inexpensive lighting - strobes

ryan7783

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Can anyone recommend some decent, yet, inexpensive strobes? I've checked ebay but I never know if any of those are decent enough to work with. I'm new to lighting equipment so any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not looking to spend a crazy amount of money but I would like something half way decent. Please help
 
Take a look at the Patterson Interfit line. They have quite a few "kits" that are real nice for starters. I use the Patterson Interfit 300 kit and I love it. They have several different power options and kit options as well. Both B&H and Adorama have them.
 
You could even consider getting a couple cheap strobes like the SB-200 and using them as optical slaves sitting on some cheap $20 tripods. That's a really a great bang for the buck.
 
I know I am a dork but I got some shop lights from Sears and put a sheet 6 inches in front of them. Makes a great light. I spent $40 on the 2 lights.
 
Watch out for those halogen shop lights, the might burn something that is 6" in front of them...and I wouldn't want to be a model who has to sit in front of them for any length of time.
 
Can anyone recommend some decent, yet, inexpensive strobes? I've checked ebay but I never know if any of those are decent enough to work with. I'm new to lighting equipment so any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not looking to spend a crazy amount of money but I would like something half way decent. Please help

What's a strobe, what's a crazy amount of money, and what are you wanting to use them for?

2 200w/s monolight kit which is almost a rebranded Elinchrom D200, iirc. $319: http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/CF0502K1/

Or you can get some used Vivitar 283's for about $35 a piece on ebay and have some that's more portable.
 
maybe i'm confused - i'm looking for a constant source of light to use as a main source and a secondary source.

I appreciate the help thus far
 
maybe i'm confused - i'm looking for a constant source of light to use as a main source and a secondary source.

I appreciate the help thus far

You are. Those are called constant lights. A strobe is a light that fires a quick pulse of light, like a strobe light. A flash is a strobe. A strobe is a flash. A constant light is a light bulb.
 
thanks for setting me straight. now who can suggest some good, inexpensive CONSTANT lights?

i like working with a flash but i'm getting more into modeling work and it looks like i'm going to need some more equipment

Is the kit that you suggested before going to be in line with what i need?
 
i like working with a flash but i'm getting more into modeling work and it looks like i'm going to need some more equipment
If you are going to be shooting people, then I'd suggest looking into strobes/flash rather than constant lights.
 
you could start by looking at the Alien Bees, they are a great inexpensive strobe with lots of choices for light modifiers

http://www.alienbees.com

The genisis Kit above is probably cheaper and the accessories are compatible with Elinchrom lights. I own bees, but my next purchase will probably be Elinchrom or some other better brand.

ok well knowing that now, what are my options?

Read:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

All principals here can be applied to larger lights.

After you read you really need to set two things before looking; what is your budget and do you need portability or power?

You can buy monolights and battery packs but they'll get expensive. You can also use speed lights off camera and can get them for cheap, but they just won't have the power that a "studio strobe" will. Most hotshoe mounted studio lights are around 60w/s, iirc. The monolight kit I posted is 200w/s per light. Some are more than 1200w/s.

There are several reasons why you'd want strobes over constant lights for people. Constant lights are often called hot lights because they get hot. Not all do, but a lot do. Using modifiers becomes difficult as you have to watch the heat and watch for anything catching on fire. You'll also make your model sweat. They also take much more power to get as much light as a low powered flash. A 150watt bulb will even come close to the amount of light a 200w/s strobe will put out. Less light means you have to use wider apertures and slower shutter speeds which can lead to camera shake, dof problems, and motion blur. Flashes also create a 2nd exposure. Generally you can't shoot over 1/200 or 1/250 with a flash, but the duration of a flash burst is what contributes to stopping motion. Some flashes have a duration of about 1/30,000. That's equivalent to using a shutter speed that fast if you're using a flash.

There's a lot more to it as well. Read Strobist.
 
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