Whats your studio setup?

sincere · Dec 14, 2008

now that i moved i have plenty of room here so i was thinking of setting up something small for starters. I´ve worked at this photo agency that does lots of fashion shoots but the problem is that the stuff they use i cant afford..to give you an example of their resources, those suckers have at least 6 analog Hasselblads just laying around..

Correct me if im wrong but light would maybe be the most interesting thing to look into right now.

What kind of studio lighting / flash units do you use? Also, for what purpose do you use it? The price ranges are crazy..i am looking into a Adolight 150 or maybe one of the Alien bees.

What else? The paper roll that people use for background, i never looked into that. Any idea?

Feel free and add whatever you think i might need.

reg · Dec 14, 2008

I would get battery strobes (Sunpak 383, Nikon SB28, Vivitar 283, etc) before getting a cheapo monolight. AlienBees are good.

JerryPH · Dec 14, 2008

Alien Bees are ok. They are great beginner strobes, but they suffer from colour-casting at anything below 1/2 power and is noticeable by 1/4 power and less (makes the pics look lightly pink).

ElinChromes are about the same price or a little more... but are WAY better. They still colourcast, but at about 1/10th the amount as the ABs. Look for the D-Lite 2s and 4's.

For starters, though... I think it is a lot better to invest in battery powered strobes, couple light stands and umbrellas and a way to wirelessly trigger them. You will be surprised at how little light you need to accomplish your desires in a small area.

I spent 6 hours yesterday in a pro studio and used my lighting. I had *NO* issues lighting up to 4 people with 2 SB-600s (and an SB-800 as the odd hairlight... the 600's were on umbrellas)... and I never went over 1/2 power, not once. Matter of fact, most of the time I was between 1/16th and 1/4th power!

tsaraleksi · Dec 15, 2008

Just out of curiosity, where are you getting your information about Alienbee color casting?

monkeykoder · Dec 15, 2008

reg said:
I would get battery strobes (Sunpak 383, Nikon SB28, Vivitar 283, etc) before getting a cheapo monolight. AlienBees are good.

If the lights are intended for studio use I would disagree that this would be the most cost effective route. It costs about the same to a little bit more than an entry level studio strobe kit at 150-200ws. For $300-400 you can get the Alien Bees beginner bee setup $310 approx for the 160ws and $360 for the 320ws, for $170 (including the wireless trigger) you could get the Flashpoint II 320A kit at 150ws (which I have) also for around $170 (excluding the wireless trigger) you could go with the calumet genesis 200ws. Of course if you want to go cheap you could go with the $90 for the 150ws strobe from ephotodiscounters (ebay store).

There are several other brands around this price point each has it's own disadvantage most don't have quite the array of modifiers as the more expensive brands, some have color shifts (shoot RAW?), some have poorer build quality, each should do the job that you're looking for it to do.

sincere · Dec 15, 2008

Hmm..i kinda didnt wanna go all the way cheap so i did intend to get studio stuff..whatabout these white lightning? I hear they are somewhat the "pro" series of the same manufacturer that does alien bees:

http://www.white-lightning.com/

ddm1975 · Dec 18, 2008

What kind of budget are you looking to spend?

I'm also interested in hearing about the AB color casts. I have one and haven't seen that yet.

JerryPH · Dec 18, 2008

tsaraleksi said:
Just out of curiosity, where are you getting your information about Alienbee color casting?

It was from a link I clicked on in a post here on TPF about 5 months ago... and if you google it, you will find a few places that discuss this info as well. The thread where PaulC admitted it was a known issue was on their own forum, if I recall correctly.

It's not a "dis" on ABs it is an apparently very commonly known issue. Letting people know about it at least lets them check out the issue and make up their own minds. For many it is a total non-issue. but if you are a user that loves to play with more aggressive ratios, one side will have a slightly pinkish cast if say... one side is set to 1/2 power and the other 1/8th. The side with the 1/8th will have that issue.

jlykins · Dec 18, 2008

I have two Calumet Genesis 200's and various soft boxes/umbrellas.

table1349 · Dec 18, 2008

Well if memory serves me correctly from my time in Germany, Berlin is not some little Bavarian village.

Have you considered looking around locally for used? One of the photography shops here has 5 older, but well cared for Bowen Gemini 500's priced at about $350.00 per head. That's not a bad price for Bowen quality. All have been thoroughly tested and all function exactly as they should. With a little looking and a little luck, you might just come across some good used gear at a much better price.

DeadEye · Dec 18, 2008

The new studio set up. 13 x 26 room with 10 foot ceiling painted flat white .Two 5 x 6 windows with shutter on inside to block out ALL light if wanted. Speedotron lights. Four 102's and a 105 with a 2401 pack. Slew of stands some with casters and counterweighted booms. Backdrops are stemless paper.Snoot, grids , beauty dish .umbrellas, soft box, gels ,etc. Its a never ending project!!

Phranquey · Dec 18, 2008

DeadEye said:
The new studio set up. 13 x 26 room with 10 foot ceiling painted flat white .Two 5 x 6 windows with shutter on inside to block out ALL light if wanted. Speedotron lights. Four 102's and a 105 with a 2401 pack. Slew of stands some with casters and counterweighted booms. Backdrops are stemless paper.Snoot, grids , beauty dish .umbrellas, soft box, gels ,etc. Its a never ending project!!

Not quite there.....yet.

I've got a Novatron 1000 4 head set-up that is quite nice. I picked it up used, so it's not one of their newest models, but it does the job quite nicely. I've got a couple of basic backdrops, I supposed this collection will grow as well. My next purchase is likely to be a softbox for my main light.

zapman29 · Dec 21, 2008

i use the square perfect sp 3700 i picked it up for like 400 bucks it was baisically a studio in a box 3 lights/stands along with 3 backdrop and all the fixins... i have to admit i made my money back in one amatuer photo shoot that i did.