Review: Hecis 8 5ft x 10ft backdrop stand $70

Amazon Affiliate Link: https://amzn.to/3NVBYIl Price as reviewed: $70 8.5x10ft Backdrop Stand, Adjustable Photography Background Frame, Heavy Duty Pipe and Drape Kit Photo Support Poles for Wedding, Party, Birthday, Festival, Vide, Studio From the Hecis Store This backdrop stand is more lightweight than the "pipe-and-drape" stands that Hecis also sells, but compared to other photography backdrops I've used, it is much more heavy duty. It comes with two steel plate bases that weigh 5 pounds each. (They ship in two pieces and you screw them together puzzle piece style with the screw that holds the upright. Once they are screwed together, they are fully rigid, and include a handle cutout to make carrying them easy.) The bases also include extra holes at the corner and end, giving you pole placement options other than the center screw (which needs to stay in place to hold the two pieces together). Each upright comes with an extra screw shipped inside it, so you get 4 base to upright screws total, two of which you won't need if you use the standard center mounting position. They include a small Allen wrench for screwing them together. The threads are tight (I think because they were painted over) and it was difficult but not impossible to thread the screws in the first time. The uprights and center pole(s) are made of aluminum and are lightweight but strong. The uprights have two expanding sections that lock with plastic clamps, and extend to a max of 8.5 feet. The small plastic clamps work well, but I found that they were hard to open as the cam action level is small and hard to get a finger under. The center pole comes in two sections that screw together (one with dual female threading, one with a male and female threading on each end). If you use only the female/female section alone, the minimum width is just over three feet. Each section also has a "twist to extend" action, so if you screw them together and extend them both, you get the full 10' width. The screws and threading are aluminum in addition to the pole sections. [There are two large steel screws with plastic handles included to screw the top pole(s) into the uprights. The screw is long, and takes many many turns to fully tighten, but gives you a lot of steel inside the ends of the poles. [There is nothing that says you need to screw them all the way in just to hold a backdrop, but if you do, be prepared to spend 15 seconds screwing it in and out.] Overall I was impressed with the strength and rigidity, much better than a lot of photography backdrops I've used in the past. It includes a basic carry bag that is wide enough to fit the 2-part bases without unscrewing them and long enough for the 4 pole sections. [It doesn't include any interior pocket for screws, so keep their included ziplock bag to keep the extra screws and Allen wrench together.] The package doesn't include any sandbags, but you probably won't need them due to the heavy bases. They also don't include any clamps, so if your backdrop doesn't have a "pole sleeve" you'll need to provide your own clamps. (There is plenty of extra room in the carry bag to store a few clamps and elastic tensions strings.) Overall a solid backdrop stand, the only thing I don't like are the difficult to operate small plastic clamps on the uprights.