Seeking a budget light kit - I welcome your recommendations

[beachrat]

Here's one that would work
Speedotron 402 Brownline Brown Line Strobe Light Kit | eBay

 

[Dark]

I'd say keep an eye on Craigslist for some Alien Bees or Paul Buff strobes. Use the modeling light for video and the strobe for photos. One big strobe and a reflector could be all you need. I got a pair of 1600 White Lightnings for a good deal, maybe you'll find something similar.

Thanks, Santa. Are you saying there are certain Alien Bees/Paul Buff kits that come with both a modeling light and strobe?

Here's one that would work
Speedotron 402 Brownline Brown Line Strobe Light Kit | eBay

Thanks for the link, beachrat. Is that what you use?

 

[Santa_Claus]

I'd say keep an eye on Craigslist for some Alien Bees or Paul Buff strobes. Use the modeling light for video and the strobe for photos. One big strobe and a reflector could be all you need. I got a pair of 1600 White Lightnings for a good deal, maybe you'll find something similar.

Thanks, Santa. Are you saying there are certain Alien Bees/Paul Buff kits that come with both a modeling light and strobe?

Yes, they all do.

 

[Dark]

Yes, they all do.

Sweet. I'll look into these. Hopefully I can find some within my budget.

Since people either had a hard time answering my question, or feel my budget is too low, then I'd like to know what lighting kit does everyone use? I had considering just buying a powerful strobe w/softbox to go along with my reflector and speedlite, but I would need to find a good strobe first.

 

[CameraClicker]

Yes, they all do.

Sweet. I'll look into these. Hopefully I can find some within my budget.

Since people either had a hard time answering my question, or feel my budget is too low, then I'd like to know what lighting kit does everyone use? I had considering just buying a powerful strobe w/softbox to go along with my reflector and speedlite, but I would need to find a good strobe first.

Well, as I said, I have the ERIN MANNING HOME STUDIO KIT. I also have a couple of similar lamps that are from a macro light tent kit. Mostly I use them for product shots. I also have a collection of Canon flashes. 3 - 600 EX RT flashes with the radio, a 580 EX II and a 430 EX II, which I use bare, or with Nikon umbrellas, or Westcott Apollo Orb softbox, and 4 - Bowens 500 WS strobes with umbrellas and softboxes plus a couple of home made modifiers.

To summarize, if I could only have one set of lights, I would choose 4 or 5 of Canon's 600 EX RT lights and the radio. Used with stands and modifiers they can do everything studio strobes can do, except they don't have modelling lights that are effective. You can gang two or three together if you need more power and they have a shorter flash duration than most studio strobes so they stop motion better (Einstein lights have the same kind of circuitry and are the exception in studio strobes). They are light, portable and run on AA cells which give about 250 flashes per 4 cells. I have rechargeables.

Costs and regulations around things that plug into wall power are different in the US. In another thread, a set of umbrellas with stands was $70, and you can get inexpensive third party flashes and radios, so you could probably fit them into your budget.

There are some of my bad photos, and more discussion here: Topic: Lights « You Are Not a Photographer | Exposing fauxtographers since 2011

 

[Village Idiot]

I'd say keep an eye on Craigslist for some Alien Bees or Paul Buff strobes. Use the modeling light for video and the strobe for photos. One big strobe and a reflector could be all you need. I got a pair of 1600 White Lightnings for a good deal, maybe you'll find something similar.

He's not going to find 3 Alien Bees in that price category. The Adorama lights would be a better bet.

 

[Dark]

Well, as I said, I have the ERIN MANNING HOME STUDIO KIT.

Hey CC, I wasn't trying to imply that you hadn't answered my question, but you yourself dismissed the kit as only being good for product photography and since I'm looking for a kit for indoor/outdoor portraits, I disregarded it.

I also have a couple of similar lamps that are from a macro light tent kit. Mostly I use them for product shots. I also have a collection of Canon flashes. 3 - 600 EX RT flashes with the radio, a 580 EX II and a 430 EX II, which I use bare, or with Nikon umbrellas, or Westcott Apollo Orb softbox, and 4 - Bowens 500 WS strobes with umbrellas and softboxes plus a couple of home made modifiers.

To summarize, if I could only have one set of lights, I would choose 4 or 5 of Canon's 600 EX RT lights and the radio. Used with stands and modifiers they can do everything studio strobes can do, except they don't have modelling lights that are effective. You can gang two or three together if you need more power and they have a shorter flash duration than most studio strobes so they stop motion better (Einstein lights have the same kind of circuitry and are the exception in studio strobes). They are light, portable and run on AA cells which give about 250 flashes per 4 cells. I have rechargeables.

Yeah, I wish I could have multiple Canon flashes too, but that's not financially feasible right now. I had thought of getting some of the 3rd-party flashes to go along with my 430ex ii, like this one from Yongnuo, but a few reviews said the product died in the middle of their shoots. I have the Yongnuo wireless flash triggers and their excellent, but I can't risk a flash dying during a shoot.

Amazon.com : Yongnuo YN560-III-USA Speedlite Flash with Integrated 2.4-GHz Receiver for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, GN58, US Warranty (Black) : Camera & Photo

He's not going to find 3 Alien Bees in that price category. The Adorama lights would be a better bet.

You mean the Flashpoint 320's Derrel mentioned earlier?

Flashpoint 320M 150 Watt AC/DC Monolight Strobe FPML320M

 

[CameraClicker]

"like this one from Yongnuo, but a few reviews said the product died in the middle of their shoots."

I'm fundamentally lazy, and over the years I have seen advantages to having good gear, all from the same company. It reduces finger pointing if something fails. I also appreciate the 600 EX RT flashes cost as much as one of my studio strobes. I have heard from several people who feel Yongnuo is a good brand, but you lose the ETTL functions, so you have to work harder.
Stands and modifiers are independent of the actual flash when small flash is used. So you could start out with inexpensive flash units now and move to more expensive ones later, just for the cost of the flash itself.

 

[Derrel]

The Yongnuo flash units are VERY low-cost compared against Canon 600 RT flashes, which are top-shelf, ruggedly designed and built, HIGH-end, officially supported, genuine manufacturer-made and 100% FULLY-INTEGRATED with the Canon system. They are the BEST speedlight-type flashes that money can buy for a Canon camera. The Yongy's are 1/10th the price, more or less, and are what I consider to be disposable units. When one craps out, throw it away, and bring in its replacement. They are not fully-integrated in the way the 600 RT's are, because they are made outside of the Canon system. A guy can afford to buy six or seven or even ten Yongy's.

Adorama Flashpoint 320M: have 100 Watt incandescent modeling lamps: not "all that bright", but not "terribly dim" either. Again, I consider these to be more or less, disposable units, and the best value in studio monolights. $99.95 for a 150 Watt-second monolight that puts out MORE flash power than a $600 speedlight? That's a good value. The 320M puts out MORE flash power than the Alien Bee 400 or 800 units, at 2.7x lower and 2.4x lower cost.

If yuo want video lighting, I would suggest looking for lighting gear for video. If you want lighting for still photos, look at lighting gear optimized for still photos.

 

[Village Idiot]

Or spend the coin on Dynalites with the new heads. You can use 1600w/s + packs and iirc, they have 500watt modeling lights upgradable to 1000watt for video lighting. It'll only cost you about $2700 for a pack and two heads.

 

[Dark]

Stands and modifiers are independent of the actual flash when small flash is used. So you could start out with inexpensive flash units now and move to more expensive ones later, just for the cost of the flash itself.

The Yongnuo flash units are VERY low-cost compared against Canon 600 RT flashes, which are top-shelf, ruggedly designed and built, HIGH-end, officially supported, genuine manufacturer-made and 100% FULLY-INTEGRATED with the Canon system. They are the BEST speedlight-type flashes that money can buy for a Canon camera. The Yongy's are 1/10th the price, more or less, and are what I consider to be disposable units. When one craps out, throw it away, and bring in its replacement. They are not fully-integrated in the way the 600 RT's are, because they are made outside of the Canon system. A guy can afford to buy six or seven or even ten Yongy's.

Eh, I'm not the kind to waste money on gear - now or ever. It's not in my nature. If a flash is going to die on me because that's just how cheap it is, I'd rather save for a more expensive, and reliable, brand.

Adorama Flashpoint 320M: have 100 Watt incandescent modeling lamps: not "all that bright", but not "terribly dim" either. Again, I consider these to be more or less, disposable units, and the best value in studio monolights. $99.95 for a 150 Watt-second monolight that puts out MORE flash power than a $600 speedlight? That's a good value. The 320M puts out MORE flash power than the Alien Bee 400 or 800 units, at 2.7x lower and 2.4x lower cost.

I decided to give the Flashpoint 320M a try and I'll be testing it to see if it meets my needs. I'm using a reflector as my fill and a speedlite as my backlight. One thing that really troubles me about the FP320 is that it uses a proprietary speed ring mount, and since FP is the Adorama brand, I'll be limited to only buying my speed rings from there, which I don't like. The Impact brand (which is the B&H brand) has some nice softboxes, but the speed ring mount they use is different (seems like it's more the industry standard), so while I may save money initially on the FP320Ms, it may cost me more in the long run buying different speed rings to work with these strobes. Unless I have my speed ring info completely wrong.

 

[chuasam]

Either I spend too much or you have a completely unrealistic budget. I could spend $400 on just a couple of soft boxes or just one OEM softbox from profoto.
You could get a nice dynalite set for maybe around $1500 or a pair of elinchrom dlite4 for under a grand


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[chuasam]

Sweet. I'll look into these. Hopefully I can find some within my budget.

Since people either had a hard time answering my question, or feel my budget is too low, then I'd like to know what lighting kit does everyone use? I had considering just buying a powerful strobe w/softbox to go along with my reflector and speedlite, but I would need to find a good strobe first.

An alienbee abr800 and a pair of profoto compact 600.
I consider my gear low end. I used dynalite before. They're nice too.
Used Speedotron black line at school till they upgraded to Profoto 7b. Anything that can stand that kinda daily abuse is amazing.
I've seen my gf use a broncolor scoro pack s 3200 rfs2 - now that's something I would sell my left nut for. A broncolor lighting solution can set you back around $20,000 without any light modifiers.


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[Bobby Ironsights]

Anything over $349 is out,.

Quoting prices from the midwest photo exchange

LumoPro LP180 Quad-Sync Manual Flash +$179.99
LumoPro Universal Hot Shoe Translator Kit +$33.57
LumoPro LP735 3-in-1 43" Compact Umbrella +$24.99
Interfit 8.5 ft Air Cushioned Light Stand +$26.87
LumoPro LP538T 38" Soft Shell Lighting Case +$22.99

• 1 x Strobist® DIY Kit +$8.95
• 
  1 x Strobist® Rosco Color Effects Gel Pack 5x8" +$9.96
• 
  1 x Strobist® Pro Rosco Color Correction Gel Pack +$9.96
• 
  1 x LumoPro Bungee Ties (10 Pk) +$8.99

Price as configured:$326.27

A 5in1 reflector like the Wescott 30inch would round out the kit, but add an extra 30 bucks.

 

[Village Idiot]

I rather drop some of the periphery gear and purchase radio triggers than use wired hot shoe triggers.