Manfrotto 420B Combi-Boom Stand review: a two-in-one light stand and boom

Manfrotto has built an excellent reputation over more than 50 years, catering to professional and enthusiast photographers and filmmakers. It’s a name I’ve come to trust for stabilizers, supports and lighting accessories, with products being designed and built in Italy, with innovation, flair and attention to detail. 

The Manfrotto 420B Combi-Boom Stand typifies the company’s prowess, combining clever design, high-grade materials, and excellent craftsmanship. The result is an uncommonly versatile light stand that gives really stable support even at super-tall operating heights, with the added attraction that it converts to a boom in double-quick time. 

The net result is a product that’s among the best light stands, extending the usefulness of some of the best photography lighting kits and the best LED light panels.

Manfrotto 420B Combi-Boom Stand: Specifications

Manfrotto 420B Combi-Boom Stand: Price

There’s no getting away from the fact that the Manfrotto 420B Combi-Boom Stand is expensive to buy, selling for $277/£312 at the time of writing. However, when you need something that works as a really tall light stand and equally well as a boom, that you can entrust with expensive studio flash heads or LED panels without worrying about it toppling over and destroying your kit, it’s well worth the outlay.

Manfrotto 420B Combi-Boom Stand: Design & Handling

Sometimes I need a regular vertical light stand. Sometimes I might need to use a boom so that I can angle a lamp or other accessory into the scene from one side or the other. That can add up to multiple stands, booms and other paraphernalia. It can be a bit of a chore in my home studio and even more of a pain if I’m shooting on location, forcing me into packing and carrying an ever expanding collection of kit.

The Manfrotto 420B Combi-Boom Stand eases the load, as it’s designed to be a ‘combination’ light stand and boom that offers genuine two-in-one functionality.

In vertical mode, as a regular light stand, the 420B already offers more versatility than most competitors. Whereas many light stands only extend to a maximum operating height of around 215cm / 7’, this one’s much taller. 

At full vertical extension, it reaches a towering height of 390cm / 12.8', getting on for double the height of many light stands. That can be a real bonus if I need to shoot tall subjects with my key light at a downward angle for natural-looking lighting.

Then there’s the weight issue. For heavy studio flash heads and LED panels, many light stands can feel a bit flimsy and wobbly. The 420B has a maximum payload rating of 9kg / 19.84lb. Again, that’s about double the capacity of many light stands on the market.

As I’ve mentioned, while the stand works really well in its regular configuration, the main attraction is that it’s more than a one-trick pony. With a simple flick of its safety catch lever, the top section of the column converts from an upright pole to a boom arm. And thanks to a cleverly designed and implemented clamp, it’s equally quick and easy to choose pretty much any amount of extension and the angle at which the boom is set.

Naturally, once you start extending the boom, the weight of your flash head or LED panel moves significantly off-axis. This brings a clear and present danger that the stand will topple over. 

To make sure that doesn’t happen, the stand is supplied complete with a ‘sandbag’, and a big yellow warning sticker on its pivot mechanism that says ‘WARNING: Use counterbalance for boom use’. Manfrotto calls it a sandbag but, in fact, it’s an empty bag with two hook-and-loop sealed pockets and a sturdy metal clip for easy attachment to the rear end of the boom arm. 

I really like the way that I can use one or both pockets with various weights so that I can match the amount of counterbalance to the ideal requirements for any amount of extension and pivoting angle that I’m using, as well as for different weights of studio flash head or LED panel.

Manfrotto 420B Combi-Boom Stand: Performance

The Manfrotto 420B Combi-Boom Stand is no lightweight, weighing in at 3kg / 6.6lb, and that’s before you add any counterbalance weight. It has four telescopic sections with generous diameters of 35/30/25/20mm, the top section doubling up for boom duty as well as enabling the maximum vertical height of 390cm / 12.8'. 

I found it quick and easy to adjust the height as well as to switch to boom configuration, the latter having a maximum extension of 191cm / 6.2’. Suffice it to say that with such a long boom length on offer, the counterbalance weight is a definite requirement, not an optional extra.

The diameter of the spreader legs is similarly heavy-duty, at 22mm, with a leg length of 69cm / 27". This gives a good reach of up to 53cm / 21", measured from a point on the ground beneath the center column to the foot of any of the three legs. 

The overall effect, taking the leg and column dimensions and effectiveness of the clamps into consideration, is that the stand is particularly stable even at its maximum upright height, and very dependable in boom mode with a counterbalance weight attached. 

However, as I’d fully expect, the maximum payload rating drops from 9kg / 19.84lb in upright configuration to a much reduced 2kg / 4.4lb in boom mode.

Manfrotto 420B Combi-Boom Stand: Verdict

I find light stands invaluable for studio and location setups with flash heads and LED panels, and there are times when I also need a boom. I love that the Manfrotto 420B Combi-Boom Stand is genuinely a two-in-one solution, giving me the versatility and flexibility I want, yet from just one bit of kit. The clever design is really well implemented, and the stand is strongly built and impeccably finished. Sure, it’s expensive to buy but I feel it’s well worth the money.