If you don’t already know 3 Legged Thing, I’d suggest you get acquainted. It’s a British-based company with real design flair and meticulous attention to detail, making some of the best tripods for photographers, the best travel tripods and the best tripods for videographers on the market. The heavy-duty 3 Legged Thing Winston 2.0 tripod kit is my best ever 3 legged friend. More recently, the company has started exploring other avenues, releasing excellent yet highly cost-effective supports like the Camera Desk Mount System, camera-specific and universal L-brackets, and handy Wrapz to keep your precious kit safe and snug. They’ve now turned their attention to making one of the best light stands and, true to form, have come up with something puts a new twist on traditional fare.
3 Legged Thing Luna: Specifications
3 Legged Thing Luna: Price
What price a light stand? They start pretty cheap and you can get a pair of Amazon Basics Aluminum Light Stands for around $35 / £36. For something more heavy-duty and nicely finished, the Elinchrom Lighting Stand costs $50 / £54 each, and the Manfrotto 5001B-1 Nano Light Stand comes in at $89 / £69. That makes the 3 Legged Thing Luna look pretty pricey at $150 / £130 but, unlike all of the other light stands I’ve mentioned, it’s carbon fiber rather than aluminum and is more than a one-trick pony. I reckon it’s actually very good value.
3 Legged Thing Luna: Design & Handling
Think of a high-quality carbon fiber tripod leg and that’s what’s at the core of the Luna light stand. I can’t say I’m surprised because 3 Legged Thing is always a company that likes to ‘think different’ and it has a whole lot of expertise when it comes to tripods. So, here we’ve got something very similar to a 4-sectrion carbon tripod leg serving as the central column of this light stand, but inverted so that the widest section is at the bottom rather than the top.
The sections of each telescoping carbon column section measure 25.5mm, 22mm, 18.5mm and 15.5mm, according to my digital vernier calipers. That’s actually a little chunkier than the leg sections of the 3 Legged Thing Punks Corey 2.0 travel tripod, which has a maximum load rating of 14kg / 30lb. With its single column, the Luna light stand has a maximum payload rating of 5kg / 11lg, which should certainly suffice for the vast majority of studio flash heads, LED light panels and other options.
To extend and lock the column sections, the Luna uses 3 Legged Thing’s time-honored twist-action clamps. That definitely works for me, as they need minimal rotation to free them off and lock them again. The bottom clamp is for releasing and locking the three spreading legs that form the base of the stand. The upper three clamps are for the extending column sections. It’s possible to grab all of the clamps in one hand and loosen or tighten them in one gesture, when the column is retracted.
Helping to give a sturdy footing, the diameter of the carbon tubing for the 3-section spreader is 19mm and the legs have a length of 54cm / 21.5” each. This gives a wide maximum radius that makes the stand less likely to topple over, even when using heavier lighting equipment. I like that the legs fold upwards over the center column to reduce the stowage size. As it turns out, the stand folds down to just 56cm / 22.1" in length, but achieves a maximum operating height of 200cm / 79". That’s not quite as generous as in many other lights stands. For example, the Elinchrom Lighting Stand extends to 235cm / 92.5” and even the Amazon Basics Aluminum Light Stands extend to 213cm / 84”.
Down at the bottom, there’s what appears to be a neat set of rubber feet for a grippy connection to smooth floors. There’s more than meets the eye, however, as the rubber pads pull off to reveal metal spikes, more ideal for use on loose ground and soft surfaces.
Adding a whole chunk of versatility, a really neat trick is that you can undo a locking screw at the bottom of the center column and detach it completely from the stand. You can then use it as a freestanding boom, for whatever takes your fancy. Options include a microphone, an LED lamp for illuminating inaccessible places, an action camera, or even using the boom as a selfie stick.
Another neat trick at the end of the pole, or at the top of the stand if you prefer, is the mounting connection. Catering to just about any and every need, it works as a standard 5/8” spigot for attaching studio flash heads and other lamps with conventional mounts. There’s also a 3/8” threaded protrusion for attaching the likes of lamps or even tripod ball heads or 3-way heads. The bit I really like is that the 3/8” thread is spring-loaded, so you can press it down to reveal a 1/4” thread, suiting a wide range of cameras, flashgun tabletop stands and other accessories that use the smaller screw thread. Long story short, you can mount pretty much anything and everything on this stand (or boom).
3 Legged Thing Luna: Performance
Cheap light stands can often feel flimsy. At their maximum operating height, it can seem like you’re really pushing your luck when mounting the likes of a flash head and softbox on them, or a large LED panel with heavyweight batteries attached to the back. It’s almost like you’re just waiting for the stand to topple over and for your expensive lights to come crashing to the ground. I’m really pleased with the 3 Legged Thing Luna, in that it feels rock-solid and super-stable even at its maximum operating height. That’s enabled not only by the strong carbon fiber tubing and magnesium alloy components, but also by the large radius to which the three leg sections can extend.
The compact carrying length is very welcome, and the stand comes complete with a lightweight drawstring bag. Ideally, I’d have liked a little extra maximum operating height but it should be just about sufficient for lighting tall portrait subjects when they’re standing, from a slightly downward angle. For reference, here’s a snapshot of me next to the stand.
Not just a light stand, the Luna works really well as a boom arm, with a quick and easy conversion between stand and boom. That adds great versatility for content creators and makes the Luna a really handy bit of kit.
The spigot and alternative thread sizes enable fitment of a wide range of lights and other accessories, as shown above and below.
3 Legged Thing Luna: Verdict
I’ve never been able to get excited about a light stand, until now. I really like the sumptuous carbon fiber and magnesium alloy construction of the Luna. I also like that it folds down nice and small for carrying around, and that it reaches a decent (if not overly generous) maximum operating height. Better still, I love its versatility, and that it effortlessly converts into a boom. It works a treat not just for lights, but also for supporting a mic, camera, action camera and more besides. If 3 Legged Thing made an optional adapter for using it as a guitar stand, my joy would be complete ;)
