Studio equipment: please critique

natc143

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Hi Everyone,

After reviewing several options and figuring out my budget, I am considering getting the following White-Lighting equipment (and other access. equipment) to use with my canon 20d, 70-200 IS, for in-house portrait/children photography in a 15x14 room 10' ceilings. I have a few questions...

1) I was going to get a WL x1600 and x800 as a main light and background light. I have a canon speedlite 580exII. Would it be easier to get another x800 instead of using the speedlite I already own?

2) I'd like to go wireless, but it appears pocket wizards may be about $400 per strobe, up to $1200. Is that correct? If so, are there any lower cost, reliable options? Or should I consider it?

3) Should I buy the snoot & barndoors from WL or another site?

4) Which white/shoot through umbrella do you recommend, does it matter?

5) Do I need adapters, speedrings, flash tubes? I just have the EMPTY space (just have background, props), and am building everything from scratch.

6) What other accessories am I missing? I would love to set the equipment up below and shoot that same weekend. I'd prefer to have everything on hand in advance.

Thank you in advance for reviewing the equipment. Greatly appreciated!
Natalie

Equipment

Light One .
X1600/ White Lightning X-Series X1600
TS13AC13-foot Air-Cushioned Stand
FOB47 Foldable Large Octabox (47") with attached speedring$169.95
LSCA25MM Set of 3 Casters
speedrings: plastic/resin (Photoflex brand) fully metal.
Two flash tubes: uv and non-uv (gold tube/yellow and warmer).

Light Two .
X800/BAGWhite Lightning X-Series X800
UBRBackground Reflector
ls1100Backlight Stand
HGX4Set of 4 Honeycomb Grids$99.95

Light Three .
Canon Speedlite 580exII
ls1100 Backlight Stand
Photoflex Multiclamp with Shoe Mount

I plan to buy the following:
Snoot (restricts light to narrow beam)
Barndoors
White/shoot through umbrella
Wireless: radio trigger system, possibly Pocket Wizard?
 
Sounds like a good set up. Also sounds like you have a lot of the start up gear. Flash tubes last a long time so I would hold off on them. Adapters and speedrings are handy if you are using a lot of diferent size and brand soffboxes. Wireless is really handy, but not essential. I would add the biggest and best lens hood you can afford. Lots of foamcore, spring clamps and some cheap spare light stands to hold said foamcore. Can not wait to see the first shots. Locate and tape the breaker that you will be using for easy access.

Love & Bass
 
Thank you Craig - much appreciated! After all my work creating this list above, I saw the Elinchrom D-Lite 4 To Go Set, which offers two 400W strobes, significantly less of course. What are your thoughts on Elinchrom vs. White Lightning? I'm seconds from hitting "buy", but want to ensure I dont regret my purchase.

Thanks in advance!
Natalie
 
Are we talking about a 1600 w/s main White Lightning vs a 400w/s main Elichron. If we are go with the white lightning. 400 watt/second is measly in the world of studio flash. It may be good as a fill, but that is about it.

Love & Bass
 
Yes, 1600 w/s main White Lightning vs a 400w/s main Elichron, correct! I guess I just needed reassurance... hehe
 
The more watt/Seconds the strobe has the more powerful it will be. My Speedotron has the capability to shoot 2400 w/s. Actually comes in real handy because I like to stop way down to ƒ14 @125th iso 100.

Love & Bass
 
Thank you for your insight!! I'm going WL for sure.
I'm still a newbie, but appreciate your guidance above!! Will post pics soon =)
 
By the way...it's watt seconds, not watt/seconds.
 
When you say watt/seconds...it's like you are saying watts per second. Or in a formula, it would be watts over seconds...which is wrong.

Sure, in conversation it doesn't really matter and I usually don't bother to be the annoying guy who corrects everybody...but sometimes I do ;)
 
watt second - A unit of electrical energy equal to the work done when a current of one ampere passes through a resistance of one ohm for one second
 

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