Studio Lighting

[anschindler]

Hey everyone!
I'm looking into purchasing studio lights I've done some research and I'm getting very overwhelemd with the options. I've looked into alien bees but I'm thinking I want to start with a slightly more affordable set up.
Most of the work I do in my small studio is Children and newborns.
But I'm also hopeing to find a set that I can easily take to different locations for businesses and to the homes of my clients.
Thanks everyone!

 

[ronlane]

If this link doesn't work, what I did was searched this sight and found a ton of information about what to use and suggestions.

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome aboard.

What is your budget and what size of studio to you have to work with? Alien Bees are very close to the 'low end' when it comes to what I'd recommend for studio lighting. There are many cheaper kits that you will see advertised all over the internet...but most of them are pretty junky and you would end up replacing them sooner rather than later. Like many things is life, this is a situation where you will save money in the long run, but spending a little more up front.

Are you willing to look for used lighting systems? As you may see from some of the previous threads, you can get a lot more bang for your buck if you go with a used pack & head system...although, it may take some time & effort to find them.

If you are set on buying new, I'd suggest checking out the Flashpoint line of monolights from Adorama. Pretty comparable to the AB stuff.

 

[Mike_E]

Honestly, if I were to start over I think that I'd just get three of these to start out with Flashpoint 180 Monolight w/Battery: Umbrella, Cords & Carry Bag MK180T and they even use a Bowans mount if you want other modifiers.

These along with three stands, a 72" 5in1, a 43" 5in1 and a 22" 5in1 and at least two reflector stands -one of which to use the 22" as a hair light.

So, you wind up with a main (with a reflected hairlight and fill- the 72' or the 43"), a background light and a kicker. And, if you want you can take it on the road with ease. If you want a softer light than from an umbrella get some white ripstop nylon and drape that over the umbrella for a diffuser- you can even use it as a ND filter to cut down the light if you find that you have too much and this will save you the price of a softbox.

 

[Derrel]

Flashpoint's M-series monolights can be powered with 110 volt AC wall current, OR with Flashpoint's 15-ounce DC battery packs OR with a portable battery/sine wave inverter like the Paul C. Buff company's Mini Vagabond, or the much bigger Innovatronix inverters.

I think the Flashpoint 320M would be my choice, due to price/performance/retailer, for a person who wants to dip a toe in, but NOT spend the $224 per light that a low-end Alien Bee costs. The cheapest ALien Been is like $224; the 320M can be had for like $99 alone, $119 with a stand, and $139 for the light unit, a light stand, and a light modifier, like a smaller softbox.

The lights that Mike_E is linking to above are part of a much newer line than the 320M, and they Flashpoint 180 and its stable-mates have one big advantage over the older M-series: the simple Bowens-style, 3-lug attachment fitting. The older M-series use an old-style Photogenic brand fitting for accessories; the BOWENS MOUNT is a much,much,much more-common fitting for refelctors and speed rings, and the lack of the Bowens mount is, I think, the one,single weakness of the M-series.

Gotta agree with MIke_E...these look like a good deal!!!!!!!
http://www.adorama.com/FPBPLB.html?...iate&utm_campaign=Other&utm_source=cj_3849199

 

[LShooter]

Alien Bees are awesome and while at the low end in the price spectrum and not at the low end in quality. Matter of factly, I just moved up from my Alien Bees to Einstiens. So, if you're looking for a couple Alien Bees, drop me a PM or email me at mjmarkovitch AT gmail dot com and I'll give you the specs. I looked at some of the lower end lights when I first got into studio lighting and while there are some deals cost wise, most of the products are junk and you won't get even half back once you decided to sell them and move up to better lights.

 

[anschindler]

Thanks everyone for your input! Its so nice to have other inputs when it comes to this discission!

 

[IByte]

I had good luck with Paul C. Buff - White Lightning X1600. Then you can hook them up to their remote control with a simple RJ-11 phone cord. But wait, it gets better. If you attach a pocket wizzie to the remote control via sync cord, you can control up to 4 devices with a transmitter and one transceiver you can't beat it!!

 

[lucian]

We bought a set of IMPACT lights from B&H. We have the VSD400 kit. Impact has less powerful kits that are very reasonable in price.
We got the VSD400 kit (2 monolights) to illuminate white backgrounds and use them with our 10 year old white lightnings. The Impact kits had lights, stands, reflectors, soft box and umbrellas. We use the soft box for the background illumination. We used them on location for portrait work using the umbrellas. Very consistant lighting. We paid about $400 for the kit and have had good luck with them.

There are several kits and single units in various sizes/configurations. For our money we got good value.

Impact VSD400 Digital Readout Monolight - 400 VSD-400 B&H Photo