Building a starter in home studio to practice.

[gsgary]

Can't work out if it is flash or continuous but the quality at that price must be so so, i would aviod it like the plague, take a look at the Interfit EX150 great starter they have won a lot of gold awards in Uk mags Interfit USA Office

This may sound odd, but I am not looking for quality just yet. For $160 I'm not expecting much. If I have to duct tape it after 3 weeks of use I wouldn't really mind. I mean after all, I am using a cardboard softbox right now lol. I will however bookmark that site, and come back to it in a few months when I am ready for something more permanent. Appreciate the link. What I am looking for, is an affirmation or denial on whether this is enough light for what I want to accomplish or if I should be using umbrellas instead etc.

I think it's is continuous btw.

The Interfit are no where near top quality but are very cheap and for the money cannot be beaten you will get far superior results than any **** on ebay

 

[nickzou]

Question: What is the point of continuous lights then? Are there any advantages to it? And don't you have to have continuous lights for something like video?

 

[Aerin328]

I made the mistake of trying to save a few bucks and bought a very similar kit last year on E*Bay. I am NOT satisfied with my purchase and do not recommend that others buy this kit. The backdrop isn't bad but the lighting is pretty terrible. The lights are only moderately bright and no matter what I do in RAW it doesn't seem to be able to correct the unnatural color. I will not buy lighting equipment on E*Bay again.

 

[nickzou]

I've recently purchased a cheap continuous lighting kit off eBay. I'm not sure if I am satisfied or not yet. I'm very new to this whole lighting thing so as far as I can tell, it's alright. It gives me enough light to shoot at 1/150s, which is fast enough for me. I was planning on adding a third light which should allow me to increase my shutter speed even more. I dunno, initial assessment (for 250 bucks) the two lights I have are decent. But again, I don't really know anything about lighting, still learning.

 

[mjhoward]

I would still consider myself a beginner so keep that in mind when looking at my advice....

I think another good option and cheaper alternative would be to get a few used speedlights rather than the more powerful strobes. The Vivitar 285's can be had anywhere between $30 and $50 used and are pretty powerful speedlights. Add a cheap radio trigger set and you should be good for a small and portable indoor studio. You'll of course be sacrificing recycle time and power. In a smaller indoor studio, I don't think power will be an issue anyway since most speedlights have a Guide number of ~120' @ ISO100.

I just picked up a set of Yongnuo RF-602 triggers and 3 used Nikon SB-28's earlier this week. I'm mainly going to use a couple of these speedlights in a Macro rig but I got an extra one (along with my SB-600) to experiment more with larger subjects and at greater distances, not to mention the added creativity you can explore with many lights rather than 1 or 2.

 

[gsgary]

I've recently purchased a cheap continuous lighting kit off eBay. I'm not sure if I am satisfied or not yet. I'm very new to this whole lighting thing so as far as I can tell, it's alright. It gives me enough light to shoot at 1/150s, which is fast enough for me. I was planning on adding a third light which should allow me to increase my shutter speed even more. I dunno, initial assessment (for 250 bucks) the two lights I have are decent. But again, I don't really know anything about lighting, still learning.

The only continuos lights i would consider are Welcome to Kino Flo Lighting Systems for Film, Photography, Video & Tv and arri which i have used a lot ARRI Lighting Kits and Lighting Products, Prolight Direct, Watford, UK

 

[KmH]

And don't you have to have continuous lights for something like video?

Yes, because video records at least 25 still shots per second. It is difficult to get a strobe light to re-cycle that fast.

Continuous lights are generally cheaper than strobes, allow you to easily see what the light is doing. Good strobe lights include a continuous light (modeling light) for that same purpose. The modeling light has a lot less power than the strobe though.

The biggest drawback of continuous lights is the get hot, heat up anything they are near, can burn your subject(s) and anyone else that touches anything hot.

In the video and movie making industries the amount of light needed can be amazing. Movie lights are often powered by a carbon arc rather than a light bulb.

Here is a $14,893, 12,000W - 18,000W continuous light. Arri 12K - 18KW HMI Fresnel 563205 B&H Photo Video

 

[Ballistics]

I'm going to do some searching for a used set up. If I can't find anything, Ill pick this kit up and report back. Like I said, I'm not expecting anything good, but just something to get me started for as cheap as possible. Unless someone has something to recommend in the $200-250 range that will get me going?

 

[Ballistics]

I would still consider myself a beginner so keep that in mind when looking at my advice....

I think another good option and cheaper alternative would be to get a few used speedlights rather than the more powerful strobes. The Vivitar 285's can be had anywhere between $30 and $50 used and are pretty powerful speedlights. Add a cheap radio trigger set and you should be good for a small and portable indoor studio. You'll of course be sacrificing recycle time and power. In a smaller indoor studio, I don't think power will be an issue anyway since most speedlights have a Guide number of ~120' @ ISO100.

I just picked up a set of Yongnuo RF-602 triggers and 3 used Nikon SB-28's earlier this week. I'm mainly going to use a couple of these speedlights in a Macro rig but I got an extra one (along with my SB-600) to experiment more with larger subjects and at greater distances, not to mention the added creativity you can explore with many lights rather than 1 or 2.

I need flashes anyway. Ill just add it to my ever growing budget lol.

 

[Ballistics]

I need to revive this thread... I saved a little bit and am looking for higher quality suggestions. I kind of prefer continuous lighting just because it's easier right now. Is it possible to get a similar kit in the OP for under $300?

 

[Noxire]

I'd suggest you buy a couple of YN flashes; cheap, easy to use and did I mention cheap?

like 4 flashes for 200$

 

[Dao]

If you are learning to learn about lighting or want some portable light, take a look at this

Strobist: Lighting 101

 

[Ballistics]

I'd suggest you buy a couple of YN flashes; cheap, easy to use and did I mention cheap?

like 4 flashes for 200$

and then just buy a few softboxes with stands a trigger I guess?

 

[Noxire]

I'd suggest you buy a couple of YN flashes; cheap, easy to use and did I mention cheap?

like 4 flashes for 200$

and then just buy a few softboxes with stands a trigger I guess?

Yes, exactly. All you need to fasten a flash to a stand is an inexpensive hot-shoe mount (preferable with ability to attach an umbrella)

And you can buy light-weight (also cheap) stands since it now only has to be able to support 1-2kg.

And buy a set of 1 trigger/1 receiver; thats all you need, the flashes has optical slave mode.

I too once bought a cheap continuos light kit to use it with video, thought it would work both photo/video but found it to be way to clumsy/inefficient to use with photography.