Decent lighting kit

[Village Idiot]

Lighting seems to be complicated when it comes to quality and prices

Yes, because most cheap stuff is crap, but if you know what to look for you can find cheaper brands that are actually worth buying. Also, cheap is relative. A cheap lighting kit to me is about $500. $100 would barely buy me one light and a way to fire it.

 

[Derrel]

I'm looking for a good lighting set. Perhaps two umbrellas with stands and bulbs. I see a lot in amazon, and these look pretty tempting in the price range. I don't know how well these can hold up. I couldn't find any in BHphoto. What is the good price range and which would you recommend?

The Adorama Flashpoint 620M kit is a decent value, but I think their 320M monolight is a better value. The video you linked to shows the basic operation and control layout of the 620M. I think the 620M is a little bit more powerful than many people will want or need, unless they ARE shooting wedding groups, and thus are going to quite often need more flash power to light up larger areas, and bigger groups, while still being able to get smaller f/stops for good DOF.

I own a bunch of studio flash gear, and have a 300 Watt-second monolight; honestly, it's TOO powerful much of the time, and I wish it were a 150-Watt-second unit instead of 300. With today's d-slr's giving such great higher-ISO performance, flash power levels needed have declined over the last 10 years. I agree with Village Idiot; basic Alien Bees are overpriced for what they give. 320M's are $99 each, a la carte...THAT is a good value, and fair pricing.

Two 150 W-s monolights and two umbrellas and two stands is the most-basic kit; I DO think the barndoors set and grid/diffuser/gel kit shown in the video is VERY useful, and in fact, I bought that same,exact barndoor/grid/diffuser/gel set a few years ago, and have used it; I consider barndoors/grid/mylar diffuser/gel holder gear to be **essential accessories**, so that means you'd want to add another 320M light to use with the barndoors/grid/gel stuff.

See...$99 PER LIGHT is a good deal; I have mostly Speedotron Black Line gear, and my flashtubes alone cost more than an entire Flashpoint 320M monolight. I look at the Flashpoint 320M as the absolute best starter lights for anybody who does not want to get gouged.

 

[Village Idiot]

I own a bunch of studio flash gear, and have a 300 Watt-second monolight; honestly, it's TOO powerful much of the time, and I wish it were a 150-Watt-second unit instead of 300.

This is why my Dynalite kit usually only sees action when I'm shooting larger things, in broad daylight where I need to compete with the sun, or when I just want to look like a badass.

 

[tecboy]

Thanks guys, it is good to hear about your experiences and other options. I started out with still life photography using flood light bulbs, disks, and clamps I bought in the hardware store. These are very cheap, these do the job, and I'm impress with the result of my photographs. However, those lamps are dangerous and inconvenience. I just want to upgrade my gears to the next level and have more flexible. I don't think I want a big soft box and heavy moonlight. I want something that is easy to carry around in my house and travel outdoor. I have bought the umbrella set and a flash. Alien Bees seems to be popular, but I don't want to spend too much money. Now I'm looking for one moonlight to start with. I'm checking out the Dynalite and Flashpoint.

 

[Village Idiot]

Thanks guys, it is good to hear about your experiences and other options. I started out with still life photography using flood light bulbs, disks, and clamps I bought in the hardware store. These are very cheap, these do the job, and I'm impress with the result of my photographs. However, those lamps are dangerous and inconvenience. I just want to upgrade my gears to the next level and have more flexible. I don't think I want a big soft box and heavy moonlight. I want something that is easy to carry around in my house and travel outdoor. I have bought the umbrella set and a flash. Alien Bees seems to be popular, but I don't want to spend too much money. Now I'm looking for one moonlight to start with. I'm checking out the Dynalite and Flashpoint.

Uh, Dynalite gear is expensive. It cost me $2300 for a pack and two heads new.

 

[tecboy]

When you do still life or portrait photography, do you go inside a darkroom to seal out the outdoor light, and only use strobe as your primary light source?

 

[Village Idiot]

When you do still life or portrait photography, do you go inside a darkroom to seal out the outdoor light, and only use strobe as your primary light source?

No. Not unless I'm working at a very wide aperture with no NDs and very low powered lights.

 

[hamlet]

I've Macgyvered my own studio. All this equipment is the background anyhow, so it doesn't matter how amateurish its built so long as its fire proof.


Here is how you can for example build a soft box cheaply:

[video]www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKByrO_LU-g[/video]

 

[D-B-J]

As many others have said, lighting gear is expensive. For me, portability was of the utmost importance. I need to be able to take it anywhere, have it weigh as little as possible, and be easy to setup. I went with a strobist type setup, and have been very happy. A flash, stand, umbrella, and a way to trigger that. Using yongnuo(sp?), you can probably get a setup like that for relatively little. Check out strobists website, and read his blog posts about a setup he suggests. BUT, I have also read/heard many good things about adorama's monolight setup that Derrel mentioned.

Strobist: Lighting 101

Jake

 

[HitenNainaney]

In reply to the OP, going for an inexpensive setup always seems tempting. However, as you being to progress in performance and require more out of your lights, you will soon realize the limitations of a cheap light.

The first light i picked up last year was a Visico VE 300 light for around $ 400, it was inexpensive considering it was a kit of 2 300 ws lights, with air cushioned stands and 2 soft boxes as well.

They served their purpose really well for that price range and were great considering how cheap they were.

However, after using them for just under 6 months, there are many limitations to the 'cheaper models' and i've just recently picked up Paul C Buffs einstiens for my setup.

I haven't used or seen the adorama & B&H lights, but take into consideration your requirements and how long you think the cheaper ones can suffice.

Hope this helps.

 

[smullenbacker]

It is so true that good light can really make the difference of a good camera shot. I really enjoyed the video that was posted on the product review. never used flashpoint, but thinking it may be a good solution to my darkness problem. Getting that perfect camera shot and lighting perfect can be really difficult, but I have been practicing lately and starting to take some great photos.

 

[Derrel]

Here's an interesting article that I found earlier this week, testing and comparing the Adorama Flashpoint monolights against the Paul C. Buff brand's Alien Bee units.

product review | adorama flashpoint studio gear | Clickin MomsClickin Moms