Stupid newbie mistakes buying lower end lightings from Amazon. Please help.

Yeah, I have like 6 triggers and 3 transmitters. If one breaks or runs out of battery, I can just grab another one. If I lose one, I wont feel bad.. not that expensive.


You could also shoot 2-3 speedlites if you want more power. They sell brackets for 2 or 3 speedlites.
 
I would recommend you look beyond what Cowboy Studio offers.

For home studio use 150 watt seconds should be sufficient, though I recommend a minimum of 200 watt seconds.

I would recommend the Adorama house brand 150 ws - Flashpoint II 320M, 150 Watt Second AC / DC Monolight Strobe.

Flashpoint II 620M, 300 Watt Second AC / DC Monolight Strobe. (D/C Operation Requires FP2PPN Battery Pack)

I think this kit is a very good value for the money, and it uses Elinchrom style speedrings for mounting softboxes.
Calumet Genesis 200 2-Light Kit

KmH -- Can't I just buy a strobe light alone and re-use the SB that I currently have? Take out the continues lights and put in the strobe unit inside the SB? And with the strobe light (excuse the ignorance), how to I trigger the strobe w/o wire? I assume the trigger I have for the 430EX won't do.

Schwettylens -- I see your point about shuttle speed with etiquette lighting. My pics are not as clear and bright as I wanted it to be. I had to increase exposure in post. I will also get a 580ex.

Jrabon -- I didn't say that I won't "pony up". I'm asking for all your expertise on what I should get instead of what I got. I will get it. Your advice is very valuable to me.
 
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Schwettylens said:
Thanks James... I use a lot of their product :D Hahhaha. What matters is the finish product.

No offense intended. My experience with 4 or 5 of their products really early in my career was very poor. Everything broke or stopped working within a month or two.

Reading the reviews on Amazon, they all sound like a bunch of Best Buy allstars. Complete amateurs who only care about how inexpensive the product is.
 
True. Most of the products I expect it to be poorly made because they are cheap. Some stuff I get on Amazon (not necessarily from Cowboy studio), I am blown away with the quality and how much I paid for it. It doesnt make sense sometimes.... it is too good for the price. It is crazy.

Schwettylens said:
Thanks James... I use a lot of their product :D Hahhaha. What matters is the finish product.

No offense intended. My experience with 4 or 5 of their products really early in my career was very poor. Everything broke or stopped working within a month or two.

Reading the reviews on Amazon, they all sound like a bunch of Best Buy allstars. Complete amateurs who only care about how inexpensive the product is.
 
Thanks James... I use a lot of their product :D Hahhaha. What matters is the finish product.


I also use the Cowboy Studios triggers but I find them a bit of a hassle to use and pretty flimsy. Having said that, I think they have worked fine so far. No big complaints.
 
Thanks James... I use a lot of their product :D Hahhaha. What matters is the finish product.


I also use the Cowboy Studios triggers but I find them a bit of a hassle to use and pretty flimsy. Having said that, I think they have worked fine so far. No big complaints.

Yeah, they definitely feel flimsy. The feel issue sort of irks me a little bit, especially since I use real pocket wizards every day at work.
 
I ended up using my Canon 430ex as the main light, shooting from the front. Now these pictures are pretty good, lighting concerns not with standing.

In the first picture, the little girl has her face turned downward, but we can still see that her face is underexposed. The second one is much better with the speedlight.
Is it possible to get one strobe light to use as the main light, and continue using the continues light as fill lights? Or should I just get another Canon speedlite 580ex + my 430ex?

I don't know the answer to this, but you can do some experiments trying your idea. If there is going to be trouble, it will probably be in the white balance. Furthermore, with the continuous lights on, you cannot control the exposure for the background as you can with speedlights. Remember; the aperture controls ambient light. I'm with Schwettylens in recommending more speedlights.
 
Schwettylens said:
Thanks James... I use a lot of their product :D Hahhaha. What matters is the finish product.

No offense intended. My experience with 4 or 5 of their products really early in my career was very poor. Everything broke or stopped working within a month or two.
Maybe they're getting better with time and experience. How long ago was "early in your career"?

Reading the reviews on Amazon, they all sound like a bunch of Best Buy allstars. Complete amateurs who only care about how inexpensive the product is.
And yet, it's working for them as they start their learning process, and it's not costing them much as they begin to dip their toes into the water. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I think that it's entirely possible also that of those thousands of positive reviews, there may actually be some experienced shooters mixed in with those "Best Buy allstars" who are satisified with the price to quality ratio of the products.

I've never actually purchased anything from CS, but I've got several pieces of similar Chinese "junk" gear around that, even after several years, still works just fine, including a few lights, modifiers, triggers and hardware. Much of it I've replaced with better gear over the years, and go to it first. But in a pinch, the "crap" still works very well for me. I suppose if I were to review them, my reviews would be worthy of such ridicule as well. After all, how could anyone who knows anything give cheap products good reviews, right?
 
"Really early in my career" = "about 4 years ago".

Noted, and thanks.


Come on buckster. Why do you have to be like that toward people who have not shot since black and white film days?
 

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