Studio Flash Equiptment.

rameire

Howdy guys.
Finally finished the college course at Griffith.
Business is set up
web site is nearly there
facebook is up and running,
jobs are coming in
bought a new camera.
baby on the way.

next in the list is a new man.
joking.
studio flash equiptment.

ideally i would like to spend a fortune but in reality i cant.
so, I want
2 flash lights with stands
2 soft boxes
1 snoot
1 wireless trigger
1 reflector.

these are what i have found on the tinternet
ebay 1
ebay 2
ebay 3

ideally i would prefer to buy locally ( locally = Ireland )

can anybody suggest on the three i have noted,
or can anybody suggest where i can go to buy what i require.

Kbeg3

Try Barker Photographic in Cork. Bought all my studio stuff there last Summer!

smelltheglove

Also try www.photomart.co.uk I saved almost €200 ordering my background support with them and they have very quick delivery. If you are ordering with them without a vat number though you should phone the order in.

Borderfox

Photomart/Warehouse Express are excellent

I got my lights in Conns, prices was the same as all around town. Dont ask them a question about them though as you have to wait till Tuesday till the lights man comes in

Barname

Barker Photographic

1. they are based in Ireland
2. their prices beat UK prices on Elinchrom

rameire

Barker option

So do you guys think this one is a good deal?

Borderfox

Looks good, I went for the 400w kit just for a bit extra power especially if you want to put light modifiers on.

sunny2004

agree with the Fox, power is going to be important, you can always turn a more powerful light down, but not a less powerful one up..

Borderfox

I use mine with a lastolite hi-lite and find them excllent for taking up and down.

121FOTO

Hi there rameire

Before you invest in any light just ask yourself what do you want to do with it. I know someone here mentioned power and that the more the better. This is a misconception that most of us, including me, are falling or used to fall into.

If you shoot indoor, on location, in a normal household environment then you will quickly find that a very powerful light is sometime, even when dialed all the way down, way to powerful for your needs. If you want to make something exciting then dont show the whole thing and this, translated into studio light means dont illuminate the whole thing. A 200W light, when dialed down to min, will give you an f/stop. A600W light, when dialed down to min, will give you way more light then the 2ooW light. I hope you see the problem here.
If you like to use the inverse square law in your advantage then you will need a light that can be dialed down to nearly nothing then a light that can give you huge amounts of W/sec. Do not forget. Light quality is not given by the amount of light but by its size. Quality is controlled by the light size and brightness is controlled by the f/stop.
This photo was taken indoor, there was a computer behind her+door+normal ugly wall. Because I used a strobe that can be dialed down to very little power I was able to control the ambient light and the way the light traveled.

If you find that most of your assignments are outdoor, in very bright environments, then go for a powerful light but be prepared to spend some money+a kidney

O

Borderfox

OP never mentioned outdoors?

For what you are describing then he should just go for two flashguns with softboxes? if thats the case why would anybody buy studio lights? You generally use a background with studio lights too which negates any dodgy background. Light modifiers are the OP's method of directing light

121FOTO

Borderfox wrote: »

OP never mentioned outdoors?

For what you are describing then he should just go for two flashguns with softboxes? if thats the case why would anybody buy studio lights? You generally use a background with studio lights too which negates any dodgy background. Light modifiers are the OP's method of directing light

And this is exactly the question. Do you need a studio light or are two flashes enough for your work?? I have 4 elinchroms, 4 SB900, 2 SB800, 1SB something DX (old thing) and still..most of my photos are taken with max 3 lights. And funny enough I never go above 2 or 2.5 stops power on studio lights. The 400W set is in its box for the last 2 weeks..

Yes. You do use a background in the studio work. But if you know how to use the lights, and you have the right strobes, you can turn a white background dark and a dark background white . Once you know how to do that, you can turn any background in anything you want, but for that you need to have the right lights.
Light modifiers dont control the brightness. They control the quality so again..doesnt have anything to do with the power of a strobe.
All I am trying to do is to show that there is a cheaper way. Buy the cheapest light possible and then invest in big softboxes or umbrellas. (I would buy softboxes if possible )
We should ask the OP how big her studio is, what is the main work there. Portraiture? Product photography? Kids? Pets? Cars?? Each of these items brings with them certain criteria when it comes about equipment.
Bottom line, and to get back to you question why would anyone buy studio lights, One buys studio lights when one needs them. Would you buy a tractor if all you have to do is cut the grass in your back garden? Would you buy a 600mm f/2.8 lens if 90% of your work is landscape? Probably not. Invest the money wise, spend where is needed and you will not regret.

Borderfox

I would agree with softboxes too. I use flashguns where possible mainly not to have to lug a lot of gear esp at weddings.

I just feel if the op goes and invests money in a flashgun set-up he will still end up buying a set of studio lights in the end so trying to direct advice to that end

121FOTO

Am I missing smething here? The OP mentioned that beside lights, a man is also sought!! Are we talking about a HE or a SHE?? Photos please...:D

rameire

Thanks for the info so far guys.

There are two of us who use this tag.
the wife is the photographer,( hence the looking for a man joke ) she is currently away and may not get to interact with the thread for the next 3 days.
i can say though that the work she is currently operating in is.
portraiture
kids
products
outdoor

cheers

121FOTO

Ok. We sorted the "need for a man" thing!

Portraiture, product, kids - From my experience I would say small lights. You can get away with a couple of strobes.

Kids (this is what I am doing mainly) are especially more difficult to manage and I am always shooting with small strobes (SB900) and umbrellas when working with kids. You can secure a light as much you want but when a child starts climbing onto it..the whole thing will come down. Imagine what happen if a small Sb900 comes in top of the child compared with a studio light.

Product - small light again. No need for huge power.

Portraiture - again..small lights with big softbox. Remember that for portraiture the size of the soft box should, ideally, be 2.5 times bigger then the subject. I said ideally because in a real world this will not happen. Try and get a soft box as big you can. It will help big big time.

Outdoor. Since 3 components of the 4 listed will use small lights, I can say that you could get away here with small lights by choosing dusk's as shooting time. Even if you have a powerful light, if you shoot outdoor in the middle of the day, you will get into the, what I call, dirty f/stop. Big f/stops that show every speck of dust and dirt on your sensor. One more thing. Outdoor- and studio lights =you will need a battery. Money again

If I would be you, I would buy 2-3 flashes, something that has a pc port, manual control of the power, 2-3 skyports, and spend the rest on some big size umbrellas, few snoots+grids and gels. Job done

rameire

Hi all,

Thanks for the updates while I've been away...my dh is right, mainly looking towards the studio/portraiture stuff for now, outdoors will not be a major concern as I have one shoot booked but will be using my speedlite for this.

I have been using elinchrome dlite's and bowens 500's recently but have found that the bowens have been a little strong for my liking, so i think the advice is right here that a smaller light would be better for now. I want to get 2 lights so I can balance the shadows against a backdrop of white or black, but I'm sure this is just my personal preference at this time (also it gives me a back up light if one goes down!;))

So I think I think I have my mind set on the dlite 2 kit from Barker but is it better than the cheaper set from ebay that i had listed earlier??

Is going for a branded set better so you can get accessories to fit later on???

Borderfox

Other brands I dont know about but all the elinchrom accessories fit the D-Lites

rameire

perfect..thanks borderfox!

rameire

ok, I have spent hours looking into this and now have it down to 2 kits from Barkers....The only choice left for me is whether to spend an extra €139 on a wireless triggered system or not?

Any opinions?

Here are the 2 kits I'm looking at:

Barker Elinchrome non-wireless kit option

Barker Elinchrome Wireless kit option

Fionn

id say go for something like Interfit or Elinchrom, those mentioned on flea bay dont seem to have any brand names etc. might be tricky to get support or parts when something goes wrong!!
i've got three Elinchrom D-Lite 4 two soft boxes one large and a modeling dish on the third.
I've got a wireless setup too but i dont always use it if your in a small space theres not a huge advantage but it's nice to have in case you have to move around alot.
I've got that Interfit Heavy Duty background but i find it's way too big i have a chroma-key backdrop with it. It wont really fit into most peoples front rooms tho!! I'd much prefer the Lastolite solution
good luck with it

rameire

Anyway
got a Elinchrom Dlite4-it to go kit yesterday from a store in Dublin (so happy I was able to keep it local!). Barkers had it at a good price too, but needed it tomorrow so spend a slight bit more and got it for convenience!

It's amazing! Its got the 2 x 400w lites with wireless system builtin and trigger included, stands, softboxes (one larger and one smaller). So that along with my new 50D should be a good investment for the next year!!

So thanks for allllllll the input. Was fabulous and really helpful!

Hopefully I'll have some images in the next week for you to look at .

Cheers again!

Borderfox

Good stuff, enjoy