background supports

L.Culley

L.Culley

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Leon
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Ok, I have made my decision to buy a vinyl backdrop, can pick up 3x6meter rolls from ebay for about £100 delivered. each roll weighs approx 12-15kg so the background will need to reflect that in size and strength, i have been trawling the net for about 3 hours now trying to find one that is good and reliable but knowing next to nothing about them im finding myself getting confused.... its not hard....

anyone able to reccomend a good, sturdy backdrop support that can hold a 3 meter wide 15kg roll of vinyl without sagging???

also, would you go to ebay for the vinyl or do you have somewhere else you prefer to shop for your vinyl backdrops??

thanks

Leon
 
iirc bessel (who do also sell on ebay, but it might be cheaper from their web shop, www.bessel.co.uk) are the best place to get vinyl.

For supporting them... hmm.

I use two £70 calumet heavy duty light stands, and a manfrotto telescopic crossbeam. Wouldn't want anything much less sturdy. My vinyl is really heavy though, it's the lorry siding stuff rather than the stuff from bessel.


Only thing I would suggest is strongly think whether you REALLY need vinyl, ie how often is it going to get used - if less than once a fortnight, I'd suggest going with paper instead tbh. Much nicer if you want to knock it to grey instead of white etc...
 
To begin with it will probably only be used a couple of times a month but if all goes to plan that will increase. i also want to have that air of professionalism, im not knocking paper but i think we live in a very materialistic world and somebody might feel more sure about the photographer thats got the heavy duty gear as apposed to paper... i know that sounds shallow and certainly not how a photographers skills should be assessed, but i think there are a lot of people out there like that...

the supports you mentioned... do you have any links to the types of quality your talking about?
 
lmgculley said:
To begin with it will probably only be used a couple of times a month but if all goes to plan that will increase. i also want to have that air of professionalism, im not knocking paper but i think we live in a very materialistic world and somebody might feel more sure about the photographer thats got the heavy duty gear as apposed to paper... i know that sounds shallow and certainly not how a photographers skills should be assessed, but i think there are a lot of people out there like that...

the supports you mentioned... do you have any links to the types of quality your talking about?
Click to expand...

Frankly that's daft. Paper is far, far superior to vinyl in every way except durabilty.
 
thats fair enough, it might just be me, can i ask why paper is better? (im not being sarcastic)
 
Well, it's all opinion, of course, but paper is so much cleaner and just looks better. You can leave it unlit and it looks classier. It's completely matt too so just looks fab. Not very scientific!
 
lmgculley said:
thats fair enough, it might just be me, can i ask why paper is better? (im not being sarcastic)
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yeah... I can't offer a scientific explanation really. paper is nicer though. Something about the way the light bounces off it...

Vinyl does also sometimes crease a tiny bit in the corners depending on how you clamp it, and does get dirty.

I wouldn't imagine that your clients would either notice or care whether it's vinyl or paper.
 
Go to an industrial metal supplies (Edwards metals in Brum) and get some Ali tube chopped up for yourself. I did mine in three sections 1m long.

The inner diameter gets a sleeve from the next tube size down, araldite it in to place and you have a very strong sectional supprt that will go in a car boot.

Drill a big hole and a little hole in each end (To suit your suporting stands) and the tube slides over the main stand and screws tight through the upper hole.

Simples!! and will cost you less than twenty quid.

Gaz
 
garryg163 said:
Go to an industrial metal supplies (Edwards metals in Brum) and get some Ali tube chopped up for yourself. I did mine in three sections 1m long.

The inner diameter gets a sleeve from the next tube size down, araldite it in to place and you have a very strong sectional supprt that will go in a car boot.

Drill a big hole and a little hole in each end (To suit your suporting stands) and the tube slides over the main stand and screws tight through the upper hole.

Simples!! and will cost you less than twenty quid.

Gaz
Click to expand...
Looks a bit naff though.
 
You'll only see the ends though (where the roll isn't) and you could always spray them black....
 
Hodders said:
You'll only see the ends though (where the roll isn't) and you could always spray them black....
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That's true enough, but by the time you've paid £20 quid for those and built them and bought a pair of good strong light stands how much have you saved?
 
After speaking to Gary I wasn't exactly confident of using their system with vinyl. He suggested it wasn't really strong enough. How have you found it?
 
The23rdman said:
After speaking to Gary I wasn't exactly confident of using their system with vinyl. He suggested it wasn't really strong enough. How have you found it?
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What I will have said, as I say to everyone, is that it's designed for muslin, is perfectly OK with paper but whether or not it's safe with vinyl will depend on the vinyl, which varies enormously in weight.

I expect that I also said that it makes sense to use sandbags or similar to add weight to the base of the stands and, if possible, to tie it off at the top.

That advice is pretty sound and IMO should be applied to all stands, regardless of make, and especially where there are children or members of the public around
 
That's exactly what you said. It would be useful if you could give a weight limit as I'm still after a support system.
 
The23rdman said:
That's exactly what you said. It would be useful if you could give a weight limit as I'm still after a support system.
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Yes, I know it is, because I always give honest answers.
And here's another honest answer, I don't know the weight limit.
Breaking load?
Safe working load?
At what height?
On what quality of surface?
My personal view is that the only safe type of background support is one that's rawlbolted to the wall, anything else (regardless of make) is a compromise between safety and convenience. Obviously though, the greater the height, the greater the weight of material and the less solid the floor surface, the greater the risk
 
Fair enough, mate. :)
 
The23rdman said:
After speaking to Gary I wasn't exactly confident of using their system with vinyl. He suggested it wasn't really strong enough. How have you found it?
Click to expand...

To be fair I use it with 2.7 wide 11m paper rolls and it is fine with them.
 
I'd expect it to be able to handle paper, but an equivalent vinyl roll ways much more.
 
Instead of hanging the roll, how about rolling up from the floor and clipping to the top? Much more back friendly too. I'm in the process of getting a set up together myself.
 
jennifer said:
Instead of hanging the roll, how about rolling up from the floor and clipping to the top? Much more back friendly too. I'm in the process of getting a set up together myself.
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the problem with that is the roll gets in the way and it tends not to hang well.
 
I just bought the Lencarta support. I figured when I use vinyl it'll be for children so i wont need to extend the poles too high. Should be ample strong enough.
 
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