the only step with tools)

Step 3 - Remove Center Pole of Light Stand (find something else to do with legs) 

Step 4 - Hairspray Grips and Pole, Slide on Grips and Leg Tips.

the guy at Urbane told us to do this, i had no idea how well it works. Get right in there, it acts as a lubricant until it dries. Position the grips so they are comfortable, most likely at each end of the section. 

Step 5 - Done! 

you now have a totally badass boom arm for $40!

Minimum Height - 33", Maximum Height 114" 

 


10 Comments

  1. Kishiffspaw makes this comment

    Sun 26 Apr 2009 04:36:47 CDT

    clealsimi Logacella

  2. Steve makes this comment

    Thu 30 Apr 2009 06:00:04 CDT

    That is totally bad ass. I'm going to give this a try. After living in China for four years I'm happy to see the words "Canadian Tire" in print.

  3. chi makes this comment

    Thu 30 Apr 2009 13:09:10 CDT

    love it, now all you have to do is create some kind of body brace so the person holding it for hours at a time doesnt get tired.

  4. Frank makes this comment

    Thu 30 Apr 2009 18:07:09 CDT

    Don't need a specially designed body brace. Think "flag pole carrying belt" (just like we see at the Olympics).
    A flash is much lighter than a big flag.

  5. Tony makes this comment

    Sun 03 May 2009 16:40:16 CDT

    This is slick. Where did you get the ball head? I find many just not that style.

    thanks

  6. N Maxell Lander makes this comment

    Sun 03 May 2009 17:56:48 CDT

    hey thanks!

    chi, frank - i actually have plans for a heavy duty one that will incorporate some body brace help, but this one is light enough that the "flag pole carrying belt" works well, i just use a little leather pouch hooked to my belt when i need to hold it and shoot at the same time.

    Tony - i got the ballhead at the henry's outlet store here in toronto. they had one, second hand, and the man said he hadn't seen it before so sold it to me for 5 bucks, i would love to find more. there's rubbed off writing on the bottom, that looks like german, but is indecipherable...

    i'm glad you're all liking it. it has become a must for almost every shoot i do. i'll be upoading some fashion shots i did just with one light and the boom.

    cheers!

  7. David P makes this comment

    Mon 25 May 2009 01:52:47 CDT

    O my!! I want one! Any chance you'll sell it to me for.. say.. 40 bux? :)

    David

  8. KrisBelucci makes this comment

    Tue 02 Jun 2009 04:23:26 CDT

    I really liked this post. Can I copy it to my site? Thank you in advance.

  9. AndrewBoldman makes this comment

    Thu 04 Jun 2009 18:23:10 CDT

    Hi, cool post. I have been wondering about this topic,so thanks for writing.

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    Mon 08 Jun 2009 17:14:40 CDT

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