Studio lighting. What's your story?

[Village Idiot]

What's your lighting setup and do you take it on location? If so, how do you power it? Also, what do you like about it? Pros cons? How did you decide on what brand and gear you purchased? I figured a thread like this can help other people that have questions about studio equipment by seeing the experiences of us that have already made up our minds...well, as much as some of us can.

My kit isn't too extensive. All of it is Speedotron Blackline gear unless listed otherwise.

1205cx 1200 w/s pack
405 400 w/s pack
5x 202VF heads
Alien Bee ABR800 ring light

and when I need to use the big lights on location, I have an Innovatronix Tronix Explorer XT SE (mouth full?).

I was originally looking at Elinchrom, Dynalite, and Profotos. My biggest fear with going with a pack and head system was having enough adjustability and reach between strobes. I figured if I were to go with a pack and head system I would need at least 2 packs, which is not something I really thought about when I first discovered pack & head systems. I originally owned an Alien Bee B800 along with the ring light before purchasing the current setup.

Elinchrom had the Style 600RX lights at a decent price, but I was worried that 600 w/s wouldn't necessarily be enough for outside portraiture work, based on an experience I had with the B800. Dynalite offered a 2 1000w/s pack and 3 head kit for about $3000, iirc. Profotos are what I want, but even buying the Acute 1200w/s packs with 2 head kits used, it would have cost me $4000-$5000 for 2 1200w/s packs and 4 heads. With a suggestion from my arch nemesis on this forum, I ended up looking at Speedotron gear on e-bay.

I had previously used a Speedotron Brown Line setup at a Strobist meet in Philadephia where we were mixing and matching a 1600w/s pack with a Brown Line head and a Kacey Enterprises Beauty dish along with a B800 and softbox for this shot:



After looking and checking other forums, I ended up finding some one on Fred Miranda that was selling a Speedotron kit from their studio. It was the 405 pack with the 5 heads, 5 cable and various reflectors for $1200 shipped from the San Diego area to West Virginia. I figured for $1200 (my budget was up to $4000) I could afford another pack or two as needed and some accessories. So I ended up purchasing the 1205 pack for $500 after fees and shipping on E-bay and the Tronix battery for about $400.

Right now, I'm looking into buying several strip boxes and an Elinchrom Deep Octa box. I already have a Kacey Beauty dish that I was using with my B800 (which I sold). I'm also contemplating on selling the ABR800 ring light since it doesn't get too much use. It makes a nice fill though, but it's just a lot of hassle to mount it to the camera.

I think I do want a profoto setup in the future, but that entirely depends on how successful my business is. I want a D4 pack or two and several heads. That's big money, but it's not something I plan on doing for quite a while.

I guess I should have mentioned this earlier, but I do a lot of on location portrait work, which can take me to locations without power and shooting in bright sun, and I also am getting into automotive photography with lighting. What can I say besides I like a challenge?

 

[John Mc]

I only got a Metz flashgun today,so im going to start building a small portable studio kit using Flashes. So im going to pay close attention to this thread and take down notes

 

[ghache]

For my part, I didnt choose the brand name of my studio flash since i got them used and had a pretty good deal on them. They turned out to be really good quality product and i am pretty happy.

I currently have:

Studio strobes:

2 X Opus K-250 (used)
1 X opus L-150 (New)

portable
3 X vivitars 285HV (bought new)
2 X sb-600 (1 used and 1 new)

For the vivitars, i own the sb04 outlet plug and use them as much as possible. they reduice the recycle time of these puppies by more than 50%.

Light modifier: Lumahawk Beauty dish
1 luma hawk 3X4 softbox
2 Kaeser umbrella softbox.
1 24X24 speedlight softbox
bunch of umbrellas of all size and color.

bunch of heavy duty stands, regular stands, brackets and all that crap.


for now i use my vivitars and my sb-600 for location shoot outdoor.
They are works great and i really like the portability of them
I always try to bring my strobes on indoor location if i can get outlets to plug them in.

I really wanna buy a powerpack for next summer but i doubt the opus stobes i have are powerfull enought to outpower the sun.
For now they really serve me well, they didnt cost me an arm and i can do pretty everything i need with that setup.

So my next lightning purchase will probably be a nice powerfull flashhead with a powerpack. I really dont care about brand names. As long its good quality product. powerfull and reliable.

 

[Village Idiot]

i doubt the opus stobes i have are powerfull enought to outpower the sun.

I was having problems doing that with one 400w/s light using a beauty dish about 4'-5' away from the subjects. Just to give you an idea.

I'm going to take the 1200w/s out when it warms up and see what kind of damage I can do with the 6 stop ND and 1200w/s of light.

 

[ghache]

i doubt the opus stobes i have are powerfull enought to outpower the sun.

I was having problems doing that with one 400w/s light using a beauty dish about 4'-5' away from the subjects. Just to give you an idea.

I'm going to take the 1200w/s out when it warms up and see what kind of damage I can do with the 6 stop ND and 1200w/s of light.

You shouldnt have any problem witn 1200 w/s.

With 2 vivitar, i am able to get a some decend result, Enough to get some details in the sky but thats about it.

 

[kundalini]

I should have my new background arrive at the tail end of next week. Most likely it will be different than most of you have or have seen. I'll post a photo afterwards along with description. I just wanted to mark my spot on this thread.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

3 SB-600's with stands and 32" umbrellas.

Other than that I borrow a friends ProFoto 600R's.

 

[D-B-J]

One sb600 with a stand and an umbrella, and awaiting a SU800 and another sb600&stand&umbrella setup. Its quick, its simple, and effective.

 

[el_shorty]

This is what we use right now
2x SB-900
3x SB-600
2x Quantaray PZ-1 DSZ
2x CST Cybersync transmitters
4x CSRB+ Cybersync receivers
43" and 32" umbrellas
cheap stands

Recently ordered
28" Westcott Apollo
set of three Manfrotto 1004BAC air cushioned light stands
and I'm working on a new DIY beauty dish, I say new because I made one before but I broke it before I got to use it.


VI, I like this photo, did you take it at Eastern State Penitentiary?

 

[Village Idiot]

Yeah. On the other side of the gate is the old car and building from Transformers 2.

 

[Village Idiot]

Anyone else? The Nikon forum has two pages of replies.

 

[kundalini]

Woot woot.... I picked up my Lastolite Collapsible background last night. I chose a mottled light grey on one side and medium grey on the other. Lastolite calls the colors Washington & Dakota. I figured this to be the most versatile for me at the moment. I can over/under expose for different effects as well as throwing a gel on it for even more color combinations. I won't get a chance to set up until the weekend, but hopefully I can report back positve comments on it.

I also was not too impressed with Lastolites accessory background stand with clip for supporting the background. I actually pieced together a much stronger setup from used parts at the camera shop. I got a 13' heavy-duty air-cushioned stand ($40) and a new Manfrotto spring clamp ($60). After setting it up in the store, I noticed it sagging some on the corners. Found a used reflector arm ($20) and it sat on one of the stands knuckles and squared up the background nicely. I will find another solution for that though because having the cross bar resting on the knuckle alone can't be too good IMO.. So I did pay more for the stand than Lastolites, but I think I'll be happier.

Hopefully pictures taken this weekend. The thing is......
I live here >o< and my setup is --------------------------->here< (about 45 minutes away.)

But it gets complicated and I just don't want to be bothered explaining the nuances involed in my sorted little life struggles right now.........

 

[MichiganFarts]

I sold all my stories at the pawn shop and on ebay.

I used to have a Photogenic 500w strobe light, and a 300w strobe light.

All I got left is my busted up background stand, a couple small light stands, and my SB-28.

I always thought I could just buy it all back later on in life. Now I'm married. Game Over.

 

[Buckster]

Woot woot.... I picked up my Lastolite Collapsible background last night. I chose a mottled light grey on one side and medium grey on the other. Lastolite calls the colors Washington & Dakota.

I got one of those a few weeks ago - same color combo. Which size did you get? I got the 6'x7'.

I hoped I could pop it open and stand it up against a wall, but it turns out it's a bit too flimsy and heavy for that, and needs stands to hold it up. I wasn't too happy with that, but I'll work with it. Looking forward to your thoughts about the one you got.

 

[kundalini]

I got the 6'x7' as well.