Lighting help

Yourreflectphot

Senior Member
I would like to purchase a lighting kit. I have never bought lights before
and up until now haven't needed a light kit. I would like something that I can
transport and that produces really good results. I am willing to spend about
$1,200 or so.


Would appreciate any help you can offer.

Best,
Jerry
 

WayneF

Senior Member
The most transportable would be speedlights and umbrellas. Not a thing wrong with umbrellas, but speedlights are low powered and slow to recycle and not as versatile. Include a lightmeter for setting up the lights. If your camera does not have a PC sync connector, you may need a Nikon AS-15 to provide one.

Assuming you mean for portraits...

Your budget is reasonable, and I would suggest looking here, at the Alienbees line. www.paulcbuff.com/
These are very popular, sold direct for less, support and service is breathtaking, and Alienbees are said to have about half of the total US market. These are the good and fully featured inexpensive lights. I have four of them, two B400 and two B800. Frankly I like the B400 best (for indoor portraits), but some jobs could use a bit more power, the B800.
They offer some packages (big icon top right main page), but read the text there ... you can add and delete any items in the shopping cart and still get the stated discount.

Start slower, maybe not everything imaginable at first. Don't add lots of accessories without clear idea of how needed they are.

All you need for portraits is:

At least two lights, three better, four optimum (main, fill, background, hair). A speedlight can work with them, but you have to wait on the slowest one.
Either two umbrellas, or one softbox and an umbrella.
I use a 10 degree and 20 degree grid on the hair light and background light. There are other choices of course.
Stands for each light (background is typically short, the rest should be 8 or 10 feet. A softbox or any kind of boom needs a heavy stand, an umbrella does not.

From elsewhere:
Background support stand and a background.
An incident light meter to set up the lights (makes each time easy and accurate).

Here is one look: An Easy and Standard 45 degree Portrait Lighting Setup
 

kevy73

Senior Member
I just had this same conversation with my local store on Saturday.

I think I will end up buying the profoto B1 kit eventually (B1 500 AirTTL Location Kit) - need to save some pennies - I shoot weddings mainly and need the portability.

I did however buy a lastolite dual use umbrella (AU$100) and a bracket that can hold up to 3 speedlights (AU$110). OMG - the difference it makes to my images was amazing. Such nicer light than just a speedlight pointed at someone.
 

WayneF

Senior Member
@WayneF

Thank you so very much for the information.

What about these:

Buyer's Guide: 10 Home Studio Lighting Kits: Digital Photography Review

I would pass. Those are not flash, they are CFL continuous lights, which are much dimmer than flash. If your camera does well at ISO 800 maybe, for indoors, but that's not what you want, and would be unacceptable outdoors competing with sun. Don't know how easily those softboxes break down and reassemble for transportion.

It says "up to six 50 watt CFL lamps". So that would be 300 watt units.
Flash and CFL have comparable high efficiency (converting electricity to light).

Math is: Continuous: A 1/100 second shutter speed would pass 1/100 x 300 watts = 3 watt seconds of light to your picture. Continuous is only of any use while the shutter is actually open. They are 300 watt heaters the rest of the time.

A 300 watt second flash is faster than the shutter speed (shutter just has to be open - use 1/200 second) and would pass all 300 watt seconds. So at ISO 100 and f/10, you probably turn your close main light down to 1/16 power level (instead of turning your ISO up so 1/60 f/2.8 almost works.) That is really too much power indoors, but other cases - greater distances and competing with full sun - needs more. I prefer to use a 160 watt second flash in the main light (large softbox, close, and still turned way down).

Saying, there is a huge difference in continuous and flash power. Seems important.

Continuous lights could be great for still life subjects, table top, product photography, etc, where long shutter speeds are very acceptable. CFL could be a little white balance issue.
But humans move, and IMO, you want flash. Just how it is done. Flash is normally faster than any shutter speed.

By the way, for any solution, add a white balance card for WB correction. WhiBal card is good, I have a couple, but I use the $5 Porta Brace card from B&H.


Those are similar specs to Alienbees, except they also offer 240/120 VAC operation (important outside North America). I would have no objection, but I did choose Alienbees. Alienbees support is legendary... if you ever need a repair or spare part, the situation simply could not be better.

I am looking for a system I can build and grew into. What about LED lights? What do you use and why?

I have no experience with LED, except small flashlights... LED is small and expensive. And neither LED or CFL have a continuous spectrum (affecting perfect white balance). Both have limited spectrum lines, partially corrected with phosphorus coatings on inside of bulb, perhaps OK, but simply not perfect. Sun and incandescent and flash are pretty much perfect.

This dim continuous stuff is better suited for video cameras (requiring continuous), but the flash is better for still portraits. It seems very clear, IMO.


I have a Sekonic light meter. Is there a good step by step guide for it? I'm just bad at fractions!


Which one? The manual is probably still on the Sekonic site.

Set it to read in tenth stops, and you will have no fraction problem.. Then it is trivially done in your head.

See Speedlights vs Studio Lights (to do that manual setup) about using the meter, and about tenth stops.
 
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FastGlass

Senior Member
I just had this same conversation with my local store on Saturday.

I think I will end up buying the profoto B1 kit eventually (B1 500 AirTTL Location Kit) - need to save some pennies - I shoot weddings mainly and need the portability.

I did however buy a lastolite dual use umbrella (AU$100) and a bracket that can hold up to 3 speedlights (AU$110). OMG - the difference it makes to my images was amazing. Such nicer light than just a speedlight pointed at someone.
That penny jar is going to be biggie. I own 3 Profoto air's. Would love to get the B1's but I so can't justify getting those besides what I already have.
 
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