Light Kit
- Thread starter bub307
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A 3 light kit for $76. Lighting falls in the category of you get what you pay for. When someone gets into photography, eventually they fall into a period of needing more and more to suit their needs. When I need something I try and not scimp on quality because eventually your going to have to replace it with something better made. I'm all for trying to get the best I can find. If getting something cheap and my images suffer. Guess what i'm going to blame. The cheap item I thought was a good deal and i'm going to kick myself in the ass and eventually buy the one I thought I couldn't afford. I would say to pass on this light setup. Do allot of research on the subject and get something that's going to last. Just my .02.
It is really hard to be enthusiastic about recommending a $75 light kit like this. It is not flash you know, it is continuous light bulbs. The twelve light bulbs alone ought to cost twice this total (but don't? ). It seems odd it shows a background stand, but never mentions it at all. The cost per item is just unbelievably low, couldn't expect much.
But the principle is that continuous lights are not bright for photography. They can be OK, even good, for still life (products) where you can use any slow shutter speed, but not good for human portraits (people move). At best, you will using rather high ISO to have enough light for any decent shutter speed, and at worst, white balance could be a problem too.
Do you have a speedlight for your camera? Do you have flash experience? A couple of usable manual speedlight flashes are maybe $60 each (Yongnuo or Neewer are good). Inexpensive radio triggers, maybe $30 more. We are talking cheap but usable stuff. A couple of umbrellas and stands are around $130, Cheaper umbrellas and stands are available, there is always cheaper.
Maybe $300 for two lights (main and fill).
There are big differences in flash and continuous lights.
Flash is very bright, but continuous is relatively dim for photography. We might think lights are bright, but not as compared to the sun (and photography). Flash is however, and flash is extremely popular.
Flash exposure does not depend on shutter speed, but continuous light does. For continuous light, a 1/100 second shutter passes only 1/100 the light that a 1 second shutter passes. To flash, its all the same, we probably use 1/200 second.
The camera meter easily meters continuous (convenient), but for flash, it doesn't, and you are own your own, trial and error. This is NOT trivial. Very manual, the furthest thing from point&shoot. You have to make the flash power levels match your camera exposure. Flash meters exist to do this easily, but will cost as much as the total of the rest (mentioned). Trial and error will get there though, it is not that much work, but not trivial either (every time). Some learning curve, but flash is a better long term solution. Certainly for portraits, flash is just how it is done, but still life products might possibly be an exception. Products can use a long shutter, portraits cannot.
But the principle is that continuous lights are not bright for photography. They can be OK, even good, for still life (products) where you can use any slow shutter speed, but not good for human portraits (people move). At best, you will using rather high ISO to have enough light for any decent shutter speed, and at worst, white balance could be a problem too.
Do you have a speedlight for your camera? Do you have flash experience? A couple of usable manual speedlight flashes are maybe $60 each (Yongnuo or Neewer are good). Inexpensive radio triggers, maybe $30 more. We are talking cheap but usable stuff. A couple of umbrellas and stands are around $130, Cheaper umbrellas and stands are available, there is always cheaper.
Maybe $300 for two lights (main and fill).There are big differences in flash and continuous lights.
Flash is very bright, but continuous is relatively dim for photography. We might think lights are bright, but not as compared to the sun (and photography). Flash is however, and flash is extremely popular.
Flash exposure does not depend on shutter speed, but continuous light does. For continuous light, a 1/100 second shutter passes only 1/100 the light that a 1 second shutter passes. To flash, its all the same, we probably use 1/200 second.
The camera meter easily meters continuous (convenient), but for flash, it doesn't, and you are own your own, trial and error. This is NOT trivial. Very manual, the furthest thing from point&shoot. You have to make the flash power levels match your camera exposure. Flash meters exist to do this easily, but will cost as much as the total of the rest (mentioned). Trial and error will get there though, it is not that much work, but not trivial either (every time). Some learning curve, but flash is a better long term solution. Certainly for portraits, flash is just how it is done, but still life products might possibly be an exception. Products can use a long shutter, portraits cannot.
The speedlight would also work on the camera hot shoe, but these are for a fixed studio situation, and slightly more powerful (somewhat less than 2x more powerful), more versatile about mounting accessories (like softboxes, etc), and are AC powered.. Better than a speedlight for that use, but won't mount on camera.
Everyone needs a hot shoe flash for walk around bounce though, and if you have one, it can be used with these, as a third light, like for background or hair. It would need an optical slave on it, either builtin or external.
Unsure of your goals, assuming portraits and tabletop. The 100 watt seconds power is Not high power, but more than a speedlight, and it should normally be sufficient, at least indoors. It will be tremendously brighter and vastly more usable than the first continuous lights. Indoor portraits at (camera Manual mode M, with Auto ISO absolutely OFF) ISO 100 1/200 second and f/8 ought to be easy (very acceptable). You normally will have to turn the lights down some, and without a flash meter, finding that power level is the hard part, but trial and error gets there.. If too bright, turn it down. It does not say what its power steps are, so after getting it into ballpark, you may need to tweak in your camera aperture a third stop or two also. Studio lights (softboxes and umbrellas) are used rather close to the subject (like close as possible), for increased softness, but it also helps power. My own lights are 160 and 320 watt seconds, and I prefer the 160 except in a few bigger cases. There definitely are some bigger cases, but not normally indoor portraits or table top. Do think "CLOSE" however.
It is an economy model, and regarding its features, it says:
Voltage Regulated: No
Fan cooled: No
Auto Dump: No
Those would have been pluses. Auto Dump No means when you change power level on it, you have to flash it one time (to dump the old setting) before it changes to the new setting.
If your camera model does NOT have a PC sync port (and most do not any more), then you will need a hotshoe adapter to add PC sync. The Nikon AS-15 is a very good one (I use it), but there are slightly cheaper ones. Be sure whichever one has the locking wheel on the bottom, otherwise they slide a little, and lose contact and fail to trigger.
Error
You run the PC sync cord between camera and the near flash, and the other flash is triggered from its internal optical slave. There are other wireless ways you can buy, but this PC sync works fine if camera is on a tripod.
B&H is a very reputable dealer, and Impact is their house brand. Warranty is from B&H. That's a big plus, better than the no-name Ebay stuff.
Read the User comments there (on your link page). People seem satisfied with it. You can of course always spend more, and get more features and performance, life is like that.
I don't know your experience, so it's hard to say much. Regarding this type of flash, some people seem to never get it, and others take to it like a fish in water. I think any trouble is just failing to realize it is not point&shoot, but instead, everything is now up to them. If it is too bright, turn it down. That's not hard.
Maybe glance at An Easy and Standard 45 degree Portrait Lighting Setup about initial setup plans for portraits.
I am talking without knowing the first thing about your situation, and I realize these are not yet your questions. Just trying for a head start.
Everyone needs a hot shoe flash for walk around bounce though, and if you have one, it can be used with these, as a third light, like for background or hair. It would need an optical slave on it, either builtin or external.
Unsure of your goals, assuming portraits and tabletop. The 100 watt seconds power is Not high power, but more than a speedlight, and it should normally be sufficient, at least indoors. It will be tremendously brighter and vastly more usable than the first continuous lights. Indoor portraits at (camera Manual mode M, with Auto ISO absolutely OFF) ISO 100 1/200 second and f/8 ought to be easy (very acceptable). You normally will have to turn the lights down some, and without a flash meter, finding that power level is the hard part, but trial and error gets there.. If too bright, turn it down. It does not say what its power steps are, so after getting it into ballpark, you may need to tweak in your camera aperture a third stop or two also. Studio lights (softboxes and umbrellas) are used rather close to the subject (like close as possible), for increased softness, but it also helps power. My own lights are 160 and 320 watt seconds, and I prefer the 160 except in a few bigger cases. There definitely are some bigger cases, but not normally indoor portraits or table top. Do think "CLOSE" however.
It is an economy model, and regarding its features, it says:
Voltage Regulated: No
Fan cooled: No
Auto Dump: No
Those would have been pluses. Auto Dump No means when you change power level on it, you have to flash it one time (to dump the old setting) before it changes to the new setting.
If your camera model does NOT have a PC sync port (and most do not any more), then you will need a hotshoe adapter to add PC sync. The Nikon AS-15 is a very good one (I use it), but there are slightly cheaper ones. Be sure whichever one has the locking wheel on the bottom, otherwise they slide a little, and lose contact and fail to trigger.
Error
You run the PC sync cord between camera and the near flash, and the other flash is triggered from its internal optical slave. There are other wireless ways you can buy, but this PC sync works fine if camera is on a tripod.
B&H is a very reputable dealer, and Impact is their house brand. Warranty is from B&H. That's a big plus, better than the no-name Ebay stuff.
Read the User comments there (on your link page). People seem satisfied with it. You can of course always spend more, and get more features and performance, life is like that.
I don't know your experience, so it's hard to say much. Regarding this type of flash, some people seem to never get it, and others take to it like a fish in water. I think any trouble is just failing to realize it is not point&shoot, but instead, everything is now up to them. If it is too bright, turn it down. That's not hard.
Maybe glance at An Easy and Standard 45 degree Portrait Lighting Setup about initial setup plans for portraits.
I am talking without knowing the first thing about your situation, and I realize these are not yet your questions. Just trying for a head start.
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This is hard to choose for someone else in an unknown situation... Since I really don't know what we are discussing there, I can only tell you my preferences, for my use.
Are we talking a speedlight also for use on the camera hot shoe, or just for studio type portraits?
If also for the camera, I would certainly want to have the TTL option (automatic point&shoot flash, for walk-around bounce flash, but very unlikely an useable feature for studio work - only the top few camera models can do that). But IMO, everyone needs a good hot shoe TTL flash for general purposes. These might compare at 60 or 75 watt seconds of power.
You're aware that a mainstream choice is the Nikon SB-700, for $327 ?
I would suggest a Yongnuo YN565EX for $99. Does the same thing, with a little more power, but Chinese, no warranty. It will be a manual slave flash too.
If only wanting a manual mode flash to serve as studio lights (no TTL), maybe the Neewer TT560 for $38.
On these last two, notice the many hundreds of satisfied user comments at Amazon. Good reputations.
Speedlights in the studio really are much better with umbrellas than softboxes. Works the same, better for the speedlight case.
Are we talking a speedlight also for use on the camera hot shoe, or just for studio type portraits?
If also for the camera, I would certainly want to have the TTL option (automatic point&shoot flash, for walk-around bounce flash, but very unlikely an useable feature for studio work - only the top few camera models can do that). But IMO, everyone needs a good hot shoe TTL flash for general purposes. These might compare at 60 or 75 watt seconds of power.
You're aware that a mainstream choice is the Nikon SB-700, for $327 ?
I would suggest a Yongnuo YN565EX for $99. Does the same thing, with a little more power, but Chinese, no warranty. It will be a manual slave flash too.
If only wanting a manual mode flash to serve as studio lights (no TTL), maybe the Neewer TT560 for $38.
On these last two, notice the many hundreds of satisfied user comments at Amazon. Good reputations.
Speedlights in the studio really are much better with umbrellas than softboxes. Works the same, better for the speedlight case.
You would want an incident meter for flash. There are others, Polaris, Gossen, see B&H, but I would say a Sekonic L308S.
See Why would I need a handheld light meter?
See Why would I need a handheld light meter?
I have the Sekonic 308S, should be about $100-140 for a nice clean version.
Regarding cheap lighting, you really do get what you pay for.
Photography Q&A - The 1,500 Question Archive • Hello Zack!! what is your opinion about this lighting kit from ebay "900W-Studio-Monolight-Strobes-Flash-Lighting-Kit-" (pls search on ebay) ? thanks!!
Regarding cheap lighting, you really do get what you pay for.
Photography Q&A - The 1,500 Question Archive • Hello Zack!! what is your opinion about this lighting kit from ebay "900W-Studio-Monolight-Strobes-Flash-Lighting-Kit-" (pls search on ebay) ? thanks!!
Are you saying you dislike the 308s
Not at all. It's a great meter for the $$ for sure. I like the delay so I don't need to upgrade to a meter with a built in pocketwizard module.
Ok here is room 1 and room 2 which one is the best deal for a beginner and would you add to it?
Will room 2 do body shots?
[url]https://www.dropbox.com/s/c6n8nq4nk03h1wp/Room%201.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k3knhocxdytfbrp/Room 2.pdf?dl=0
[/URL]
Will room 2 do body shots?
[url]https://www.dropbox.com/s/c6n8nq4nk03h1wp/Room%201.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k3knhocxdytfbrp/Room 2.pdf?dl=0
[/URL]
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Room two, obviously. Better bang for the buck.
However, if you are really on a budget, and want to get started with lighting equipment, may I suggest you check out Photography Equipment - Photo Video Accessories - Videography Stuff
Thanks for the link fotojack do you recommend one of the kits they sell and if so you you suggest which one?