Seriously Guys? C'mon!

[unpopular]

But, if you decide studio work is not for you, you can sell the gear and recoup most of your money.

So you're out $300-500? And you can always use those Chinese wonders if you need an extra light. You could always resell them to a college student. I'm not saying get the cheapest stuff you can find, but I really don't think there is much need to buy the most expensive, either.

I never had any problem with my lights, they dump a ton of light for given the wattage. As I said my brolly is a little bit bluish and the stands are kind of cheap. But they work ok, and I never felt they were terribly unstable. I wouldn't suggest it to a pro or anything, but they're good to learn with.

But stay FAR away from Britek.

 

[KmH]

Maybe I'm a better salesman than you are, because I've never taken that big a hit when selling $1200 worth of like new but used, quality studio gear.

 

[delusions]

do you still possibly have a link of the 19$ one XD

 

[Dominantly]

Hyundais and Kias are getting nicer and nicer though.

Porsche.

Kia.

Yeah no ****, I've been finding myself really drawn to both companies. I wish I would have picked up a new Sonata Vs the Camry SE I got for the Wiff.

 

[unpopular]

Maybe I'm a better salesman than you are, because I've never taken that big a hit when selling $1200 worth of like new but used, quality studio gear.

You must be a really good salesman. I wouldn't touch a used $1200 kit for more than $900.

 

[Derrel]

do you still possibly have a link of the 19$ one XD

Steve Kaeser Enterprises. A small company that has been selling lower-cost studio equipment since way back in the late 1980's. Here is the link. Steve Kaeser Photographic Lighting

They have 2-umbrella kits of a 42-inch size for $36.95, plus a lot of other stuff at lower prices.

 

[nickzou]

More pictures! I am interested in this topic. It didn't even occur to me that this stuff could even have variations in quality other than cheaper build quality. Anyone have any horror stories of light stands?

 

[unpopular]

^^ I'm planning on setting my lights up tonight. I'll post a similar image with my brolly.

Derrel - what was the exposure settings for your example?

 

[pgriz]

Thank you Derrel, for showing those examples. I replicated your test with my own flashes and umbrellas and noticed several things: The positioning of the flash relative to the axis and distance from the umbrella plays a role, as does whether the flash head is set to "wide angle" or "zoom". I have a silvered umbrella and a white one (both cheapies), and found I could get pretty even light with the white umbrella (after doing some tinkering with the axis/distance), but was getting rather spotty coverage with the silvered one. In fact, playing with the various distances and positions, I cannot get the silvered one to project a "filled" umbrella image. That probably explains some of the difficulty I have had using the umbrellas to broaden the light - I didn't have them adjusted correctly, and in the case of the silvered one, it is pretty much useless. But at least, I now know what to look for and verify the light pattern in the umbrella. A very useful bit of knowledge. Also looks like I will be shopping for better quality umbrellas!

 

[2WheelPhoto]

What Derrel said about color temp is same thing one of my professors said. And professor added "don't set your WB to your studio setting and expect it to be right on Chinese umbrellas"....I asked "use AUTO?"...he said yes you'll be closer.

Watch those Chinese

 

[unpopular]

do you still possibly have a link of the 19$ one XD

Steve Kaeser Enterprises. A small company that has been selling lower-cost studio equipment since way back in the late 1980's. Here is the link. Steve Kaeser Photographic Lighting

They have 2-umbrella kits of a 42-inch size for $36.95, plus a lot of other stuff at lower prices.

I wouldn't trust anyone who sells Britek. That stuff is absolute garbage.

What Derrel said about color temp is same thing one of my professors said. And professor added "don't set your WB to your studio setting and expect it to be right on Chinese umbrellas"....I asked "use AUTO?"...he said yes you'll be closer.

Watch those Chinese

No matter what you'll be better off shooting RAW and fine tuning. All lamps drift over time, flash, incandescent alike. I've heard that cheaper stuff has poor voltage regulation that may result in unexpected variation. IDK if there is any truth to this or how significant the effects.

Anyone have any horror stories of light stands?

I've been taught to always sandbag your light stands. IMO this is just common sense. Studios are darkish, have lots of stuff going on, many things to trip over. Last thing you want is a hot modelling lamp falling on your model.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

unpopular, sure we shoot RAW and tweak WB when required, but we start off with the right kelvin # (rather than "auto WB" as suggested with Chinese LoL)

 

[unpopular]

^^ I really don't see that much drift from 5500°. But OTOH I specifically chose units that were not the absolute cheapest models.

I think that this might be a situation where a small difference in price makes a huge difference in quality. I suspect that 25USD means a lot more to Chinese manufacturers than it does to European manufacturers. In the west, we might look at two different Chinese products and say there isn't a lot of price difference, but in reality that marginal difference might go a lot further in China.

I once bought an adapter for $21.99USD instead of $35.00USD. The cheaper one had bits of metal and rough edges, while other adapters I've bought in the $30 price range were machined with good quality. Both had sh*t for optics, though

In any case, if you buy a 4 light kit with every modifier known to man for under $200 you're going to get a pile of garbage. But if you buy a light with nothing else included for more than $150, it's much more likely to be something you'd want to use.

If you buy a $600 bowens or elinchrom, you're not going to regret it (i'd imagine), but if you don't have $600 to spend on a single light, you won't have it anyway.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

You must be a really good salesman. I wouldn't touch a used $1200 kit for more than $900.

And even then I'd be hard pressed to not shuck out the extra $300 and buy a brand new kit. He'd have to make it really worth my while.

 

[ghache]

I agree with Derrel that these umbrella box are deff cheaper compared to the other makers, However, How much was the brand named umbrella box 79? 60$ more? THe lastolite 24X24 is 210 $ more than the ebay one and for a small softbox, its a lot more money to put towards something you will be shooting portrait and small product with a SPEEDLIGHT!?!?!.



I think nobody should cheap out on modifiers if your shooting professionally, However, I wouldn't hesitate to buy the 24X24 softbox from eBay again because i have used them intensively and know what they are capable of.

I bought one of these Visico softbox from ebay a few months ago. It was 80$ for a 80X100cm softbox with the bowens ring and the GRID. I was curious to see how well it performed and i was suprised to find out that it was actually well built. I have 2 of the same sized bowens softbox that was 240$ with the speed ring only (no grid) and end up using the visico softbox as much as the more expensive bowens.

The visico softbox is a bit deeper and i noticed a slight warmer temp to it but nothing crazy.


Now you be the judge!
Does different color temp means wrong? not really. Every modifier that i used had a different color temp, create a different light, softer or harsher but IMO
, you shooting should be adjusted to every modifier you use and do not expect to get the same color temp, same exposure from every modifiers, that would make no sense.

here is one shot i did with the visico softbox that i paid 80$. the price of a meal at a restaurant lol

I don't think i would have done better using one of my more expensive brand named soft box. It all comes down on how you use it.