Westcott Spiderlites

[John David]

NAPP is giving away a Scott Kelby kit. Does anybody know anything about these lights? Scott seems to be pretty big in the industry and he swears by them.

The kit is worth over $1000.00. I signed up to win but would like to know any info you might have. Thanks!

 

[Zansho]

I'm not a fan of continuous light sources as they can be notoriously hard to work with, and may not be able to put forth the power you need.

I'm a big fan of studio strobes, however. I'd sell the Spiderlites and purchase some Alien Bees or a used Speedotron Black Line kit off of ebay.

 

[Big Mike]

I agree. Shooting portraits with continuous lights would be a PITA.

Strobes/flash is a little harder to learn, but much easier when you have a handle on it.

 

[Zansho]

NAPP is giving away a Scott Kelby kit. Does anybody know anything about these lights? Scott seems to be pretty big in the industry and he swears by them.

The kit is worth over $1000.00. I signed up to win but would like to know any info you might have. Thanks!

BTW, I would swear by any product too if I was paid for it


Don't buy a product because "x" person endorses it. Buy it because you know you can use it, and it will provide the benefit you're after.

 

[epatsellis]

I'm not a fan of continuous light sources as they can be notoriously hard to work with, and may not be able to put forth the power you need.

I'm a big fan of studio strobes, however. I'd sell the Spiderlites and purchase some Alien Bees or a used Speedotron Black Line kit off of ebay.

Yeah, the "seeing what you get" aspect is hard to get a handle on. Light is light, period, whether strobes (I prefer Broncolor myself, I've used all the others and none even come close) or continuous lighting, the same principles apply, perhaps some studying of good books on lighting would be helpful.

erie

 

[Zansho]

Yeah, the "seeing what you get" aspect is hard to get a handle on. Light is light, period, whether strobes (I prefer Broncolor myself, I've used all the others and none even come close) or continuous lighting, the same principles apply, perhaps some studying of good books on lighting would be helpful.

erie

The "what you see is what you get" aspect had nothing to do with my dislike for hot lights. They have too many cons for me to consider using them as a viable means for my lighting - for one, they get hot. Secondly, they're not powerful enough to meet MY needs for my work. Maybe the OP would find the continuous lighting sufficient for his needs, but I certainly do not. Lastly, you have to move them in and out towards your subject, to achieve the proper amount of "power" and that can diminish your light quality especially if your light source does not have a way of increasing the power to the heads. (Read: Inverse Square Law)

Strobes, especially ones like Speedotron, Profoto, among others - can be very effective, and guess what? They come with modeling lights, that allow you to see the effect of what you will achieve with said lights. After that, it's simply a matter of learning how to use your light meter correctly and learning about the strobe's power and adjusting exposure via the power pack. Additionally, you won't make your subjects sweat under hot lights! Oh, and you won't have to move them much, if at all. Depending on the room size, you can increase or decrease the power of the strobe itself from the pack, and not diminish the quality of light because you had to move your strobe away from your subject.

If they work for you, more power to you. I just prefer to use strobes, as they meet my needs better.