Customer Reviews

PBL BACKGROUND SUPPORT SYSTEM 9'x15' BLACK WHITE MUSLINS by PBL

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The light stand itself is sturdy and compact. fits right into my car trunk with the handy bag that comes with it. The only problem i experienced with the stand is that when trying to put together one side of the three piece pole on the top, it is hard to get it to jam together. the other side connects together easily. The muslin itself is the real issue. I wish there was some mechanism to have it easily draped onto the stand. You have to buy some nice clamps to keep this on and looking smooth. The backdrop is also not wide enough. sure, the stand is 15' wide, but the muslin isn't close to being that wide. Also, this doenst come with anything to store the muslins in. I keep it in the cardboard box it came in. So unless you can Photoshop pretty decently to take out rinkles, make it look wider and make the muslin's black look blacker and white look whiter, go with some paper backdrop for the excellent stand. At least I can Photoshop, but some others can't or don't want to go through the hassle and waste precious time.

I looked at several different stands before deciding on this particular one. I am very pleased wit it. It doesnt come with instructions to put it together but it doesnt take much thought at all to figure it out (my 5 year old can do it without direction). It is very quick and easy to set up. The muslins are nice as well. I have used them both and like them very much. They are a really good size for full length shots. I do on location photography and this setup is absolutely perfect for me, especially that it comes with a case for the stand.

I love the ease of the support system, very simple setup and breakdown. My only problems with it is the thin quality of the backdrops. Mostly they are fine, but for a few photoshoots I am able to see whatever is behind the cloth. Able to fix with photoshop, but it would be nice if I didn't have to!

Overall, great product!

This backdrop is very easy to set up even though it comes with no instructions. The support system is solid. But there are a couple of things to be aware of. The bottom sections of the vertical poles are spring loaded. The poles tend to jump up when you release them so make sure that you don't have anything that you don't want poked over the poles when they are released. Also, I wasn't sure how to use the two clamps that hold the muslins to the frame. They don't seem to attach to the frame. So, I draped the muslin over the horizontal frame pole and clamped the front and rear muslin parts together. I don't know if that is how it is supposed to be done, but it works.

The muslin is creased from being folded in its bag. The creases are very obvious when the muslin is hanging on the frame. I was photographing dark objects in front of the white screen so I masked out the screen with a wand mask tool to get rid of the creases in my photos. But if you are shooting mid-range objects, you may have to do some manual masking to get rid of the creases or figure out a way to stretch the muslin to reduce the creases.

The stand is fantastic. I love it. The backdrops, yes, they are a little thin, but you can double them up and they work fine. I noticed that when plenty of light is used, the white backdrop is fine. The black one, needs to be thicker. BUT like I said, for the money, it is fantastic. I use photoshop anyway, so it's that easy to fix in the picture. THANKS!!

I bought this set based solely on what I saw here on Amazon, and I am GLAD I DID!!!!

This set up is perfect, and it's some of the best money I've spent here!!

I works great for the beginner or pro(me ;-).

I generally shoot on-location, but I purchased this set to shoot indoors during bad weather seasons, and it is working out just as I hoped it would!!

It comes with two well built stands, and an easy to assembly Muslin pole, and one of the nicest carrying cases for travel I've owned just yet!

This product is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! Best money spent in a while!!!

I will keep it short.

Both the black and white so called muslin backdrops (they are not muslins, believe me) were of the poorest grade of material imaginable. Bedsheets are thicker then these. I am basing my review as a professional and regular consumer in photo/video production business for 11 years. If i would have used these for a clients shoot they would have laughed me out of the business. I just can't get over how crappy the backdrops were. You really do get what you pay for.

The stands and cross bars are also poorly made.

My suggestion after this experience is too stay away from products made by PBL.

So first off, this thing came in super fast from TX to CA. Props to the shipping company since they had it expected 2 weeks after the intended date.

Now to the actual product. I set it up the minute it arrived and my first impressions were, "Wow, that's a nice bag." It's not padded at all, it's just canvas w/ nifty handles and zippers, so be careful when setting the pack down. The support poles are very thin aluminum (might be galvanized steel?) and are packaged at the bottom of the whole bag, so one drop on one of the ends and you'll have a fun time trying to get the poles round again so they'll fit in one another.

I only set up the black muslin because of the horror stories about it being super thin and guess what...the stories are true. In a dimly lit room you can see what's behind it. I did double it up and clamp it but it turns a 9x15' seamless into a 9x8' (rounded up). Weak. My fix to this is to try and wrinkle the hell out of it and just use it that way. It could be pleasing if bokeh'ed out enough.

The stands are cheap as hell, but they are light and are sturdy enough to hold the intended kit. I wanted to use my heavy duty Paul C Buff ones (the big 13' ones) but the support pole's holes are too small for the stands' studs. The good thing is that the studs that came w/ the supplied stands look like they're removable so I may go to my local shop to see if I can switch the studs out for normal-looking ones and use em for my lights, then widen the holes in the support poles to fit my heavier stands.

The muslin does come looped and stitched at the end so you can slide the support pole right through to the other side. I only needed clamps to secure the doubled-up muslin. If using it like a normal seamless, it shouldn't be that big of an issue.

Now I'm not sure if this thing will support better, heavier muslin but for the time being it should work fine. I gave it 4 stars strictly for price, otherwise I'd give it 3, because for $100, you really can't beat it. Good muslin of similar size can run anywhere from $50-$75 and stands on the cheap end can run about that much. Just don't expect to be able to use these stands w/ your lights any time soon. I intend to use this on a few shoots and reevaluate its rating. Stay tuned!

Overall: Great Product! Impressed!

I researched a lot on the backdrop kits and finally decided on this one from Cowboy Studio (9x15 White Black). I was conerned with the reviews that mentioned the muslin is very thin. Yes it is thin but however I see no issues with it. I have taken over 100 photos now with both black and white and have had no issues with seeing through the fabric. The stands seem to work perfect for what you need. Also the fabrics come with a stitched in loop so that you don't need to purchase clamps! Very nice! For the price and quality of this kit I am very pleased. The carrying case is nice also!

Pros:
Large size muslins can easily fit multiple people
Fairly sturdy stands with nice case
Cheap!
Quality

Note: This kit setup is LARGE! It will not fit in small room I have mine installed in basement.

You can see some of my results below in the People Portfolio.
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The stands are sturdy enough, but the real problem is with the muslins. VERY SHEAR! You can see EVERYTHING through them.