Sorry if I'm late to the party here... But I thought I'd share my experience in shopping for studio lighting.
Note that I am Canadian... and on a budget.
I consider myself an amateur photographer. However, when it comes to lighting, I am definitely a newbie.
I recently; in the last couple months, invested in some studio lighting. And did a lot of research into the matter.
First, I purchased a
cheap kit. which, although I plan to re-use the stands was pretty much a waste of money. Mostly because it doesn't give off enough light to be very useful and the umbrellas are only 33".
I then came into a small amount of money and decided to upgrade. So I went and ordered a decent
background stand and a nice set of
studio monolights. In fact I expect them tomorrow (Friday)... They should have been here today, but we had a Blizzard last night that caused a delay in shipping...
I started out thinking about the
Alienbees solution and then moved to looking at the cheaper
Adorama kit (
Flashpoint). But after weighing the hassle and cost involved in shipping and duty... I decided that it was worth my while to get a better quality kit from Henry's in Canada (where I live). In the end it cost me about the same (slightly more... But it wasn't a deal breaker).
The Flashpoint kits were a really good value... And the Alienbees appeared to be a bit better quality... But; in the end, as I said; for me, buying in Canada was easier.
