Can I use the same light stands and softboxes for studio strobes and continuous LED lights?
Asked 3/16/2020
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I’m planning to buy both studio strobes for indoor model shoots and continuous LED lights for video work. Can the same light stands be used for both? Also, are there softboxes or other modifiers that work with both strobe and continuous lights, or does that depend on the mount used by each light?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
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Lighting stands are pretty much standard; almost everything that you would be using outside of industrial applications (like "real" cinema, television and theatre llighting) will use "baby" spigot connections (5/8" or 16mm). "Junior" is ultra-heavy-duty for lights weighing in the tens of kilos, and "senior" would be handy for supporting small armoured vehicles in the air - both are well outside of the normal fare for wedding and location work.
As for modifiers, the closest thing there is to a handy universal standard is what's being used on the Godox SK400 flashes you're looking at: the Bowens S-mount for reflectors and modifiers. There are continuous lights available with S-mount built in, including those from Godox, and adapters to S-mount for other LED and hot-light systems. Using a Bowens mount means that you have only one set of speed rings to worry about, and can even use folding parabolic softlights, rather than having to keep a whole collection of rings and rods of different lengths. But that means you won't be able to use a light head that's just a bunch of Edison-base sockets; it'll need to be a proper light head.
Originally by user90049. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user90049
6y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—usually the stands can be shared. Most photography lights for this kind of work use the common 5/8" (16 mm) “baby” spigot/light-stand fitting, so strobes and many continuous lights will mount on the same stands.
For modifiers, compatibility depends more on the light’s front mount than on whether it is a strobe or continuous light. A very common standard is the Bowens S-mount, which is used by many strobes and also by some continuous LED lights. If both lights use Bowens mount—or one can use a Bowens adapter—you can usually share the same softboxes, reflectors, and similar modifiers.
The main caution is the light shape and heat/output characteristics. LED panels or unusual fixtures may not work well with umbrellas or enclosed softboxes, while bulb-style or monolight-style LEDs are often easier to use with standard softboxes. If a modifier doesn’t fit well, diffusion material, gels, or flags may be better options.
So: common stands are usually no problem; common softboxes are possible if the lights share the same modifier mount, ideally Bowens S-mount.
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