Westcott has announced their new wall-based Float (buy here) device for storing your light modifiers. It allows you to get them up on the wall and out of the way instead of littering the floor or filling up cupboards.
Storing modifiers on walls isn’t a new idea, but Westcott and photographer Lindsay Adler have made a solid effort with this one. As well as holding your modifiers, it’ll hold your lights, too. And v-mount batteries.
Westcott Float: A brand-agnostic mounting system
The Westcott Float system looked quite intriguing from the word go to me. But I probably had the same question in my head that you all do right now (if you haven’t watched the video yet). What mount is it for?
Well, Westcott didn’t just make this for their own modifier mount system. It’s also compatible with Bowens, Elinchrom and Profoto modifiers. This gives you a lot of options if you regularly bounce between modifier mounts for different brands.
All of my lights – both for photography and video – are Bowens mount, but it’s not uncommon for photographers and filmmakers to have multiple lighting systems with different mounts for different purposes. Some have one mount for strobes, like Profoto, and another for continuous LEDs, such as Bowens.
Westcott Float lets you easily hang up whichever system you’re not using at the time to get it out of the way. It’s not an inexpensive system, once you start weighing up how much of what you’ll need for a reasonably sized studio. So, it may be a bit of an investment, but getting your gear off the floor and out of the way is worth it!
Not just for modifiers!
The speedring mounts, as supplied, can be bolted straight to the wall as a permanent fixture. But, if you’re regularly moving things around and don’t want to be locked in, a quick-mount adapter lets you create a more modular system with interchangeable mounts.
The system isn’t just for your lighting modifiers, though, either. You’re also able to use it with your lights themselves (up to a weight of 30lb, so that’d be some beefy lights), as well as the V-mount batteries you may use to power them on location.
It looks like an interesting and well-thought-out system. The prices don’t look all that outrageous, either – which is unusual. Any time you see a brand collaborate with a photographer on a product, it usually adds a premium to the price. So, it’s nice to see that the prices for this aren’t unreasonable at all.
They’re perhaps not as inexpensive as some might have been hoping for, but how much do you value your lights and modifiers? I think they sound worth it for the potential piece of mind offered if they prove out to be as strong as one hopes once they get in people’s hands and the reviews start popping up.
Price and Availability
There are a number of Wescott Float packages available to pre-order now, starting with the Bowens and Elinchrom speed ring mounts at $19.90 each and the Profoto one at $29.90. The Wall Mount Base and Adapter Kit costs $44.80, and the Wall Mount Arm Kit (the one for your lights) is $59.80.
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