Need some deciding on studio lighting setup..

dazftw

Im going to buy some sort of studio setup over the next month or so and ive been just researching whats the best options to go for and im just wondering if someone could help me? Mainly used for portrait stuff!

Things im curious about:

Should I go continuous light or flash? or both?
Should I go with mono lights or one with a generator?
Also a good online retailers I can get this stuff from?

Is there any good kit out there that will cover everything to get started and also still work with new lights/heads etc if I decide to buy more..?

I know theres a few people on here that know a good bit about studio setups :P

Borderfox

I have an Elinchrom D-Lite 4 kit and find it excellent, I bought it in Conns. You can use all the higher end accessories from Elinchrom too

Fionn

+ 1 for Elinchrom D-Lite 4, very good stuff, easy to set up, portable etc. the ones with their own power pack are much dearer than the ones that use ordinary houshold current.
the D-Lite have flash built in and also have modeling lights too and there are lots and lots of accessories - if you have the money

Borderfox

Elinchrom/Bowens very easy to set up and entry level systems are very consistent heres my setup
One behind and one in the Hi-Lite

dazftw

Any price on the D4 kit?

This is all ive found so far:

http://www.profotshop.ch/Licht/Set-angebot/d-lite-4-set-(promotion)-e20802.html

Looks great but at nearly 700 ill be saving for a bit longer to get it


This is another one I was looking at:

http://www.thedigitalcamerashop.co.uk/product_details.php?sw=false&id=3436

smelltheglove

Borderfox wrote: »

Elinchrom/Bowens very easy to set up and entry level systems are very consistent heres my setup
One behind and one in the Hi-Lite

Is that yor sitting room? Love the decor, oh and lights are cool too!

PaulieC

dazftw wrote: »

Any price on the D4 kit?

This is all ive found so far:

http://www.profotshop.ch/Licht/Set-angebot/d-lite-4-set-(promotion)-e20802.html

Looks great but at nearly 700 ill be saving for a bit longer to get it


This is another one I was looking at:

http://www.thedigitalcamerashop.co.uk/product_details.php?sw=false&id=3436

Pixels.ie have teh d-lite 4 set for 700 quid, Berminghams for 690, so I'm sure you'd get it in Ireland for cheaper than that.

dazftw

What about this setup, no softboxes though!

http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/BW4717UK/

Fionn

Paddy Barker in cork has some stuff too, you'll probably want a flash/light meter too although not essential but it helps a lot tho!
he has some secondhand stuff too but all with no fans - i have three lamps two with fans which is great for keeping thisng cool

PaulieC

here's a set of 3 1000W continuous lamps for GBP500. No softboxes though

dazftw

Fionn wrote: »

Paddy Barker in cork has some stuff too, you'll probably want a flash/light meter too although not essential but it helps a lot tho!
he has some secondhand stuff too but all with no fans - i have three lamps two with fans which is great for keeping thisng cool

I have a sekonic L358 which I got off adverts a little while ago and its been great using it!

That 3 light set looks nice, even if its got no softboxes or anything! I presume I can buy some softboxes from different brands and they should work? Anyone use those lights also?

Just re-read, those lights are continuous! Im looking for flash ones.

Carrigman

Fionn wrote: »

Paddy Barker in cork has some stuff too, you'll probably want a flash/light meter too although not essential but it helps a lot tho!
he has some secondhand stuff too but all with no fans - i have three lamps two with fans which is great for keeping thisng cool

I second Paddy Barker's! http://www.barkerphotographic.ie/

I got my Elinchrom D-Lite 4 kit from them and it's brilliant!

ValueInIreland

Hi Daz, Unless you are going to shoot video I would rule out tungsten as it is hot, may not give the required depth of field and you may also have colour balance issues if other light sources illuminate the subject.
Generator packs are expensive and for most applications not any better than "Monoblocks".
There are several brands of Monoblocks, some are very good and some are very flakey! At the low end (of the established brands) you have Portaflash and Interfit. In the Mid to upper range (where most Pros buy) you have Bowens and Elinchrom (Think Canon / Nikon!) both are very good.
Elinchrom is the one I am familiar with. You can get a D-Lite 2/4 kit (One D-Lite 2 and one D-Lite 4, stands, umbrellas, cases and DVD) for €519 here in Ireland. You will get the D-Lite 4 Kit for under €699 which has two softboxes.
All Elinchrom accessories (except for the large softboxes) will work on the D-Lites so any investment here will pay off if you up-grade to the professional series BX-Ri or RX series heads. A two head BX-Ri kit is €1,099 in Ireland (same as UK price). These heads have a little more power, heavy duty build, shorter flash duration (stopping power) and have a built in Skyport Radio receiver for remote cordless triggering.
They are stocked by:
Barker Photographic in Cork
Berminghams, Conns, Camera Centre and Gunnsand Sheldon Photographic in Dublin.

Borderfox

smelltheglove wrote: »

Is that yor sitting room? Love the decor, oh and lights are cool too!

A clients front room, the 6x7 Hilite fits in anywhere..

dazftw

Ive heard the D Lite 4 kit the most so I reckon shes the one ill go for! Ill have to save an extra week or two but thats ok! Id rather get something good than rush into it!

I can get backgrounds also in Paddy Barker's & say an umbrella to go with everything?

PaulieC

Borderfox wrote: »

A clients front room, the 6x7 Hilite fits in anywhere..

Keith, do you have any samples of portraits done using the hilite? How many people would you get in ??

Borderfox

You would get around 4 people in comfortably but the beauty of it is the light and background is consistent so you can shoot groups of two or three and comp them together. The train lights differently to the background so a little bit of levels and history brush is needed to change that