Review on Fotodiox Pro Heavy Duty 3-In-1 Boom Stand, Light Stand, And Reflector Holder For Advanced Photography by Anferny Pineda

I bought this boom stand because I need portability. I do interior photography, portrait/fashion and food photography. I wanted a decent boom that was portable. I don’t need this to extend to the moon, I just need to get a light out in front of the camera or over an object, something other than a straight light stand. I paid more for a Wescott reflector holder and it is horrible, tightening down the stupid ballhead to the point I’m almost breaking the handle and you can still move the boom around, it is barely able to hold a reflector and on top of that the screw-thing that holds the boom to the stand broke loose from the knob and now it hardly holds the boom to the stand.So after reading some reviews I pulled the trigger on this boom. The reviews seemed to fluctuate quite a bit so I’ll try and give a balanced review. First off the packing weight is 9.8lbs and this was my first clue to the construction and my expectation. They list this as "heavy duty” but I suppose that depends on what "heavy duty” is. I would list this as medium/light duty. This is basically a well constructed low-to-mid range light stand that converts to a boom, which, for the price and weight, is what I expected, so no surprise there. As others have mentioned there are no instructions or paperwork of any kind. You don’t need any instructions, once you undo the clamps and start extending the tubes it is very obvious how it all works.Pros:-Sturdy if the boom is only extended about 60% of the way and angled at more than 90º. Of course common sense still applies and it should be sandbagged and counterweighted depending on how it is being used.-Nice wide base-Decent overall construction, great construction for the price-Comes with a counterweight sandbag-Boom mechanism (hinge part) is very well made and really easy to use, this is by far the best part.-The extension clamps—not sure what else to call them—are well made and I expect will last a long timeCons (takes price point into account):-Extending the boom beyond 60% doesn’t seem like a good idea as there is a lot of sag, with a reflector on it sure, why not, but anything else doesn’t seem practical.-It is not very compact when it is folded up, I’m not sure they could make it more compact the way it is designed, but it is very tall at its minimum.-It would be nice if the base was a bit heavier, I know I said I want portability, but now I have to carry sandbags as well as the stand because it is obviously going to be top heavy. This isn’t a huge knock, just something that I would’ve liked.If the price was higher I would have more Cons like:-The aluminum piping is thinner than I would like and extending fully should be limited to actual usable lengths rather than marketing lengths. More on that below.-Putting a camera at the end of this causes a lot of shake (indoors) and it takes much longer than I expected for it to settle down. Even barely extended there is more wobble than I expected. Still usable with a camera at the end, but only indoors, with a remote trigger and some patients.I took some measurements to gauge what the limits of the boom were and I figured I would share them.-Max Height from floor to boom arm: 72”-My comfort height from floor to boom arm: 69”-Max length of boom from the front of the cuff to the end (not including silver removable male attachment) 80”-My comfort for boom extension with light weight: 64”-My comfort with moderate weight (like a light and modifier or a camera) 40”Setting the boom at 90º I decided to take some measurements of the sag.Sag measurements:—Set up—stand at 69 high and boom extended 64” from the cuff to the end leaving about 16” behind the cuff counterweighted for stability. I put my Canon 6d with 24-105 lens at the end of the boom and was very cautious letting go. It caused the boom to sag 7.5”—Same set up, I put a speedlite with 24” softbox on it and it sagged about the same 7.5”. I might use this at this length with a speedlite at a higher angle, but at 90º I was a little concerned. As long as it is a controlled environment I might even use it just like this, definitely not with my camera though. I wasn’t concerned with it breaking, but it was rather bouncy and it might cause permanent warpage if left like that for too long.Second set up was the same except I extended the boom to 40.5” and left 22” behind the cuff, everything else was the same.—The Canon 6D 24-105 lens combo only allowed 1” of sag here which I felt was fine and relatively stable. I would have no issue using this set up. Keep in mind the boom is at 90º, most of the time it will be angled higher and even more stable.—The speedlite softbox combo had a bit less sag, more like half an inch and overall very stable.90º is probably the least stable that this boom is going to be and that is why I chose it for my test, going higher makes it more stable. I used this boom in an old abandoned house that was a complete mess and the floor was covered with junk and was very uneven. I had a speedlite and beauty dish (33” portable/collapsible ) at the end of it extend up to almost the ceiling (probably a 7’ ceiling, seemed lower than normal) and out about 30” to get it in front of the camera, counterweighted with a couple of lbs. With people walking around and bumping it and me just moving it around quickly to change the angle it was very stable in a chaotic fast paced shoot where I was literally setting the stand on junk as I moved it around.I usually wouldn’t write such an in depth review, but this boom isn’t for everybody and you are going to have to decide for yourself if this is something that will work for you. I gave it 5 stars based on the price point. I saw the exact same stand under a different brand name going for twice the price of this one and I would still be satisfied with it at that price, maybe 4.5 stars at double the price. If you are looking for a studio boom don’t be fooled by the words "heavy duty” this probably isn’t for you, even though depending on how you use it it could work just fine for you. This is very well made for what it is, but this isn’t professional grade. A professional could very well use it, I am and I do, but I have controlled needs and this is about exactly what I was looking for. I’m trying to avoid buying a truck to haul all of my equipment around, so I want portability and while I wish it was more compact broken down I am very happy with the overall product.