Oh, hello 👋
I was just coming up from downstairs.
Getting a great and practical overhead shot can sometimes
be a little bit complicated.
So today I want to help you c and understand why using a C stand can
help you get a great overhead shot while spending very little overhead.
Now, I did make an entire video all about C stands and why
they are outstanding stands.
So if you can't stand this video– I'm so sorry.
If you want to go check out that whole video that really explains why C stands are some of
the most useful things that you can buy,
definitely do that.
Today, I'm just focusing mainly on the overhead component and
a few safety components because these can also be super dangerous.
B&H let me borrow this
Sony camcorder, so this will be my secondhand stand cam for today.
Basically, this is what I've been using for an overhead shot for a couple of years now.
Actually like two and a half years, and it's been working really, really well.
Ultimately, all that it is is a C stand
that has a grip arm, and at the end of that there's a ball mount with a camera
and that's pretty much it.
It's pretty simple, but it can be a little bit tricky to set up.
What I was using prior to this though was this over here.
This is a Glide Gear overhead rig.
I have a whole video about this.
This thing is probably the simplest overall overhead
because it's just one piece.
As you saw, I was able to lift it with one hand not because I'm super buff,
but because it's pretty lightweight, even though it is made out of metal.
And if all that you need is a single shot, this is the simplest thing.
You set it down, it's perfectly vertical over your surface, and then you can just,
you know, do your overhead stuff.
It comes with a mount for your camera.
This is super simple.
The problem with this though, are these bars here.
So if you end up wanting to do what is really common and use two cameras,
one as your overhead camera and another one like this that
you're talking into, this presents a problem because it is pretty narrow.
So you have to find a way
to film through the bars and between the camera, which is tricky, or you
just sort of end up having the bars in the side of the shot.
And I was doing that for a while.
And I definitely have a lot of videos where these bars are
just on the side of the frame.
As great as this is, it's not always the most practical.
So that's why I switched to using a C stand because it just made sense.
This camera right now is like a pirate ship because it's on the high C's.
So let's talk specifically about this setup.
I'm going to take the camera out of it just for safety
because I'm incredibly clumsy,
if you didn't already realize that.
This right here is the Flashpoint C Stand from Adorama.
And then over here holding my key light is my Impact C Stand,
which I really love. The Impact.
C Stand is a little bit more heavy duty than the Flashpoint one,
but I really do like the Flashpoint
for a few very specific reasons.
One, as you can kind of see right here, it already has mounts on the
end of the arm, so there's a 3/8" mount on one side and then
a 1/4 20" mount on the other side.
The other reason that I really like this stand for overhead stuff
is because of this right here. (stands gracefully slams down)
You notice how how it didn't smashed my fingers, not only because
they weren't there, but because
it is spring loaded. So my Impact one, for example, if these just drop
they just drop and it's pretty rough and it can very easily pinch stuff.
Not that this is totally safe to just drop like that, but it really
does provide some cushioning for your equipment and just a little bit of safety.
It also has this nice kind of foam handle here, which is great.
Now, the spring cushioning and the foam handle are all things that could
potentially deteriorate over time.
And for the most part, C stands are just made out of metal.
And if you just don't leave them out in the rain, they'll last a really long time.
So I think the Impact one is a bit higher quality.
It'll probably last like, I don't know, 200 years and this one might only last
75 years with this stuff.
I don't know.
It's fine.
It's slightly less heavy duty than that one, but a lot more practical, especially if
you're going to be moving it around a lot.
One thing that's very important is sand for the stand, and so this is a
15 pound sandbag that is on the highest arm of the C stand, or the highest leg.
If you notice, the legs are at different heights, so sometimes if
you put your sandbag on the lowest leg, what that means is it's not
hanging on the leg.
It's sort of just laying on the ground and the leg isn't doing anything.
So I think this is the technically correct way to do it, is to make sure
you find the highest leg and then put your sandbag or your weight on that
so that way that leg is supporting everything and it's hanging there and
the weight is doing the most good.
This is also coming out on the back from where the arm is going.
So the arm is going
that way, and then this is coming out the opposite direction
and the arm is extending out over another one of the legs.
All of those things just make it more difficult for the stand to tip,
that's really an important safety tip.
Definitely make sure you have plenty of weight on your C stand, and if you want
you could even hang like a second bag off of the back of the arm there and then
you know nothing is going to topple forward.
Another important thing with C stands is which side this grip head is on.
It's important for it to be on the right side. (not the WRONG side)
So if we look at the direction that the stand is facing, this is on the right.
This is not doing anything right now, so I could even take that off.
But this one that's holding the arm is on the right side.
And the reason for that is if this comes loose or if this gets really heavy,
it's not going to go anywhere because it's tightened to the right.
So it just continues to tighten.
If we had that backwards and it was on the other side or facing the other
direction and this got loose, it could actually potentially kind of start
unscrewing and become a little looser.
So whether you're using your stand for something overhead related or not,
that's just an important thing to keep in mind.
Always keep the grip head on the right side of the arm.
And then over here, this is just a ball mount from my Joby GorillaPod.
The Joby GorillaPod itself is
definitely not the best, most long lasting thing, but the ball mount on it
is absolutely awesome.
And the reason I like that, is once the camera is attached,
you have a lot of flexibility.
Like right now, you can see this is not coming straight in.
It's sort of coming at it from an angle, but I'm still able to position the
camera directly above the table, and then you just adjust the height to your liking,
which for me is usually just– I guess it would depend on the lens that
you're using, but I just try to keep it, you know, just a bit out of frame.
So if the camera's typically over here
this camera will probably be about that high.
C stands can go incredibly tall, so tall that it won't
even fit in this room anymore.
One tricky thing with overhead shots is the lens that you use.
This is my 24-105, and I used to like to use this a lot because a zoom
lens just does add in a little bit more versatility to my overhead shots
because I can zoom in and out. Depending on your lens,
that might be a problem because this has what's called "lens creep,"
which is not as creepy as it sounds, but it just means that once you
have the zoom ring starting to go,
over time, gravity is just going to pull this down.
And even though you have it set to, you know, 70 millimeters as you're
recording, you'll find that it just kind of ends up at 105 basically.
So that's not related to the stand, but it might play
a role in what kind of camera you choose to use on your overhead stand.
My wife uses her Sony ZV-1 a lot, which is great because it's just a small,
compact camera with a built-in zoom lens.
Something like this camcorder would work really well because again,
it's got a built-in zoom lens.
I could have it overhead and then I could choose to zoom in and zoom out as I want,
and it's going to stay wherever I put it.
What I have been using though is typically a 24 millimeter prime lens,
and this is why I love using the a7IV as an overhead camera.
I can use the grid lines to position the camera where I want
or where it's angled properly.
And then even though this prime lens doesn't have a zoom function, this camera
does have a Super 35 crop that I have just programmed to this little button here.
And that means when I press that it will punch into Super 35 mode.
And then I can just rearrange things a little bit.
And now I've got a really nice
overhead shot, which is way tighter than 24 millimeters would've been normally.
And another thing, depending on how you mount your camera to your C stand, kind of
similarly to the arm over there, I always try to make sure my camera is mounted on
the clockwise direction because the weight is now tightening the ball mount here.
If I had this camera flipped the other way, the weight of the camera would be
basically unscrewing this from the C stand and then it would start slipping.
Now depending on your camera and how you have your stand positioned,
you might not even need anything.
You could just plug your camera or connect your camera directly
here and have it facing straight down that way if you wanted to.
So the reason I like this stand so much
is because you don't necessarily need to use a ball mount or
some kind of tripod head.
But I do really like using one just because it does add in a
little bit more flexibility.
And since I normally have the stand kind of coming in from the side over
here, it just sort of makes more sense if the stand were over here.
What I'm just now realizing might even be a smart thing for me to do
is have the C stand over here, sort of next to where my camera normally
is and just coming out vertically here, and that way I can now attach
my camera directly to the C stand and have it just sort of getting
that same shot that I was getting before punch in with the Super 35 mode,
and I don't need anything else, and it's holding it perfectly perpendicular.
This might even be a better idea because then there's not going
to be a C stand to the side.
This video helped me figure things out and improve them! 👍
Finally though, the other thing that's really nice about C stands is as
big and sort of chunky and metal as they are when you're all done with them,
they actually get pretty compact.
So if I tighten this one down here, normally when I'm not using the
C stand, I just keep it under the bed in our guest bedroom because
it fits great just under a bed.
And then you can store it and you have this awesome thing
to use whenever you need it.
And speaking of things that are awesome, thank you to everyone who
helps support my channel through Patreon and YouTube Channel Memberships.
And if you want to understand a little bit more about the
awesomeness of C stands, check out my full in depth video right here.