Reddit mentions of CowboyStudio Aluminum Adjustable Light Stand with Case

I don't like the starving student deal.

Here's what I'd buy right now if all my gear were suddenly gone and I had to get new lighting

• $16.50: This light stand
  
• $9.50: These batteries for your flash, also helpful to bring you to the $25 free shipping limit
  
• $6.50: This swivel to top off the light stand, free shipping as well
  
• $17: This umbrella is nice, big, and cheap. Sadly charges shipping
  
• $29: The best of the low quality flash triggers. I hear they're very reliable despite being made by an obscure Chinese company. If you want you could save here by going optical. I've linked to Nikon because I use Nikon.
  
• $46: YN460-II full manual flash. Extremely cheap, but it gets the job done and has a decent amount of power. If you need the "starving student" flash, this is it.
  
  Total now is only around $125 and that's including the batteries and some decent flash triggers. Also, obviously all of this gear is reusable when you go better later on. Obviously I didn't link to gaffer tape or gels, but those are cheap and easy to find.
  
  p.s.: I own everything I just linked to you except the RF-602. I plan on buying that next.

Just a few more to add to the list:

18% grey card

Neewer TT560 flash

Neewer 43-inch 5-in-1 reflector

Tiffen Circular polarizer

7 ft. light stand

47" Speedlight Umbrella Softbox

Continuous lighting kit

New camera bag


[EDIT] Added more things to the list, as I think of things I'll continue to expand it.

I actually just spent $100 so I can finally do HF from my apartment:

• MFJ QRP Loop antenna ($59)
  
• PVC sections from Home Depot to form a cross shape ($10)
  
• A lighting tripod from Amazon ($20)
  
  Still waiting on the antenna itself. Then I can see how well it performs from my balcony.

My experience is that the Vive's roomscale tracking is so good that even in very disadvantageous circumstances for seated play, it works great with both lighthouses turned on. You can run with just one, if you switch the one that's on to "a" mode, but I've seen no difference.

I run both lighthouses because my room layout is like this, which theoretically should be one of the worst possible ways to do the seated experience:

LH1 Monitor
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│\ Chaperone boundaries Keybd/Mouse │
│ \ │
│ LH1 points Chair │
│ here │
│ │
│ ┌────────────────┘
│ Roomscale play area │
│ │ Table and
│ │ chairs here,
│ LH2 │ but view from
│ points │ LH2 to the
│ here │ area above is
│ \ │ clear
│ \ │
│ Chaperone boundaries \│
└───────────────────────────────────────────┘
LH2


LH1 is on a GorillaPod clamped to the top corner of a bookcase and pointed downwards in roughly the recommended angle; it's also at skewed on the horizontal angle a bit because of the way the GorillaPod happened to clamp, but that doesn't seem to affect tracking at all.

LH2 is on a simple aluminum light stand and screwed directly into the threading, without even a camera mount. So it's seven feet up and pointing level, not down, and I was worried that would be a problem, but it hasn't been. (As I mentioned in a different comment thread, it doesn't wobble from the motor like you might think, even though a gust from someone slamming a door is enough to wobble the spindly pole.)

My play area basically has to be situated this way because of the placement of doors and windows. So when I'm playing seated, my back is to the closer lighthouse. (If you're wondering, in roomscale games, SteamVR is happy to display an L-shaped boundary area, but some games override that, using just the big rectangle and not the smaller square where my chair is.)

With experimentation I've found that I can run from there with either lighthouse turned off, and I had no trouble with tracking, but I had occasional problems with occlusion (if the controller is in my lap, it can't see LH2 at all; if I bring my left hand up to my face, the HMD can lose sight of LH1). With both lighthouses on, no such problems.

So while you're right that you can run with one lighthouse, I really don't see any reason to, given that you have to physically fiddle with them (to turn one off and turn the other to "a"; the Bluetooth link can't do this, it can only turn them both on and off). I guess you save a little power, but you don't get illustratively better tracking response. This may be a YMMV thing, but to the OP I'd just say you're probably prematurely optimizing for what won't be a problem in the first place.

(Obviously if you mount it to the ceiling using the bottom threading, it'll be upside-down, but that shouldn't matter either; except for the field of view, the orientation of the lighthouses is irrelevant.)

This is getting a little bit silly now. Why are people making DIY things when it probably costs as much as buying the real thing.

Your brother should buy 2 sets of these. Up to 8' high and works great. Only about $50 total.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PEUA30/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012FTXOW4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hi /u/aarongough - congrats on the G6 - great camera!

[This article] (http://www.lafcpug.org/reviews/review_diva_ring.html) from the LA Creative Pro Users' Group sold me on multiple ring lights as the way to light a space without a lot of hassle.

The space where I shoot my videos is not as challenging as yours, so I can use one ring light as a key/fill and LEDs for back and hair lights - but with your space, you should be able to set up 3 [ring lights] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B64G2A6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00B64G2A6&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20) on [inexpensive stands] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PEUA30/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003PEUA30&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20) for less than $600.

With this setup, you'll be able to cover the whole area without moving lights around for each shot.

Hope this is helpful!

Bill

/u/Outtie_5000 - I've tried these fluorescent softboxes, but they don't put put a lot of light and they are front-heavy, so they have a tendency to tip over.

With a limited budget, you might want to consider a set of inexpensive LED panels.

You can get [2 x 396 LED panels with barndoors, filters and stands for $159] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016NDM99M/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B016NDM99M&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20). A third light will [cost you $79.99] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WNGPDTM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00WNGPDTM&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20) and you'll need a [$16.86 light stand] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PEUA30/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003PEUA30&linkCode=as2&tag=battleforthew-20) [Referral Links] to go with it, but for a total investment of $255.85, you will have a basic 3 light kit with barndoors.

Or, if you can stretch your budget by $18, you can get a couple of the 2 light kits and have a 4 light setup.

Hope this is helpful and best of luck with improving your lighting!

These are things I bought that work great.
First, the stands;
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PEUA30/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Then the adaptor;
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X5QO3B8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And finally the finishing touch for the headpiece;
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F8V66O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That's everything you need. But yeah, get them high up, pointing down a bit, and make sure on sturdy flooring so as you're jumping around they don't carry the vibration over and judder.

hoping someone on this subreddit can help. i purchased this tripod on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PEUA30/

however, i didn't realize that the top part of it was threaded at the very top. i'm trying to find something to cover that is the same width as the part connecting to it. i know it's 1/4" thread and unfortunately i can't saw it off since i don't have one.. any ideas?

I didn't want to buy anything expensive. I ended up getting this light stand - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PEUA30/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Make your own fancy lighting system. Get a clamp light (http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/98/98953a1f-cd8e-4461-818d-6c875f73f8c3_1000.jpg) and put an LED bulb in it (to minimize heat output).

Clip it to this which is about the cheapest light stand you're ever going to find.

Now you have a cheap key light.

Get another clamp light and stand, take a clothespin and clip a used dryer sheet (this is why you use LED - a regular bulb will make the dryer sheet start to smoke after awhile, which tends to alarm your subject) over the front of the light. You now have a scrim which gives you a cheap fill light.

If you're feeling really ambitious, hook the light up to an extension cord. Get a surface-mount switch box, cut the extension cord's black wire in half, put a dimmer switch in the box, and wire the switch to the cord. Now you have a dimmable scrimmed fill light.

A third light (this one should definitely be dimmable) on a stand with no scrim can serve as a hair light.

Then go here to learn how to effectively set up your new lights.

You'll want something like this.

You could also use a cheap light stand like this if you are in a flat stable place.

These are working just fine for me, just slap on a cheap 1/4" ball joint adapter.

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-Aluminum-Adjustable-Light-Stand/dp/B003PEUA30/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462988508&sr=8-1&keywords=Cowboy+Studio+Light+Stand

Sure, they are all estimates so I wont be too upset either way. But sure I will post mine when it comes. :)

Looking forward to it, I picked up a light stand that arrived yesterday for like $20, specifically for demo parties to put the sensor on for standing experiences and still keep the sensor a foot above head level.

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-Aluminum-Adjustable-Light-Stand/dp/B003PEUA30?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

The thing is lightweight and very cool, comes with a sleeve to put it in, standard 1/4-20 mount so it will work with the Sensor. I am 6'2 and this this will go taller than I am.

I will probably grab another when the Touch comes out

For anyone looking for stands, I would recommend these combined withthe ball head mounts that OP linked.

Fair bit cheaper, perfectly adequate quality.

Camera stands are heavy and not cheap. Buy rather flash stands, they are much cheaper and lightweight and usually can reach 2+ meter height. I used https://img.elmit.sk/images/Viazacia_paska_cierna.jpg
to mount base station onto stand. (Sorry dont know how its called in english language :D )


example of flash stand:
https://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-Aluminum-Adjustable-Light-Stand/dp/B003PEUA30/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472702436&sr=8-1&keywords=flash+stand