Golfcart Portable Light Stand
- Category: Blog
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Quite a few photographers inquired about my "Portable golfcart lightstand", the first time I saw this used was by Erwin Simbulan a local photographer and he sent me a link to "Peter Nguyen" who I believe was the first person to make one. So I started on mission to find one, both on Craiglist and Ebay to find a cart and BINGO I happened to find one for $30 basically brand new on Craigslist. The carts brand new can run way over $100 bucks a piece. |
I have the "Bagboy Express" I prefer this model because of the design and how the frame tapers, which allows for a nice place to put the Avenger grip and is located in a pretty balanced area. I drilled a hole thru cart frame dead center where it tapers on the frame so I could get the bolt thru it.
I used a drill bit slightly smaller than the bolt that way it was snug and gave me the ability to screw it in. Some times I use the cart to carry other stuff like my camera bag, drinks, etc you can also attach another lightstand or pole to the DB200 for addition lighting (checkout the video for illustration)
A list of parts you need.
- Avenger Products (to attach to the cart for the strobe/flash)
- D200B Head only
- D800 Kit this comes with every thing you need.
- D520L Extention Arm
- BagBoy Golfcart (tapered frame preferred)
- Speedlight or Strobe
- Vagabond II batterypack or sandbag (this will stabilize the cart when needed)
- Drill and a drill bit about 4mm or 3/16 (if memory serves)
- Vagabond battery pack (I have the older heavier one)
| Avenger grip mounting closeup | Short video of the process I did.. |
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The cart I have has high strength adjustable aluminum tubing and easy rolling pneumatic tires most of the others I've seen have hard plastic wheels that is not great on uneven surfaces. The one I have also has brakes (this helps a lot on inclines) and all the wheels are easily removed for better compact storage. I do have a smaller cart for my speedlights but I hardly ever use that one. The golfcart is designed to carry heavy golf bags so it really keeps everything very stable and positioning the lighting over the wheels promotes a good balance but a counter weight does help. Everything I need when going on location goes on the cart, no need to carry anything extra.