Is this total crap?

ababysean · Aug 11, 2010

3 Studio Flash/Strobe, 2 softbox, 3 backdrop, wireless - eBay (item 220647737944 end time Aug-12-10 19:00:26 PDT)

I'm looking for cheapie lighting to learn off....

edouble · Aug 11, 2010

I am going to have to say the you would be buying junk. Decent quality strobes are expensive and all of the gear that goes with it adds up quick. Also the strobes are rated at 150 ws which is a very little output for studio strobes. Do not plan on using these outside to overcome ambient daylight! You would want a versatile setup, right?

I would save do lots-o-research and make sure you get what you want not what is necessary cheapest.

tirediron · Aug 11, 2010

I'm going to go with, "Total crap". Look for Alienbees, ProPhoto... be willing to spend several hundred dollars PER LIGHT.

Scatterbrained · Aug 11, 2010

Save up and get some Alien Bees.

shmne · Aug 11, 2010

Lighting is not worth going cheap on. Unless you happen to have an extra $117 to just throw out the window, that kit looks like it'll fall apart pretty quick :|

You want cheap lighting that is decent? Buy a vivitar off camera flash. I have the light stand adapter, a parabolic light modifier (from Paul C. Buff), snoots that I have hand made, gobos, scrims, everything for less than $200. Excellent investment and the it is strong enough to take sunlight down a stop during the weaker parts of the day ( I'm sure I could push it during bright daylight, but I haven't tried)

KAikens318 · Aug 11, 2010

If you are looking to start out cheap go through cowboystudio on amazon.com. They are really well priced and their stuff isn't junk. I have bought my entire studio set up from them for under $500 and my photos come out just fine when I use it. They have really fast shipping too.

edouble · Aug 11, 2010

Also read Lighting 101 on the Strobist website

Scatterbrained · Aug 11, 2010

Here are some thoughts, take it for what it's worth.
1) Spend the money where you have to, go cheap where it doesn't matter as much. Get quality lights from the get go and skimp on the light modifiers.
2) You can make amazing portraits with one light. Start with a quality light an learn how to sculpt the light into what you want. You'll be amazed at what can be accomplished with a few reflectors/flags etc.
3) I recommend Alien Bees for a few reasons; a)you get good quality for the money, b) you know that year after year as they revise their product you will have backward compatibility (you can't say that about the Chinese products that are flooding the low end of the market), c) as you grow your studio it will be easy to match lights together
d)you will want a light meter, it makes things so much easier. The new CyberCommander works well and can comunicate with/control any PCB light (assuming you buy the appropriate radio triggers).
4)Buy some books on the subject. I recommend (for starters) Monte Zucker's Portrait Photography Handbook. Get out and research one light portraits to see what people are doing.
5)If all you want to do is get a light and practice (not sure how far you want to go) Shmne is absolutely spot on in his advice. Get a manual flash and the requisite gear to get it off camera. Many photogs just use a flashgun of some sort with a small softbox or umbrella when on location. This would open you up to using OCF while saving you money. It will also be quite versatile as you could potentially end up with a set-up that breaks down in to a backpack for travel anywhere.
6)If you already have a hot shoe flash with ETTL and want to retain that but can't afford the new PWs, you could get a long ETTL cable from Flash Zebra that would give you over 20' of range from the flash while retaining ETTL flash functioning.
Anyway, that's the end of my ramblings.