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Home → Reviews → Flash Photography and Lighting

Impact Multiboom Light Stand and Reflector Holder Review

By Nasim Mansurov 11 Comments
Last Updated On June 13, 2015

This is a review of the Impact Multiboom Light Stand and Reflector Holder, used in studio environments for holding lights, reflectors, flags and other light accessories. If you do any studio work, whether it is for photographing models or your clients, it is often necessary to use light reflectors to bounce the main light for softer shadows. Other times you might find yourself in a situation when you have too much light spill and you need to block some of that light with a black card, also known as a “flag”. It is great if you have one or more assistants for these kinds of situations, because they can assist in holding reflectors and flags. But what if you work alone or need to hold multiple reflectors and flags? That’s when a boom comes in handy. I have been shopping around for a good, lightweight, portable and inexpensive boom arm + stand combo, and I think I found a perfect one for my needs.

Impact Multiboom Light Stand and Reflector Holder
NIKON D300 @ 23mm, ISO 200, 625/100000, f/16.0

Table of Contents

  • Product Specifications
  • Packaging, Assembly and Use
  • Sample portraits with Multiboom in use with a reflector
  • Summary
  • Pricing and Where to Buy

1) Product Specifications

  1. Minimum Height: 40″ (102 cm)
  2. Maximum Height: 13′ (4 m) as light stand, 9 ft (2.7 M) as boom stand
  3. Closed Length: 40″ (102 cm)
  4. Footprint Diameter: 36″ (91 cm)
  5. Weight: 6 lbs (2.7 kg)
  6. Maximum Load: 5 lbs (2.3 kg) as light stand, 3 lbs (1.4 kg) as boom stand
  7. Attachment Size: 5/8″ stud with 1/4″-20 threaded top
  8. Accepts Wheels: Yes
  9. Air Cushioned: No

2) Packaging, Assembly and Use

The Impact Multiboom unit came in a box and was nicely packaged and protected. Best of all, it came in one piece!

Impact Multiboom Packaging #1 Impact Multiboom Packaging #2

Other booms I have dealt with in the past consisted of multiple parts that needed to be put together, which is inconvenient, especially for travel and transportation. I occasionally do corporate photography (primarily headshots) and it is always nice to have gear that is both easy to transport and easy to assemble. With this product, there is nothing to assemble. You just loosen one handle, pull the top section all the way up, set the boom arm in a horizontal position, lock it where you need it and voila!

Impact Multiboom Assembled
NIKON D700 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35mm, ISO 400, 1/30, f/8.0

The nice thing about this setup is that when you do not need the boom arm, you can still use the stand as a normal light stand. That’s why the call it “multiboom” light stand, because it can do both. Here is a the top of the boom arm, compared to a standard light stand (Left: standard light stand, Right: multiboom):

Light Stand vs Multiboom
NIKON D700 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 400, 1/60, f/9.0

The Impact Multiboom light stand is sturdy enough to hold large reflectors, speedlights and other accessories. I would not recommend it for anything heavier than a couple of pounds, although you could use it to hold heavier gear if you do not extend the arm too long. You should use it with care when mounting speedlights and other expensive equipment – a sandbag or two would definitely help to keep it from falling. I have been using the multiboom for holding reflectors and it handles them very well, even when I use my large 72″ oval reflector or the Lastolite TriGrip:

72" Oval Reflector
NIKON D700 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52mm, ISO 400, 1/30, f/8.0
Lastolite TriGrip
NIKON D700 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 58mm, ISO 400, 1/60, f/8.0

3) Sample portraits with Multiboom in use with a reflector

If you have not done much studio work, you might be wondering why a boom such as the Impact Multiboom can be a useful tool for portraiture. While you can use it for many different things, I will demonstrate how a reflector mounted on a boom can make a difference in portraiture with a single light. For the image below, I used a Nikon SB-900 speedlight with a Westcott 43″ umbrella mounted in a shoot-through configuration on a light stand. I set the light in a standard configuration, angled at about 30-45 degrees to the left of Lola and used a white background behind her. I positioned the light pretty close to her (3-4 feet away) and here is the result:

Single light no reflector
NIKON D3S + 85mm f/1.4 @ 85mm, ISO 200, 1/400, f/2.8

While Lola’s face is illuminated well, there is a very dark shadow present on the right side of her head (her left). That’s what you would normally see when using just one light.

To brighten up the shadows, I mounted a reflector on the Impact Multiboom and placed it to the right of her. In this configuration, the main light to the left illuminates her face, while the reflector reflects some of the light and reduces the shadows, acting as “fill light”. Here is the result:

Single light with large reflector
NIKON D3S + 85mm f/1.4 @ 85mm, ISO 200, 1/200, f/5.6

See how much better the image looks now? That’s just a simple reflector doing the magic. The deep dark shadows look much brighter and smoother now and Lola’s face is getting more even light from both sides. To make it look even better, I placed the reflector even closer to Lola and took another shot:

Single light with large reflector close
NIKON D3S + 85mm f/1.4 @ 85mm, ISO 200, 1/400, f/2.8

Now the light is more or less evenly distributed across Lola’s face and the shadows look much softer and nicer.

Could I have done this with two lights? Absolutely. But I would have needed another speedlight + umbrella, and I would have had to play with flash power on the second light to get the same fill result. I would have needed more equipment and more time for something this simple.

4) Summary

I have been using the Impact Multiboom Light Stand and Reflector Holder for some studio work during the last couple of months and I am very pleased with it. It is relatively sturdy, lightweight, portable and inexpensive – exactly what I have been looking for when using reflectors/flags and other lightweight accessories while photographing models and clients in a studio. It is a good quality multi-purpose product that requires no assembly and at its $79.95 price, it is one of the cheapest boom kits you can find on the market today.

5) Pricing and Where to Buy

The Impact Multiboom Light Stand and Reflector Holder is priced at $79.95 and is available at B&H Photo Video.

Impact Multiboom Light Stand and Reflector Holder
  • Build Quality
  • Handling
  • Value
  • Size and Weight
  • Packaging and Manual

Photography Life Overall Rating

4.4
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Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options
Filed Under: Flash Photography and Lighting Tagged With: Boom, Flash Photography, Off-Camera Flash, Product Reviews, Reflector, Studio Photography

About Nasim Mansurov

Nasim Mansurov is the author and founder of Photography Life, based out of Denver, Colorado. He is recognized as one of the leading educators in the photography industry, conducting workshops, producing educational videos and frequently writing content for Photography Life. You can follow him on Instagram and Facebook. Read more about Nasim here.

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Louis Dallara
Louis Dallara
July 10, 2012 6:07 am

Thanks for a great article and all the information, nice pics to.
I just ordered one from B&H, cheers

0
Reply
Soumya DG
Soumya DG
May 23, 2012 11:11 pm

hey nasim,
If you could reply early, it would be of huge help.
I am planning a wedding photography for my friend…
i had inspected the site beforehand….its a bit low lit…now, i have a nikon d3000 and a d3100.
the lenses i have is a 18-55 and a 70-300, i have a flash too.the nikon sb800
can you suggest me the lenses i would need for a marriage ceremony..considering few closeups and few long shots capturing some candid moments???? i am not going to use my 1.8d.

and i am due to buy strobes for the marriage….which i am going to focus on the podium where the bride and the groom would stand on….so every time i click, the strobes would fire for better lights…it that a good idea??
please suggest soon…please

0
Reply
Bintang
Bintang
January 19, 2012 11:14 am

Hi Nasim and thanks for this useful article!
I would like to develop my own studio, so reading your advice about the must have accessories (reflectors, diffusers, soft boxes, backgrounds, umbrellas… etc.) would be really useful. I have around $3,500 for the first investment. What flashes/strobes would you recommend considering the amount what I have for the installation? Is 400Ws, or Gn 60 enough for standard circumstances?
Thanks in advance for your help.

0
Reply
Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Author
Reply to  Bintang
April 9, 2012 11:32 am

Bintang, I will be publishing an article on building your own studio pretty soon, so stay tuned!

I would start out with two stands, two lights and two light modifiers, building up from there…

0
Reply
Aleksey
Aleksey
Reply to  Nasim Mansurov
April 9, 2012 1:27 pm

I will waiting this article too. Very interesting.

0
Reply
Aleksey
Aleksey
January 18, 2012 1:35 pm

Hello.
Thank you for article.
Nasim, what do your think about alternative for Impact Multiboom? Do your have a experience with other products? Or this stand is the best prices/quality solution?

0
Reply
Matt
Matt
Reply to  Aleksey
January 19, 2012 8:22 pm

Lumopro also makes very good lightstands and reflector arms. I believe they are lighter than the Impact equipment, for around the same price.

0
Reply
Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Author
Reply to  Aleksey
April 9, 2012 11:31 am

Aleksey, sorry for a late response! There are plenty of brands that make similar products and as Matt pointed out below, LumoPro is also pretty good!

0
Reply
Aleksey
Aleksey
Reply to  Nasim Mansurov
April 9, 2012 1:26 pm

Thank you for you sharing and advice!

0
Reply
Bitan Photo
Bitan Photo
January 18, 2012 11:25 am

This looks like a lighter rendition of the classic “C” stand (“C” stood for “century,” since they were commonly 100 inches tall). Nice to have the dual functionality in one, light, stand.

0
Reply
Sam
Sam
January 18, 2012 5:42 am

Thanks for sharing, Nasim :-)

0
Reply

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