# Decent lighting kit



## tecboy (Oct 23, 2013)

I'm looking for a good lighting set.  Perhaps two umbrellas with stands and bulbs.  I see a lot in amazon, and these look pretty tempting in the price range.  I don't know how well these can hold up.  I couldn't find any in BHphoto.  What is the good price range and which would you recommend?


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## tirediron (Oct 23, 2013)

A better question is;  What price range fits your budget?  Assuming you don't have $5000+ to spend on lighting, then Adorama's Flashpoint series is a very well regarded consumer-grade product line.


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## tecboy (Oct 23, 2013)

I want to do portraits and photographing objects.  Perhaps around $100.

What do you think of this one?
Amazon.com: CowboyStudio Photography/Video Portrait Umbrella Continuous Triple Lighting Kit with Three Day Light CFL Bulbs, Three Stands, Two Umbrellas, and One Carrying Case For Product, Portrait, and Video Shoots: Camera & Photo


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## tirediron (Oct 23, 2013)

Continuous lighting is fine for inanimate objects, but totally unsuitable for portraiture.  Aside from that, Cowboy Studio "equipment" is of a quality that gives honest junk a bad name.  Save up a little more and buy something that will actually do the job.


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## tecboy (Oct 23, 2013)

What about this one?  The softboxes look small.  Is this sufficent or should I spend more to get larger softboxes?
Adorama BSBK12 Budget Studio Monolight Softbox Kit #12 BSBK12


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## tirediron (Oct 23, 2013)

Potentially of marginally better quality, but 100 w/s is a relatively low power, and a 12" soft-box is very small.  My smallest soft-box is a 30" box, and I only use that for head shots.  You will be far better off to save a bit more money and get a single 250w/s light with a  larger soft-box.


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## KmH (Oct 23, 2013)

You'll save even more by starting with umbrellas, but still need to triple your budget to get decent but still consumer grade stuff.

For portability and no need for a wall outlet, get some inexpensive radio triggers, a couple of Yongnuo YN-560 flash units, and  - Impact Digital Flash Umbrella Mount Kit
The umbrellas in the kit are 'convertible' and with the black cover removed can be used for shoot-through (kind of like a softbox) or with the black cover on for reflecting the light from a flash unit.

Yongnuo 4-Channel Wireless Remote Radio Slave Flash Trigger Receiver for Speedlight Flash Nikon Canon YN-04

IMO, a better alternative to the Yongnuo radio trigger are to get 2 of these iShoot receivers and an iShoot transmitter that goes on your camera's hot shoe.
The iShoot receivers can mount 2 flash units, which lets you double the light at each umbrella. Or, you can set each light to 1/2 power so they can recycle faster but deliver the equivalent of a full power flash from just 1 flash unit.


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## tecboy (Oct 24, 2013)

Thanks guys.  I think the umbrella kit and flashes are good enough and easy to tranport.  I don't think I want to carry around the monolight all the times.  My studio is going to be small and not too fancy.  Maybe, sometimes in the future I may get a pair of powerful monolights with large softboxes.


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## BanditPhotographyNW (Oct 24, 2013)

I use Paul C. Buff's Alien bees and White Lightining. They are great and inexpensive. Heres a link to their packages page, they also add a discount on everything you add to a light or you can make your own package as well same discounts apply on accessories i.e. modifier, stands, power ect.. Though as pointed out, you may need to increase you budget a bit.


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## tecboy (Oct 26, 2013)

KmH said:


> You'll save even more by starting with umbrellas, but still need to triple your budget to get decent but still consumer grade stuff.
> 
> For portability and no need for a wall outlet, get some inexpensive radio triggers, a couple of Yongnuo YN-560 flash units, and  - Impact Digital Flash Umbrella Mount Kit
> The umbrellas in the kit are 'convertible' and with the black cover removed can be used for shoot-through (kind of like a softbox) or with the black cover on for reflecting the light from a flash unit.
> ...



I noticed the Yongnuo YN-04 bracket mount looks difference compare to my dslr.  Will it fits anyway with my speedlite 430EXII?


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## tecboy (Oct 27, 2013)

Is this for real?!  Do you actually own one of these?  This thing is huge!


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## Derrel (Oct 27, 2013)

Huge is a relative term. Look how large it is compared to an adult man... from a few inches above the top of his head to the mid-thigh level...that's not really "huge" in terms of a light source... a "huge" light source would be a 10 foot x 10 foot section of wall or ceiling with the same studio flash unit aimed at it from 10 feet away...


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## Village Idiot (Oct 31, 2013)

BanditPhotographyNW said:


> I use Paul C. Buff's Alien bees and White Lightining. They are great and inexpensive. Heres a link to their packages page, they also add a discount on everything you add to a light or you can make your own package as well same discounts apply on accessories i.e. modifier, stands, power ect.. Though as pointed out, you may need to increase you budget a bit.



Basic AB's are overpriced for what you can get out there from Adorama and B&H branded lights.


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## Solarflare (Oct 31, 2013)

Strobist: Lighting 101


Sorry, I still dont know too much about lighting ... yes I have a bad conscience about that.


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## tecboy (Oct 31, 2013)

Lighting seems to be complicated when it comes to quality and prices


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## Village Idiot (Nov 1, 2013)

tecboy said:


> Lighting seems to be complicated when it comes to quality and prices



Yes, because most cheap stuff is crap, but if you know what to look for you can find cheaper brands that are actually worth buying. Also, cheap is relative. A cheap lighting kit to me is about $500. $100 would barely buy me one light and a way to fire it.


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## Derrel (Nov 1, 2013)

tecboy said:


> I'm looking for a good lighting set.  Perhaps two umbrellas with stands and bulbs.  I see a lot in amazon, and these look pretty tempting in the price range.  I don't know how well these can hold up.  I couldn't find any in BHphoto.  What is the good price range and which would you recommend?



The Adorama Flashpoint 620M kit is a decent value, but I think their 320M monolight is a better value. The video you linked to shows the basic operation and control layout of the 620M. I think the 620M is a little bit more powerful than many people will want or need, unless they ARE shooting wedding groups, and thus are going to quite often need more flash power to light up larger areas, and bigger groups, while still being able to get smaller f/stops for good DOF.

I own a bunch of studio flash gear, and have a 300 Watt-second monolight; honestly, it's TOO powerful much of the time, and I wish it were a 150-Watt-second unit instead of 300. With today's d-slr's giving such great higher-ISO performance, flash power levels needed have declined over the last 10 years. I agree with Village Idiot; basic Alien Bees are overpriced for what they give. 320M's are $99 each, a la carte...THAT is a good value, and fair pricing.

Two 150 W-s monolights and two umbrellas and two stands is the most-basic kit; I DO think the barndoors set and grid/diffuser/gel kit shown in the video is VERY useful, and in fact, I bought that same,exact barndoor/grid/diffuser/gel set a few years ago, and have used it; I consider barndoors/grid/mylar diffuser/gel holder gear to be **essential accessories**, so that means you'd want to add another 320M light to use with the barndoors/grid/gel stuff.

See...$99 PER LIGHT is a good deal; I have mostly Speedotron Black Line gear, and my flashtubes alone cost more than an entire Flashpoint 320M monolight. I look at the Flashpoint 320M as the absolute best starter lights for anybody who does not want to get gouged.


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## Village Idiot (Nov 1, 2013)

Derrel said:


> tecboy said:
> 
> 
> > I own a bunch of studio flash gear, and have a 300 Watt-second monolight; honestly, it's TOO powerful much of the time, and I wish it were a 150-Watt-second unit instead of 300.
> ...


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## tecboy (Nov 1, 2013)

Thanks guys, it is good to hear about your experiences and other options. I started out with still life photography using flood light bulbs, disks, and clamps I bought in the hardware store. These are very cheap, these do the job, and I'm impress with the result of my photographs. However, those lamps are dangerous and inconvenience. I just want to upgrade my gears to the next level and have more flexible. I don't think I want a big soft box and heavy moonlight. I want something that is easy to carry around in my house and travel outdoor. I have bought the umbrella set and a flash. Alien Bees seems to be popular, but I don't want to spend too much money. Now I'm looking for one moonlight to start with. I'm checking out the Dynalite and Flashpoint.


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## Village Idiot (Nov 4, 2013)

tecboy said:


> Thanks guys, it is good to hear about your experiences and other options. I started out with still life photography using flood light bulbs, disks, and clamps I bought in the hardware store. These are very cheap, these do the job, and I'm impress with the result of my photographs. However, those lamps are dangerous and inconvenience. I just want to upgrade my gears to the next level and have more flexible. I don't think I want a big soft box and heavy moonlight. I want something that is easy to carry around in my house and travel outdoor. I have bought the umbrella set and a flash. Alien Bees seems to be popular, but I don't want to spend too much money. Now I'm looking for one moonlight to start with. I'm checking out the Dynalite and Flashpoint.



Uh, Dynalite gear is expensive. It cost me $2300 for a pack and two heads new.


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## tecboy (Nov 18, 2013)

When you do still life or portrait photography, do you go inside a darkroom to seal out the outdoor light, and only use strobe as your primary light source?


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## Village Idiot (Nov 20, 2013)

tecboy said:


> When you do still life or portrait photography, do you go inside a darkroom to seal out the outdoor light, and only use strobe as your primary light source?



No. Not unless I'm working at a very wide aperture with no NDs and very low powered lights.


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## hamlet (Nov 20, 2013)

I've Macgyvered my own studio. All this equipment is the background anyhow, so it doesn't matter how amateurish its built so long as its fire proof.


Here is how you can for example build a soft box cheaply:

[video]www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKByrO_LU-g[/video]


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## D-B-J (Nov 20, 2013)

As many others have said, lighting gear is expensive.  For me, portability was of the utmost importance.  I need to be able to take it anywhere, have it weigh as little as possible, and be easy to setup.  I went with a strobist type setup, and have been very happy.  A flash, stand, umbrella, and a way to trigger that.  Using yongnuo(sp?), you can probably get a setup like that for relatively little.  Check out strobists website, and read his blog posts about a setup he suggests.  BUT, I have also read/heard many good things about adorama's monolight setup that Derrel mentioned.  

Strobist: Lighting 101

Jake


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## HitenNainaney (Nov 23, 2013)

In reply to the OP, going for an inexpensive setup always seems tempting. However, as you being to progress in performance and require more out of your lights, you will soon realize the limitations of a cheap light. 

The first light i picked up last year was a Visico VE 300 light for around $ 400, it was inexpensive considering it was a kit of 2 300 ws lights, with air cushioned stands and 2 soft boxes as well. 

They served their purpose really well for that price range and were great considering how cheap they were.

However, after using them for just under 6 months, there are many limitations to the 'cheaper models' and i've just recently picked up Paul C Buffs einstiens for my setup. 

I haven't used or seen the adorama & B&H lights, but take into consideration your requirements and how long you think the cheaper ones can suffice. 

Hope this helps.


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## smullenbacker (Dec 4, 2013)

It is so true that good light can really make the difference of a good camera shot. I really enjoyed the video that was posted on the product review. never used flashpoint, but thinking it may be a good solution to my darkness problem. Getting that perfect camera shot and lighting perfect can be really difficult, but I have been practicing lately and starting to take some great photos.


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## Derrel (Dec 4, 2013)

Here's an interesting article that I found earlier this week, testing and comparing the Adorama Flashpoint monolights against the Paul C. Buff brand's Alien Bee units.

product review | adorama flashpoint studio gear | Clickin MomsClickin Moms


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