Stand for my 580EX II

[danfenn]

Can someone recommend a good stand for use with my flash? Also, is there any other adapters, heads, or whatever that would be required to make it all work?
Thanks.

[Morgana]

I use the Manfrotto Nano 001 stand; it folds up quite small and is highly portable; although I do tend to stablize it with something heavy on a windy day. You can read more about stands here at Strobist.com

You will also need an umbrella bracket or umberlla adapter the light to attach to the top of the stand to put your Flash unit on.

Then a trigger to fire the flash [Pocket Wizards, Radio Poppers etc - insert your trigger of choice here] and you're good to go.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Morgana

[curtscamera]

I second the Nano Stands. Very compact and easy to carry, but still sturdy enough to get the job done. I use the Manfrotto 026 Swivel Umbrella adapters. I have used others but these are the best I've seen. I had some Chinese knock-offs that didn't survive the first twist of the tightening lever. The only other thing you need to mount the speedlites is a shoe adapter. Here's a tip when mounting the shoe adapter, use a Lock washer or some Loc-tite thread locker to keep it secure. Mine had a tendency to loosen on their own and it wouldn't taken much to send my 580EX-II's crashing to the ground.

I did just read about a self leveling stand (has legs that collapse like a tripod) that was compact like the Nano. I can't remember the name of the manufacturer, but it was just introduced this week and only available in Australia. The price is about the same as I recall. If I can find the link I'll post it here,

[danfenn]

Thanks for the reply. Just the info I was looking for.

[danfenn]

Great info you've provided and very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Much appreciated!

[danfenn]

Thanks for the info. Very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question.

[curtscamera]

Having given it a little more thought, I also recommend a fully articulated, carbon based, voice activated light stand like mine

[Morgana]

The voice activated stands are great, but don't always have the reach of the Nano stands.

[Ron]

I've tried using the carbon-based, voice-activated light stand before. Mine seems to only work well the next time if I buy jewelery after every use.

[Morgana]

Ron: you might like to try chocolate, it doesn't hit the hip pocket so hard.