Reviews
Everything is heavy duty, except the wheels themselves apparently
This "heavy duty" light stand from brand K&F CONCEPT was a choice I made to handle some of my larger in-studio lighting gear, and I decided to try out this brand because I generally trust them for a lot of other photography and video related items. I have been moderately pleased so far, with a small exception...
The stand comes in at 10.5 feet tall (or 320cm) when fully extended, and thanks to the width of its legs, is certainly a lofty ability it can actually handle, though I probably would not heft anything too heavy up that high on this stand regardless of its claim "on paper" as the taller it gets, like any stand, the more flimsy it gets. But it can easily handle up to about 6.5-7 feet with ease, probably a bit higher. Using this at an indoor studio, it's unlikely most lighting gear would need to be raised any higher than this anyway, but it's nice to be able to; most of my other tripods can probably handle 5-6 feet at the very most, before concern sets in.
The stand comes with roller wheels or "casters" making the entire unit very manoeuvrable, if not exactly portable. This really isn't the kind of stand you would take with you on too many outdoor photo shoots, and is ideally designed for an indoor studio setting when and where you want to adjust lighting angle on the fly. This stand excels at this, offering clamps to hold the stand in place when not in motion. Which brings me to the caveat; the issue I had was with the wheels themselves. Each side of the wheel is bolted together with two circular plastic plates on either side, which apparently provide the necessary pressure to keep the wheels from becoming unstable...
Sadly, and much to my frustration, one of the wheels arrived with broken plastic plate straight out-of-box. Fortunately, its centre-hole where the bolt slides through was still intact, so it keeps the wheel from wobbling still. But it shows that there is a significant issue with this stand, and requires quality control. I wanted to love this stand, because for all other intents and purposes, it is quite solid.
There was another matter of the spring-loaded "pins" that pop into place when the stand hold it flat or allow it to pop into place when fully extended, or be relocated during folding the stand when not in use. This was definitely another oddity, but I am not so concerned about those, since they are a bit difficult to navigate, but they do the job intended, albeit in peculiar fashion.
That said, if the plastic on one of these wheels had been broken in any other way other than it was, it would have left the wheel unstable, making the entire tripod unusable from the start. If this had somehow broke during use, it might have toppled my entire lighting setup, causing even more damage to my equipment. But the fact that this occurred somehow beforehand; between the point-of-sale and arrival, only shows that it cannot handle travel, and can quite easily be damaged.
It is winter time presently, so I have to wonder if this has something to do with cold temperatures during transit. Either way, these circular plates should, in my opinion, been made out of metal, like the rest of the tripod, and were a poor design choice addition, considering the overall budget point. Still, I will crazy glue the piece back on, re-install the wheel and hope it does not crack again; especially in any other part of the plastic plate. The tripod itself is solid, and parts of the frame have the trademark K&F CONCEPT orange, which gives it a unique flair.
I hesitantly give this 4 stars, but it really should be 3 for the seemingly small issue that could potentially have significant repercussions. So I caution anyone ordering this to potentially weigh in on your own thoughts about the pros and cons, and your personal studio requirements.
The stand comes in at 10.5 feet tall (or 320cm) when fully extended, and thanks to the width of its legs, is certainly a lofty ability it can actually handle, though I probably would not heft anything too heavy up that high on this stand regardless of its claim "on paper" as the taller it gets, like any stand, the more flimsy it gets. But it can easily handle up to about 6.5-7 feet with ease, probably a bit higher. Using this at an indoor studio, it's unlikely most lighting gear would need to be raised any higher than this anyway, but it's nice to be able to; most of my other tripods can probably handle 5-6 feet at the very most, before concern sets in.
The stand comes with roller wheels or "casters" making the entire unit very manoeuvrable, if not exactly portable. This really isn't the kind of stand you would take with you on too many outdoor photo shoots, and is ideally designed for an indoor studio setting when and where you want to adjust lighting angle on the fly. This stand excels at this, offering clamps to hold the stand in place when not in motion. Which brings me to the caveat; the issue I had was with the wheels themselves. Each side of the wheel is bolted together with two circular plastic plates on either side, which apparently provide the necessary pressure to keep the wheels from becoming unstable...
Sadly, and much to my frustration, one of the wheels arrived with broken plastic plate straight out-of-box. Fortunately, its centre-hole where the bolt slides through was still intact, so it keeps the wheel from wobbling still. But it shows that there is a significant issue with this stand, and requires quality control. I wanted to love this stand, because for all other intents and purposes, it is quite solid.
There was another matter of the spring-loaded "pins" that pop into place when the stand hold it flat or allow it to pop into place when fully extended, or be relocated during folding the stand when not in use. This was definitely another oddity, but I am not so concerned about those, since they are a bit difficult to navigate, but they do the job intended, albeit in peculiar fashion.
That said, if the plastic on one of these wheels had been broken in any other way other than it was, it would have left the wheel unstable, making the entire tripod unusable from the start. If this had somehow broke during use, it might have toppled my entire lighting setup, causing even more damage to my equipment. But the fact that this occurred somehow beforehand; between the point-of-sale and arrival, only shows that it cannot handle travel, and can quite easily be damaged.
It is winter time presently, so I have to wonder if this has something to do with cold temperatures during transit. Either way, these circular plates should, in my opinion, been made out of metal, like the rest of the tripod, and were a poor design choice addition, considering the overall budget point. Still, I will crazy glue the piece back on, re-install the wheel and hope it does not crack again; especially in any other part of the plastic plate. The tripod itself is solid, and parts of the frame have the trademark K&F CONCEPT orange, which gives it a unique flair.
I hesitantly give this 4 stars, but it really should be 3 for the seemingly small issue that could potentially have significant repercussions. So I caution anyone ordering this to potentially weigh in on your own thoughts about the pros and cons, and your personal studio requirements.
01/01/2026