Recommend me Strobes for Mainly Product Shots

[BoxPhotographer]

Hey, I'm getting into shooting food, products, and some portraits. Any recommendation? I own a D80. No budget.

 

[KmH]

Calumet Photo . com 's , Genesis 200 light kit for portraits and food, plus you'll need a light box for product. Oh, you'll need 2 of the kits so you have 4 lights/stands/umbrellas, etc.

Sorry, but no budget, no strobe lights.

If top quality results aren't a reguirement, you can use 3 or 4 trouble lights from the hardware store: Bayco at Lowe's: Rite-Lite 8 1/2" Clamp Light and daylight light bulbs like these: Bright Effects at Lowe's: Daylight 65-Watt Replacement R30 CFL Indoor Flood Bulb

Edit: Those bulbs I linked to are Flourescents and won't give a consistant light output color so scratch them. You need incandescent lights that have a light output temperature of 5500 K - 6500 K, which mimicks the color of daylight.

 

[BoxPhotographer]

By no budget, I meant unlimited money.

 

[SrBiscuit]

nice!

i was on a shoot a few weeks ago assisting, and the photog had an elinchrom kit that was awesome...his was one light, 8foot octobank, and powersupply...but there are kits with 2 lights and smaller banks available.

refresh rate was great...easy to change power output...sturdy gear...seemed like nice stuff.
i think he paid about 3k for the kit.

*EDIT*
just want to go on record that it's not an official recommendation since i was only involved in setting up and adjusting power, so i really dont have any experience with the kit. he seemed happy with it, and he does it for a living so i figured it's a decent brand.

 

[Derrel]

I suggest used Speedotron gear from eBay or your local area Craigslist. You need a good boom stand, in my opinion. I've shot small products for magazine advertisements and web sites, and to me, a good, heavy-duty boom stand is an essential piece of grip gear.

Since today's ISO 200 is so,so good (200 is in fact the base ISO of many Nikon bodies), total power output is not all "that" critical. I like the Black Line power supplies in the 2400-series, which are a dime a dozen, but for smaller products, an 800 watt-second power supply and three or four light heads and a softbox and a grid or two is really quite affordable on eBay.

If you're mainly interested in portraiture, the Speedotron Brown Line lights like the M90 and MW3U (the 3U, and NOT the MW3R) work well with umbrellas, and can be bought for $90 each, or less. Add a Speedotron Brown Line D402 power supply for $99-$129 and for around four hundred dollars, you have a 4-light system that was actually designed as a portrait/location lighting system.

Occasionally, the older D402 kit with two M90 lights, an MW3U or MW3R light, and two Speedotron black light stands, plus a ballistic nylon carrying kit that holds it all will come up; I picked up one of those last year for $299,shipped, from eBay. Right now there is a nice D1604 power supply on eBay for a very good price....four outlets, with up to 400 watt-seconds each for $300??? Not too shabby.