I’m building a digital video production space in my tiny room. Anyone who’s done this knows that limited space forces you into a lot of workarounds. One of the biggest headaches is whether to use tripods or not, especially when you’re dealing with heavy COB lights.
If you browse camera-related websites and spend any time on social media, chances are you’re being tracked and fed “relevant ads.” In my case, I kept seeing iFootage ads, especially their round-base lighting stand. It’s marketed as a solution for small space studios, positioned as an alternative to regular light stands or C-stands.
After a while, I bought into the idea. It looked like it could work.
I ordered one from Amazon and mounted my COB light with a 90cm softbox on it. To be fair, it worked reasonably well. So I did what I often do when I like a product: I ordered another one directly from the iFootage website. It’s a bad habit of mine, I like supporting manufacturers directly. Buying from their site means cutting out the middleman (B&H or Amazon) and sending the revenue straight to the manufacturer.
Everything was fine… until I discovered Impact’s Varipole.
The iFootage stand, no matter how clever and massive the marketing, is still a stand. Rounded base, no tripod legs, sure, but it still takes up floor space. That’s the core issue. No amount of marketing changes that. It’s still a stand.
The Varipole, on the other hand, isn’t.
Once I realized there was a better solution to my actual problem, I switched.
I ordered a pair of Impact Varipoles from my favorite retailer, B&H. When they arrived, they exceeded my expectations even after watching several YouTubers who already use them to neatly organize cameras, lights, microphones, and more within the Impact ecosystem. The poles are far sturdier than I expected and gave me far more confidence than the over-hyped iFootage round-base stand, which starts feeling sketchy once you extend it high (not even at max height, in my experience).
So I initiated returns for the unused iFootage products, one to Amazon and one directly to iFootage.
Here’s where the problem starts.
Amazon received the return and refunded me to my Amazon gift card balance without drama. iFootage, on the other hand, asked me to ship the product back at my own expense and send them the tracking number.
This is the issue.
I understand iFootage isn’t Amazon. They’re clearly a much smaller operation. I noticed that my order number was under 10,000, which suggests they’re not exactly moving massive volume. Fine. But when you market your product to small studio owners who are often solo creators or small business operators, you’re creating a no-win situation.
Either the customer eats the cost, or the company does.
And almost always, it’s the customer who loses.
I want to support small businesses. I rely on support from my own customers and clients. But this kind of policy creates unnecessary costs for me. My operation is small. Extra shipping costs slow down my ability to upgrade gear and improve production quality. This kind of friction hurts small creators far more than it ever would a large business who, frankly, are probably not iFootage’s core customers anyway.
This is exactly why I stopped investing in small-business ecosystems.
It’s why I stopped buying from companies with “cool ideas” like Peak Design, Shimoda, Nomad, Boosted Board, and Juiced Bikes (some of which are now defunct). And now I’m adding iFootage to that list.
This will be the first and last time I buy anything directly from them. Knowing there’s a chance I could get stuck with a product I don’t need or be forced to pay a hefty shipping fee to return heavy hardware, is enough for me. Even if I buy their products again, I’ll never buy directly from their website.
Yes, third party retailers take a cut. And honestly? That seems like a fair trade.
When it comes down to choosing who should take the hit, I’m choosing iFootage, not my progress.
As for small space solutions going forward, I’m sticking with Impact’s ecosystem. It’s not marketed as flashy or revolutionary, but the function speaks for itself. If you want to see how Varipoles work in tight spaces, there are plenty of solid YouTube videos showing how smart and efficient the system is. It is an AMAZING system.
It’s simple: it’s not a stand. And that’s exactly why it works.
