Studio lighting kits?

[Evn_Gee]

Is there any good studio lighting kits you'd recommend a beginner.
Budget: $100-$400

 

[kundalini]

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[Evn_Gee]

Ok I get the picture lol ()

 

[kundalini]

I just love that clip.

Anyway, what do you expect to get for your budget? no wait.... what are you wanting studio lighting to do for you? Are you just talking about the lights? Would that be speedlights, mono lights or pack and head systems? Do you already have light stands, counter-weights, modifiers, flags & gobos, gels, reflectors? How are you planning to trigger the lights?

 

[Derrel]

Here you go. FP620AK Flashpoint II 620M Monolight Kit, Two Monolight Kit with Stands, Umbrellas,& case

$399, free shipping.

 

[Evn_Gee]

I'm mostly want to use it for portrait and fashion photography .and no, I'm looking for kits with stands and lights maybe continues lighting for now.

 

[Big Mike]

Don't bother with continuous lighting for this kind of work. You'll either give up or end up with strobes anyway.

 

[Don Kondra]

Interfit EX150 MK2 Two Monolight Umbrella-Softbox Kit INT182 B&H

Cheers, Don

 

[kric2schaam626]

Just got my first strobe, AlienBee 800, and I am saving for the Pocketwizards so I can trigger the light. I hope that helps. Oh, and don't forget the umbrella or softbox, whichever you choose to use.

 

[jebuell]

I spend HOURS researching things I want in photography and actually just spent... oh... 20+ hours researching studio lighting for the studio I am opening in July. My budget was $300 (though I expected to spend closer to $400). Everywhere I looked I was told "No", but in reality you have a TON of options that are very workable in your price range. Can you get fancy, high end gear? Nope. But you can get something that will work "for now" at that budget.

I'm picking up 2x Yongnuo YN-560 Speedlights at $61 each (the YN-460iis are $15-20 cheaper and have just as much power but no zoom head). Those will be my main slave lights triggered by my Canon 580EXII. But if you don't have a master flash, don't worry! For $56 you can get a Cactus V5 wireless trigger set that will fire those flashes just as good (and in some situations, better) than Pocket Wizards that are 3x the price. I plan on getting myself a set even with my master flash in the event that I don't want to use on-camera flash when shooting.

Then you just need some umbrellas, stands, and umbrella adapters. Kits are easily found on Amazon and pretty cheap. The $40 option: Amazon.com: Strobist Kit Photography Photo Studio Flash Mount Umbrellas Kit Three Umbrellas By Fancier Fan UB1: Electronics The $70 option: Amazon.com: Westcott 2332 43-Inch Collapsible Umbrella Flash Kit: Camera & Photo You'll also maybe want some sand bags if you plan to use these outdoors, and of course batteries. I'm getting this kit for $50: Amazon.com: Sanyo SEC-N16SETGEN Eneloop Rechargeable Battery Super Power Pack Kit with 12 AA, 4 AAA, 2 C and D Spacers, 4 Position Charger and Storage Case: Electronics

I haven't gotten my kit yet, but I did order it tonight (minus the Cactus V5s). Total I spend was about $250 for the two flashes, two of the cheaper stand options (I need the 3 umbrellas more then I need a 43" umbrella for my work), and the battery kit. Everything you need to start. In the future I'd love 2 Alien Bees B800s, some studier stands, and probably a soft box or two. But for now, from what I've been told by a trusted friend who's been doing this for years, this is all I'll need until I feel I need more.

 

[SpeedTrap]

There are plenty of low priced options out there, but if you plan to get some real use out of the strobes no name ebay kits are not the way to go.

You would be much better off to rent a good light kit when you need it until you save up enough.
Can you shoot portraits with speedlights, sure I do it all the time. Can you shoot fashion with speedlights, sure but if you want to make it you will need more than that.
I know if I showed up to a fashion shoot with a bag full of speedlights I would get laughed at.
Speedlights are great for some situations, but they just do not cut it for fashion or commercial production work.
Look into good strobes from a reputable company and you will get many years of use out of them, and if you ever want to sell them you can get a good portion of your money back.

 

[Village Idiot]

Ok I get the picture lol ()

Now, here's the biggest question now that we know what you want to shoot. Where are you going to be shooting?

The kits recommended so far are good places to start, but if you're shooting outside or some place where you're not going to have a powered electrical socket, you'll need an expensive (for your...$300ish or so) battery or speed lights that use AA batteries. There's going to be trade offs of course, like power and modifiers, but if you don't have the money, then you're tethered to an outlet with studio strobes. If you're always going to be in reach of an outlet, go for it.

 

[Village Idiot]

There are plenty of low priced options out there, but if you plan to get some real use out of the strobes no name ebay kits are not the way to go.

You would be much better off to rent a good light kit when you need it until you save up enough.
Can you shoot portraits with speedlights, sure I do it all the time. Can you shoot fashion with speedlights, sure but if you want to make it you will need more than that.
I know if I showed up to a fashion shoot with a bag full of speedlights I would get laughed at.
Speedlights are great for some situations, but they just do not cut it for fashion or commercial production work.
Look into good strobes from a reputable company and you will get many years of use out of them, and if you ever want to sell them you can get a good portion of your money back.

I would recommend that a beginner get something to practice with. If you've never experimented with lighting and you're not receiving an income from photography, then renting a kit every time you want to shoot will quickly start costing you more than purchasing a decent inexpensive set of lights.

And speedlights to cut it for commercial and fashion work. There's professional photographers out there using them on paid shoots, the trick is to know when you need them and when you need the big guns.

 

[SpeedTrap]

And speedlights to cut it for commercial and fashion work. There's professional photographers out there using them on paid shoots, the trick is to know when you need them and when you need the big guns.

Yes they do have their place in the bag, but not as the main option. I have found that you just cannot get the same control as you can with good strobes and a large range of modifiers, they just do not have the output to light a 72" strip box

 

[Big Mike]

Just got my first strobe, AlienBee 800, and I am saving for the Pocketwizards so I can trigger the light. I hope that helps. Oh, and don't forget the umbrella or softbox, whichever you choose to use.

For less than half the price of PWs, you can get the Cyber Sync trigger right from Alien Bee. And for 1/10 the price, you can get a cheap trigger set.